After my third snack of the day (it's for the baby, okay), I realized I'd been relying on Dexcom-supplied glucose guesses for the whole afternoon. "Huh, I should probably test." I pulled out the iBGStar from my meter case and stuck a strip in. Lancing my finger mindlessly, I then let the strip suck the blood off of my right ring finger.....3.
....2.
....1.
>600.
Excuse me, what?
Frantically throwing open my "random stuff" diabetes drawer, I fished out my go-to backup meter: the Verio. Except that...
...the meter's battery was completely dead. As in, insert the strip in the top and nothing happens. AWESOME. Meanwhile, I'm having mental images of my child being drowned in maple syrup (because that's what the blood of high blood sugars is made of, yes?) inside me, while my stupid diabetes equipment won't just. work. when I need it to most.
Third try, I grab my purple OneTouch UltraMini and find a bottle of the test strips (because of course all three of these meters have to use separate ones; picky little divas). Guess what? They expired in October.
FANFREAKINGTASTIC ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW ASLKNDOWOEIUNGOIE. Cue Yosemite Sam.
I decided expired strips would have to do, and so they did: after realizing I'd just eaten an apple but hadn't washed my hands or used an alcohol swab - and alleviating that situation - I tested at 210. Better!
I went back to the iBGStar, and this time it spat out a 204. Okay!
Should I have been better prepared by having a charged backup meter, or test strips that weren't leftover from Halloween? Yes. But would it also be great if meters could distinguish between blood sugar and leftover food on my hands sugar? Yes.
(Speaking of meters, Lifescan issued a recall of all VerioIQ meters today. Check out this press release, and the OneTouch website for more information.)
I HATE THAT. I am paranoid about my kids, and once I tested my daughter and it was like "204" and I was like "AAAHH, she has it! We're DOOMED." Then I realized she had both chocolate and strawberry juice on her hands. She washed her hands. "96". Ahhhh, much better, especially since apparently she had just eaten a chocolate covered strawberry.
ReplyDelete>600??? I've had nightmares about readings like that. (What do you mean I'm 1000?!)
ReplyDeleteBut yes - meters are a hassle. (Off to go charge my backups.)
You know, you might just be the only PWD I know of who checks the expiration dates on their test strips. Or is able to keep them long enough to expire. All's well that ends well. Glad you're okay.
ReplyDeleteThe pregnancy link from your last post made me giggle.
ReplyDelete"mental images of my child being drowned in maple syrup" made me laugh out loud and I'm tearing up a little ; )
Oh man, I can't even imagine how stressful that would be! This is why I'm OCD about washing my hands before I test. Glad you (and your little one!) are good!
ReplyDeleteI love the GIFs you put in this post! So true! Speaking of the Verio IQ recall, apparently the meters only have problems measuring readings above 1024 mg/dl. SAY WHAT???? First, are people still conscious at 1024 to be testing themselves?? Second, since when do home meters even read numbers that high? Any meter I've ever used just says "HI" if you're anything over 600 mg/dl (which luckily I only know from reading the manual). Who needs a meter to function at a number that high? No wonder ther Verio just shuts off after 1024--it's in shock just like my brain would be if I was that high! Are people really running that high (besides maybe the day they are diagnosed)?
ReplyDeleteI would have FREAKED OUT like the videos.
ReplyDeleteI don't always think maple syrup .. but when I have the occasional high BG's these days, I picture my boys in there kinda dazed and confused (love that movie) like I get when I'M high (high BG's - I should clarify lol) Just like when I eat something sweet on occasion, they both will literally start bouncing around in there ... lol
ReplyDelete