Here’s to you, LRF.
If you have Type 1 diabetes, you know what its like to be bled dry. I’m talking about those days when you cannot, for the life of you, get anything to come out of those fingertips, no matter how hard you squeeze and poke. It might be because it’s freezing and you can’t get the blood flowing, or it might be an over-callused favorite finger that you have, but either way its obnoxious. Your meter is blinking “apply sample,” and you’re thinking “No kidding, Meter, but I can’t get a measurable drop of blood outta this finger if my life depended on it. I am borderline ready to grab a machete to finish this job. Freaking bleed before the meter times out!
Luckily for me, I have a secret weapon: Left ring finger. Its like Old Faithful. Dependable, predictable, and always ready to go when I can’t milk any of the others for a measley drop. All I want to do in this blog post is thank my left ring finger. LRF, you always save the day - as evidenced in the photo above. And notice the BG of 92 in the background - BAM! Lexie 1, Diabetes 0. (Only lasted about an hour, but I’ll take it.)
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Comments
I wonder why you use your fingertips? It is painful and over time will damage the nerve endings affecting the ability to feel. I know someone that this happened to. You can use your outer forearm area and the front of the leg above the knee area. I think most moniters give these as options. These spots hurt so much less and are less bothersome in general.
I really enjoyed reading your page for the first time today.
Ellie
Ellie - thanks so much for checking out the site and for your comment. Arm and leg testing are a great alternative to fingertips, but they are proven to be less accurate. For reasons too scientific for me to understand, the blood in the extremities furthest away from your heart (fingertips and toes) contains the most accurate readings of your blood glucose. I have found a variation of 30-50 mg/dL when testing on my arms! Even the meter companies warn that there may be discrepencies, especially when glucose levels are changing rapidly: http://onetouchexpress.com/html/faq.html
Although it may help provide some relief for fingers, I don’t know that I would be able to rely on arm testing all the time. Great suggestion though, and thanks for reading and commenting - great to hear from you!
DiabetesCommunity
Mine’s my right ring finger. Even when it hurts like hell to stick, I can always get blood from it!