Type 1 Writes - Diabetes Blog
  • About Me
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Speaking and Writing

Lancing Device

Red Light.

June 15, 2018 by Frank 3 Comments

I glance at the watch on my wrist. I know that it will only take me a minute, but it’s 4 o’clock and I really want to get out of here already.

I make the trek outside, where my car is conveniently parked in its usual spot at the end closest to the centre door. It’s a longer walk in the morning, when I have to come in through the back entrance, but completely worth it at the end of the day.

I hop inside my car, and place my belongings on the vacant seat beside me. I know that it will only take me a minute, but I really just want to start making my way home where afternoon coffee is calling my name.

I place my keys in the ignition, lock my doors and wind down my windows. I reverse out of my spot and make my way out of the carpark, cutting through some of the quieter residential areas in order to avoid the pile up of traffic on my way out of the centre. I make one final right, which takes me back out onto the main road and in a far better position traffic wise.

Finally, I have what I’ve been waiting for as I begin to apply my brakes, slide my gears back into neutral and cars begin to bank up in front of me. A red light.

I only have a minute, but I know I can do it.

I dive into my bag, pull out my travel case and grab my meter, strips and lancing device. I quickly pop open the cap on my test strip vial and slide out a fresh strip, sticking it into my blood glucose meter. I prick my finger with the lancing device, and squeeze my fingertip. A little drop of blood appears on my fingertip, but I know its not enough. I squeeze again, harder, like I’m holding on tightly for dear life.

Part of me knows I don’t have enough blood, but the other hasty part of my brain watching the traffic light tells me I can do this. I bring the meter closer to my fingertip, and let the blood slide onto the end of the test strip.

A shrill BEEEEEEP! Sounds from my meter as a strip fill error appears on the screen. My absolute pet hate when it comes to living with diabetes.

I furiously rip out the useless test strip, pop open the cap on my vial of strips and slide out a new one. I stick it onto the end of my meter, shove my lancing device right up against the tip of my finger and prick again. This time, blood flows more freely. Satisfied, the test strip laps it up and decides to give me a blood glucose reading.

I quickly wipe the excess blood on my fingertip against the side of the test strip as the light changes to green and traffic begins to move. I fling everything on the passenger seat beside me, which I’ll clean up during the next red light.

Like This Post? Share It!

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in: Diabetes and Travel, Glucose Monitoring Tagged: BGLs, Blood Glucose Monitoring, Driving, Glucose Monitoring, Lancing Device, Meter, Test Strips

Review: AccuChek Guide Blood Glucose Meter

May 21, 2018 by Frank 1 Comment

The AccuChek Guide has by far become my new favourite blood glucose meter in recent months.

I first received this meter from my friend Tammy of Diabetes: Forever and Always, before also picking up another one from the trade hall at the ADS-ADEA conference last year. There was, of course, no expectation that I would write or even use the meter itself.

The Guide has been around for a fair while, with it’s first claim to fame being the “spill proof” capped test strip vials.

Strips can also be easily accessed by simply sliding them out of their place, without having to stick your fingers in there and fumble around for one.

While this meter does use a slightly larger blood sample (0.6uL) compared to my FreeStyle Insulinx (0.3uL) and OneTouch Verio IQ (0.4uL), the accuracy more than makes up for it. Past meters have shown big variances from two consecutive readings, aren’t consistent with other meters, or the readings simply don’t match up with my feelings,. Even on grubby working hands, I have found the Guide’s accuracy to be the most consistent and superior.

I also like that I can see the blood go onto the strip, compared to my previous FreeStyle Lite strips which had me guessing whether it was blood or sweat had gone onto the strips.

My biggest gripe, as with other meters, is the strip fill errors. If I don’t get enough blood on the test strip on the first go, which often happens when I’m quickly trying to check during a red light on my way home, I have no choice but to start over with a fresh strip. Alternatively, both my Optium Xceed (does that meter still exist?) and the FreeStyle Insulinx gave me an additional 60 seconds to apply more blood.

One thing that disappoints me most is that every meter in the AccuChek family uses a different line of test strips. In comparison, the FreeStyle family only has two kinds of strips (to my knowledge). This definitely limits my enthusiasm to trial other meters, and does prove inconvenient when trying to stockpile test strips for spare or travel meters.

The guide comes with AccuChek’s FastClix lancing device, which is pretty damn amazing. Each cartridge change contains six lancets, meaning that I can change my lancet six times by simply sliding the little white knob. Unfortunately, this still does not motivate me to change my lancet any more often! There are also 11 depth settings, making the finger pricking experience pretty comfortable.

By far, my favourite feature of this meter is its Bluetooth connectivity to the AccuChek Connect smartphone app. Every time I check my blood sugar, the reading is wirelessly transferred to the app on my smartphone. The app makes it so convenient for me to review my blood glucose data, without the hassle of having to force myself to sit and upload each meter to my computer with its corresponding USB cable.

When you test your blood sugar as often as I do, you’ll get a nice graph of patterns and time in range, which has been really helpful to me while I’ve been adjusting to my pump break.

The app also has a built in bolus calculator that can be accessed with a single use code from a healthcare professional, however this feature has been recalled in Australia for some time. I’m currently using RapidCalc for bolus calculations on my iPhone while I’m on my pump break, but I would love to integrate my insulin dosing into the Connect app as well.

The biggest tradeoff to the additional features is a faster drain on the meter’s standard coin cell battery. I might get 2 months of battery life from checking my blood sugar 10 times per day on my main meter, alternating between a spare and a FreeStyle Libre as well.

The AccuChek Guide is an amazing, amazing meter that has all the bells and whistles for 21st century diabetes management. It definitely helps keep me feeling excited and motivated in managing my diabetes.

Bells and whistles aside, however, the biggest sell for me is that it’s a meter that I can trust.

It’s definitely worth asking your diabetes educator for one on your next visit.

Like This Post? Share It!

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in: Diabetes Gear, Diabetes Tech, Glucose Monitoring, Multiple Daily Injections Tagged: AccuChek, AccuChek Connect, AccuChek Guide, BGLs, Blood Glucose Meter, Blood Glucose Montioring, FastClix, Lancing Device, RapidCalc

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Frank. Welcome to my blog about life with type 1 diabetes.

RECEIVE NEW POSTS BY E-MAIL

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

Type 1 Writes

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Tweets by FrankSita

RECENT COMMENTS

  • Merinda on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Marijke Duyvendak on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Scott K. Johnson on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Frank on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Frank on New Year, New Blog Post.

THE ARCHIVES

  • January 2023 (1)
  • April 2021 (2)
  • February 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (6)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • October 2020 (3)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (9)
  • June 2020 (6)
  • May 2020 (7)
  • April 2020 (6)
  • March 2020 (3)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (8)
  • December 2019 (6)
  • November 2019 (7)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (10)
  • July 2019 (6)
  • June 2019 (7)
  • May 2019 (7)
  • April 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (9)
  • October 2018 (10)
  • September 2018 (10)
  • August 2018 (12)
  • July 2018 (12)
  • June 2018 (10)
  • May 2018 (10)
  • April 2018 (11)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (10)
  • January 2018 (10)
  • December 2017 (10)
  • November 2017 (10)
  • October 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (10)
  • August 2017 (13)
  • July 2017 (13)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (13)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (11)
  • February 2017 (8)
  • January 2017 (10)
  • December 2016 (6)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (8)
  • September 2016 (9)
  • August 2016 (14)
  • July 2016 (14)
  • June 2016 (14)
  • May 2016 (21)
  • April 2016 (17)
  • March 2016 (14)
  • February 2016 (16)
  • January 2016 (16)
  • December 2015 (13)
  • November 2015 (17)
  • October 2015 (19)
  • September 2015 (19)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (20)
  • June 2015 (18)
  • May 2015 (14)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (1)

CATEGORIES

  • Continuous Glucose Monitors (17)
  • Dealing with Diabetes (112)
  • Diabetes Advocacy (88)
  • Diabetes and Emotions (38)
  • Diabetes and Food (58)
  • Diabetes and Foot Care (1)
  • Diabetes and Healthcare Professionals (51)
  • Diabetes and the Festive Season (17)
  • Diabetes and the Online Community (64)
  • Diabetes and Travel (41)
  • Diabetes at Work (11)
  • Diabetes Blog Week (15)
  • Diabetes Burnout (25)
  • Diabetes Gear (8)
  • Diabetes Musings (314)
  • Diabetes Tech (55)
  • Diagnosis (25)
  • Glucose Monitoring (21)
  • Hypos (22)
  • Insulin Pumps (81)
  • Multiple Daily Injections (35)
  • Peer Support (24)
  • Physical Activity (5)
  • Studying With Diabetes (1)
  • T1 Talk (3)
  • Talking About Diabetes (2)

Copyright © 2023 Type 1 Writes - Diabetes Blog.

Lifestyle WordPress Theme by themehit.com

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: