16.4

My BG may have been 16.4 with no explanation, but still a nice drive back from a meeting.

De-cluttering diabetes – meter cases

So I haven’t posted for a while. As mentioned before, I am pretty busy with work, study and planning a wedding.

A few weeks ago, I got a new OneTouch Verio IQ (still my favourite meter) because my old Verio IQ just decided to stop working. With the meter, of course came a black case to store the meter.

There are a number of good reads about of the lack of quality meter cases, especially those that come with the product. They are often boring, girly to men. and not suited to the practicalities of diabetes.

It’s hard to find a good case for blood glucose meters, and it is even harder to find a good case for guys to carry around. I am still using a Moleskin Case, but it’s not perfect. If anyone knows of a great diabetes meter case for men, let me know!

Anyway, the case that I got with my new Verio IQ? I threw it out.

Tonight I had a look at my diabetes shelf in the storage (miscellaneous) cupboard at home. I found NINE black meter cases that have been accumulated over the years. Verio. Verio IQ. iBG Star. Optium. Some Accu-Chek meter that I can’t remember the name of.

 

Time to stop hoarding. I am going to get rid of these diabetes cases that have sat unused for years. I feel bad just throwing these out. It feels wasteful, but a quick google search suggests that these do not fit the bill for what can be donated to diabetes charities!

Next on the list for de-cluttering diabetes – full sharps containers and old lancing devices.

Tree

Playing with photos in the pathology waiting room for my HbA1c test.

Link

I’ve mentioned before (somewhat seriously, somewhat jokingly) that insulin pumps should come with the game of Tetris pre-installed. This would made the device just about perfect. Yesterday I came across this article of how Tetris was made, which is super interesting reading!

Drizzly Melbourne

Things to get rid of…

Whilst I haven’t been blogging all that much recently, I’ve developed a bit of an interest in productivity and time management – in particular, the Getting Things Done methodology. I have by no means perfected it, but I’m making progress.

Through this, I came across an article 37 Things In Your Home To Get Rid Of Right Now. I’m certainly guilty of things found in the list like office supplies you never use (I quite like stationary), plastic storage containers without lids and plastic grocery bags in the cupboard. I think I counted that I am guilty of 16 of the 37 in that list. 

I also realised that it is quite easy to accumulate a wide range of diabetes stuff and had a think about all the pointless diabetes things I have floating around my house/car/work. This is compiled into a David Letterman style top-10 list below: 

1. Sample packets of lancets for unused lancing devices that came with meters
2. Black cases for BGL meters, dating back to about 1997. Why do I never throw these away?
3. Unfilled log books that don’t serve a purpose now due to Carelink. My endo used to give me a new log book for each visit and I seems to have stockpiled them over the years. 
4. Dead batteries from meters/pump.
5. Full sharps containers. 
6. Old dietary advice from diagnosis – think photocopied pieces of paper and handwritten notes from the late 90’s.
7. Test strips. Everywhere. 
8. Meters that no longer work – I’ve got some really old Accu-chek meters that are completely broken. They serve no purpose, yet I still keep them. 
9. Business cards of health care professionals with appointments dated on them from a long time ago. 
10. Old software that never quite worked for me. Accu-Chek 360 was decent software, but that adapter cable was a nightmare. There were others too.

I’m sure there are more. What diabetes things do you have around the place that you should really get rid of? 

Tetris on skyscrapers…

Here is what Tetris looks like played on a skyscraper.

Next step – insulin pumps.

Thursday Tunes – The Intermission Project

So to mix things up from diabetes talk, I’m going to try and post a song most/some Thursday’s, to give people an insight into what I’m listening to at the minute. It should end up being quite a good exercise and give a sense of my slightly eclectic and diverse musical taste.

First up: The Intermission Project.

FebFast – The Halfway Pint…er…Point.

As I wrote in my last blog, I have decided to do Febafast, which means I am going a month – albeit a short month – without alcohol. This has both fitness and economic rationale, but moreover a chance to objectively look at the role that alcohol plays in my life.

I’m about halfway into the month and I can honestly say that I have not really missed alcohol at all. Sure, there have been times where I wouldn’t have minded a beer, but I haven’t craved one.

I’ve also identified 5 or 6 times in 14 or so date where I normally would have had a drink. Almost a third feels like a lot when you look at it that way. Whilst that might be just a beer here or there, it’s interesting to think about. This included a few casual lunches on weekends, a friend’s 30th birthday, attendance at a soccer game, attendance at a Hawthorn FC game and a few other events. I enjoyed myself at these occasions as I normally would and noticably, I didn’t wake up with a sore head after the 30th.

It has been pretty hard to manage though. I’m probably drinking more diet coke than I normally would, but it’s been a welcome break from the booze that is providing some handy perspective.

Let’s see how the coming fortnight goes!