[Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?

Tue Jan 1 18:54:26 UTC 2019

I was finally able to get a reading after I took a hot shower: warmed up my hands, and gave them a brisk massage. The needle had to be on the highest setting.
I didn’t get this meter through insurance.  I bought it on amazon. My insurance was going to fight with my doctor about giving me a talking meter and it was going to keep me from coming home from the hospital so I just avoided the whole insurance issue for the meter and bought one myself.  they will be covering my CGM though when I get it.
I worked with a diabetes educator and really liked her  She gave me the same tips you all did. At the time I worked with her though, I was so tired and stressed a lot of what she said didn’t register. I just wanted to go home.  It would probably be a good idea for me to go to a diabetes education class if there is such a thing.
Amber

> On Jan 1, 2019, at 1:40 PM, Jude DaShiell via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> The educators aren't doing a satisfactory job of it otherwise this type
> of traffic wouldn't be on this list after a client had worked with them
> for a while.  So that sighted assistance is of limited use at best.  As
> for be my eyes, a volunteer can tell a user what is going on at the time
> the user connects with them which likely will vary a little from day to
> day.  Becoming used to the variability and noting what activities
> preceeded a reading may for some people start to put some kind of useful
> data set together.  If this happened I can then expect that to happen
> ...
> For the record, I've never met or worked with a diabetes educator myself
> I came into this the hard way.
> 
> On Tue, 1 Jan 2019, Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Diabetes-Talk wrote:
> 
>> Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2019 12:49:34
>> From: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?
>> 
>> But how is having someone sighted going to help a blind person learn to do
>> it nonvisually?
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jude
>> DaShiell via Diabetes-Talk
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2019 11:17 AM
>> To: Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Jude DaShiell <jdashiel at panix.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?
>> 
>> If you fail after three attempts it's not a good day for readings.
>> Before an attempt, you might try stretching all parts of your body in order
>> to maybe get some circulation up and going.  On your first day, your body
>> was surprised by what you did to it which is probably why you succeeded.
>> Today, your body is now apprehensive and reacting accordingly.  Try rinsing
>> your hands in warm water and see if you can get some circulation up that
>> way.  If you have be my eyes on your phone or tablet, you can connect with a
>> volunteer and ask them to look at the specific areas of your fingers and
>> tell you if any of those areas are pink.  If you got a pink area, likely
>> there's an available donation for your new metal vampire available.  When I
>> started doing my own testing be my eyes wasn't even available since at that
>> time it didn't exist.
>> 
>> On Tue, 1 Jan 2019, Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk wrote:
>> 
>>> Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2019 12:02:31
>>> From: Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Cc: Amber Wallenstein <amber.wallens at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?
>>> 
>>> Bridgit:
>>> 
>>> Thanks for the ideas. I just don?t understand what I?m doing wrong today
>> that I wasn?t doing wrong yesterday.
>>> I have no access to sighted people to help me with this, so I?m just
>> trying every method I can think of to try.
>>> Also I don?t qualify for MediCare, so I?m at the whim of my insurance
>> company.
>>> I will keep trying. I?m going to run out of test strips soon, LOL. But I
>> feel this skill is one I have to have in case the Libre I get goes down for
>> some reason.
>>> Amber
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 1, 2019, at 10:32 AM, Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via
>> Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Plenty of totally blind people test their blood sugars with success
>>>> every day. Even sighted people can struggle in the beginning with
>>>> testing; nurse educators don't just see blind patients, grin. Sight
>>>> can make it more convenient in the beginning, but I don't think it's
>> necessarily a sight vs.
>>>> blindness thing. Some of us don't have many problems testing
>>>> nonvisually, and some of us need more practice and patience. But
>>>> it's the same for sighted diabetics; I speak with experience here,
>>>> grin. So, it's very much an individual situation here and not always
>>>> specific to how much or little we see.
>>>> 
>>>> Amber, I'm sorry it's so frustrating right now. Perhaps using the
>>>> highest setting on the lancer is giving too much blood? Just keep
>>>> practicing and try as many methods you can think of. When you go to
>>>> the endo office, they wipe the finger after poking then squeeze
>>>> again to try to avoid smearing, so, maybe try that.
>>>> 
>>>> Bridgit
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of
>>>> Jude DaShiell via Diabetes-Talk
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2019 9:19 AM
>>>> To: Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Cc: Jude DaShiell <jdashiel at panix.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?
>>>> 
>>>> My guess is you smeared the strip.  The blood needs to drip through
>>>> the air onto the strip in order for you not to smear the strip.
>>>> This is why Medicare doesn't recommend totally blind people do their
>>>> independent blood sugar testing.  Much easier for those with sight to do
>> this.
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, 1 Jan 2019, Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2019 09:54:30
>>>>> From: Amber Wallenstein via Diabetes-Talk
>>>>> <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Cc: Amber Wallenstein <amber.wallens at gmail.com>
>>>>> Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] what am I doing wrong?
>>>>> 
>>>>> I got my meter on Sunday. Sunday and yesterday I did OK with it.
>>>>> Today,
>>>> however, no matter what I do it says my blood sample is not enough.
>>>> It beeps like it?s going to test, and does it really quickly like I
>>>> got enough of a sample on the strip but no matter what it won?t do a
>>>> reading.  I know there is plenty of blood because I can feel it on my
>> skin.
>>>>> Is something defective or am I doing something wrong?  Like I said
>>>>> I did
>>>> fine yesterday.
>>>>> I am finding the meter super frustrating to be honest.  But I want
>>>>> to be
>>>> able to use it successfully when needed.
>>>>> Amber
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> Diabetes-Talk:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/jdashiel
>>>>> %40
>>>>> panix.com
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> 
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>>>> 
>>>> 
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>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
>> 
> 
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> 
> 
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