One Touch Diabetes Glucose Tester

My One Touch Glucose Meter arrived one week ago. It's got more written instructions that a Volkswagen, but they are just covering their liability. Also, they are sponsored by Splenda, a known carcinogen. What a racket! That's like having a tobacco company sponsor oxygen tanks.

Ignore all Splenda recommendations in the instructions. Splenda causes cancer. Use Stevia; no carbohydrates; no calories; all natural. Stevia. Not Splenda. Splenda and cancer go way back!

The instructions are repetitive and confusing, and there are too many of them. Watch the DVD, even if you have to go to the public library to do it. There really are only a few things you need to know, and they are in the DVD. Watch that because it is critical to get those few things right.

I was newly diagnosed with Type II Diabetes two weeks ago. It was kind of a relief.

My medication goes from half a tablet two times a day to a full tablet twice a day tomorrow.

Yesterday was the day from Hell. How many people have committed murder or suicide just because of low blood sugar? Depression, tears, anger, frustration, despair, hopelessness. Way over the edge. Ready to murder my husband and kill myself. Seriously.

Last week the ophthalmologist at Kaiser did a retinal photograph of the back of my eyes to see if the veins were falling apart, and that looked fine, so no blindness symptoms. They said they will use it like a baseline, like they do with mammograms, for future comparison.

They gave me the One Touch Glucose Meter kit, with 200 sterile lancettes (surely thou joust!) and 200 little blood sucker-uppers with built in carbon batteries to insert into the One Touch Glucose Meter at the top where it reads the blood. Little Vampire is what it is, but I mustn't think of it that way. Too negative. Too Demonic. Too true. Sigh.

Are you a gadget lover?

Those little carbon batteries are going to revolutionize the portable power industry. If I had any money I'd find out who has the patent and invest in their stock.

I grew up without a phone, without a television, without a record player in the house. The most complex gadget of my childhood was the Shaffer cartridge fountain pens they made us use in second grade when we graduated from pencils. Gadgets are not my area of expertise. However.

The One Touch Glucose Meter is really a little computer that fits in the palm of your hand. It comes in a little black nylon case with compartments for your manual log book, a packet of lancettes, and a little bottle of these tiny blood-sucking battery strips. It only needs a half a drop of blood and then it can tell you what your blood sugar level is before and after meals. When you take it to the doctor, he downloads the information in it to your case file, so he is better able to help you manage your diabetes.

The best thing about it is that you are no longer limited to piercing your fingertips which, especially since most of us only have ten fingertips, and many of us work on computer keyboards daily with them, gets really old really fast.

With the One Touch Glucose Meter, the sterile lancettes are really sharp, and thankfully really fast, and you are not limited to the fingertip pads. You can use them on the palms of your hands or on your forearms. This is a vast improvement over the pads of your fingertips. It's gives you acres of room instead of just ten little pads.

The numbers on the screen of the meter are huge. They are so big that when I first saw their size it was like being yelled at by someone who thinks you are not only deaf, but mentally challenged as well. I got over that.

The size of the print on the menu is normal. You choose which entry applies to your test. For example, "Before meal" is one choice. "After meal" is another. You can also choose from a menu that offers you comments like "Not Enough Food," or "Too Much Food". It does not take long to be able to do it without much thought.

You do have to think a little, because that's what having the best glucose meter available is all about. Making you think about your choices and giving you accurate medical information, a concrete way to see how your food choices and portions impact your blood sugar levels, and how your blood sugar levels change.

Basically, the One Touch Glucose Meter is a biofeedback device. It makes you more aware of a process that happens unconsciously. Then you learn to notice consciously what is going on with your body.

What sent me over the edge yesterday was one simple little mistake I made when I watched the DVD that comes with the One Touch.

You are allowed 3 Carbohydrate choices of 15 carbs each per meal. I thought it said 3 Carbohydrate choices per day. For a person who needs to loose 25 more pounds, I've been sticking to that like a stamp to a letter. Can you say mean and lean? And wrong!

My husband John watched the DVD this morning and oh boy was I glad I didn't kill him yesterday! It's 3 Carbohydrate choices per meal. So, pizza and beer, and lamb stew, and potatoes and Rice A Roni (the San Francisco treat) are back on the menu!

I didn't want to tell my Mother about being recently diagnosed with Diabetes, but I did it anyway. To her credit she did not make any snide remarks.

She said "It is no big deal. Just loose weight, and don't eat anything with flour, and don't eat red meat."

My brother died of Leukemia in 1970 a month after his 14th birthday, and in my family if it isn't terminal Cancer, it's no big deal. Her best friend died 3 years ago of a heart attack which was a direct result of having neglected her Diabetic condition.

"Do you know a lot about Diabetes?" I asked her.

"No," she says, "but I get that general feeling."

"John and I are going to go to the classes at Kaiser starting next week." I told her.

"Oh." she says. That's what she says when she doesn't want to say anything.

So all in all, that went well.

So here it is, 2 weeks since I was recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. I love my little (Vampire) One Touch Glucose Meter. My husband John is totally supportive and didn't freak out and leave me (unlike my Ex who took off when they found a lump in my breast that turned out to be nothing), and Mother's reaction boiled down to "Oh."

Things are looking good.

Thank you for tuning in. If you have any tips for a person who is newly diagnosed with Diabetes Type II, please post a comment on this blog. If you are newly diagnosed with Diabetes Type II, or Type I and found this blog useful, please, check back again, post a comment, and/or tell a friend!

Carla in Sonoma