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Living with Diabetes

Has this ever happened to you?

3/28/2019 by mySugr

Has this ever happened to you?

One thing constant in this very inconstant world of diabetes is the need to stick your finger and check your blood glucose levels.

Some people check multiple times a day, others use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and thus only have to check occasionally. Whether you fall in the type 1 camp, or type 2, or LADA, or even MODY, at some point in time we all come to that place. You know the one. The place where you stand clenching your teeth, squeezing your finger, and setting the lancets at break-neck pace to impale our war-torn phalanges in the hopes of getting that needle JUST deep enough to gain us the blood we need without feeling like we’ve harpooned our digits to the point of gushing or (gasp) needing a band-aid after. And sometimes, if we erred a bit too much on the side of caution with the needle, we give ourselves a good firm squeeze and…oops! The blood shoots straight across the room. We’ve all done it. Literally. All of us. Been there, done that, and have the blood-splattered t-shirt to show for it.

#FunnyNotFunny

Our own resident contributor Heather D. Nelson describes a funny story with her son, as follows. “My son and his twin little brothers were raucously laughing in the bathroom after their showers. Being a good mom, I snuck around the corner to try and catch a video of what I just knew was a heartwarming moment. Instead, I found them full on belly-laughing as big brother discovered the hot shower allowed him to squeeze his finger hard enough to let the blood squirt the mirror from a lancing site used earlier in the day…straight to the mirror.” Ahhhh motherhood. Raising a kid with his own type 1 diabetes monster is no joke, but you have to embrace the humor in these absurd times of seeing a kid just being a kid.
FACT: Squirts don’t happen often, but there are a few ways to prevent them altogether. Ease up on the squeezing, adjust your lancing device, and check out this blog post by our own Ilka Gdanietz for tips to avoid the pain of it all. If you find yourself accidentally squirting your best BG material across the room, be prepared for some unexpected bruising too. It’s not too common these days with the invent of newer, smaller, lancing needles, but it can happen. So in our effort to help ‘make diabetes suck less’, here are a few tips to help prevent any additional pain:
  1. Change your lancet often. (if you can’t remember when you last did it, do it now).
  2. Rotate your sites. (we know, we know, you have a favorite pinky finger. But give it a rest!)
  3. Apply IMMEDIATE pressure to the site to halt the blood flow and reduce infection risk.
  4. Do not attempt to write your name on the bathroom mirror. You aren’t 5, after all. ?
Sure, if CSI came to our home with a blacklight we’d have some explaining to do, but at least you can have a quick laugh in the meantime. Got a funny story about squirting finger sticks, join us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and share your #FunnyNotFunny experiences with us.

The mySugr website does not provide medical or legal advice. mySugr blog articles are not scientific articles, but intended for informational purposes only.
Medical or nutritional information on the mySugr website is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a physician or health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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