Sunday, February 26, 2017

Vampire testing on the fingertips


Okay, kidding aside ... as diabetics ... testing your blood sugar on your finger tips can be abit of a drag at times.  I've been doing this process since home testing was introduced back in the 1980's  (you can read more about the history of these blood sucking devices at David Mendosa's link HERE).  Even with wearing a CGMS (aka Bowie) which many people think means you won't have to do the old finger prick anymore, I still test on average about 6X a day, sometimes more, depending on what is going on in my life.

Recently, a family member of mine was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  Luckily, with the help of their spouse, they're are diligently performing 4 tests a day in order to stay in a good blood sugar range to avoid any complications of high blood sugars.  The one thing they admitted to me the other day, was how much it hurt.  I discovered the "nurse" was pricking the fatty portion of the finger tip, where numerous nerves exist ... that beg <NOT> to be heard when they're mistreated.

Screaming Hands by http://lintza.deviantart.com/

I then slowly explained the best way to avoid the pain, by testing on their finger tips, which over the years I've shown nurses how to perform this task on their patients hands.  What better person to show them how to treat their patients, and not have them stop testing when they go back home to deal with diabetes on their own.

I even went as far as to post a few pictures on my Instagram account that you see below, since sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words!   If you've never tried testing on the sides of your finger tips, then give it a go next time, and be rewarded with no pain or scars.

Here's some of my tips to get the best results out of a pain free blood test:

  • Always wash your hands before testing, simple soap and water are fine (alcohol dries out the skin).
  • If your fingertips are cold, rub them gently to warm them up and get better blood circulation.
  • Use your lancing device on the SIDE of your fingertip to get a drop of blood sufficient for test.
  • Then hold the edge of the test strip to the drop of blood and wait for results 😀 





Saturday, February 4, 2017

I finally got inked for Diabetes!


I've been humming and hawing for awhile about getting a tattoo representing my diabetes status for sometime.  I finally decided to give it a go last week and made an appointment, since I'm celebrating my Diaversary of over 1/2 a century.  Along with this treat of being inked I'm going on a well deserved break from social media / work this Spring and I thought if I meet up with anyone from Diabetes UK  it would be fun to show it off!  

The good thing with this holiday treat though is that it's been basically paid off by a few years of purchasing diabetic meds, pump supplies, food, clothing, you name it with a credit card that gives back the most travel rewards.  I figure, if I've got to have diabetes, I might as well enjoy some rewards from purchasing all the crap needed to stay alive with a credit card (and yes, I pay off my balance EVERY month especially at the current 19.99% interest rate).  So, it's win, win all around with getting to see family / friends overseas - relax on an ocean voyage and not doing dishes for a change of pace!

So, with further adieu ... here's the design that my new best tattoo artist Nat from The Skinwithin and I came up with after she looked over some of the designs I'd come sent to her during the week.  She knew I wanted to incorporate the blue circle from IDF, along with my pen name of FatCatAnna which evolved from my diabetic cat Beauduoin (though on hindsight ... I should have asked Nat to maybe tweak the cat  to be abit fuller (okay fatter) since this cat looks a bit malnourished ... but as my skin stretches with age ... maybe it'll blimp out <lol>).  

All in all, I'm happy I did it, and found out that having it on the left wrist is actually the best place to put a tattoo like this.  According to a paramedic, the left arm is where they first go to when checking your pulse, etc.  Even with the tattoo stating my being diabetic, I'll still wear my other piece of medical ID from Mediband ... just to be on the safe side. Again, as the paramedic told me, they still look for medical ID over a tattoo when they are performing their work in an emergency situation!

If you're looking for advise on getting a tattoo SAFELY - check out T1D's Chris Clement's blog post at this link.  He's got some great tips so you can safely have one done by your fav ink artist.  He should know, since I've viewed a few of his up close and personal ;)   

Below is how it's looking at the moment, after removing the plastic wrap it was kept in for about 12 hours.  I'm using Aveeno baby cream to keep it moist.  Luckily, I heal well from cuts, surgeries (due to my being a healthy diabetic probably).  Now what will be my next tattoo?




REMEMBER - ALWAYS WEAR A PIECE OF MEDICAL ID - A TATTOO MAY NOT SAVE YOUR LIFE IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION!!!