Who carries your blood glucose monitoring kit? You? Sure, that seems likely. Do you stick it in your purse or a man bag (or man purse or murse)? Does your kit find its way around town in a workbag, lunch bag, gym bag, or fanny pack? How about a messenger bag or other such satchel, perhaps on your bike or scooter compartment or a saddlebag on your hog? Do you hide your kit on your person, trapped perhaps in your bra (really?)? Or how about in your coat, cargo shorts, shirt, or baggy pants pocket?
Maybe a loved one totes it, or maybe your dog is equipped with a vest, into which you stick your kit? Or you choose to not carry one when you leave the house. You decide, against common kit-carrying sense, to leave it behind more often than not because — and let’s face it — these kits of ours can be a burden.
Lately I’ve been dealing with the kit carry conundrum. Ever since switching to the Animas OneTouch Ping with the meter-remote, I’ve found myself feeling the proverbial weight of a larger kit. It looms, this new kit, a little less in size than a paperback, there always I see it, in its zipper and velcro blackness. It lingers on my desk or dresser or nightstand, and when I leave the house, I must remember it.
Well, wait. That’s not entirely true. It’s not that I must remember it. But I ought to, because the meter-remote is the true record of my blood glucose checks. And from the meter-remote I can bolus to correct, or enter my carbs for a meal, all without having to remove my insulin pump. That’s a convenience I like. It’s the size of the convenience I don’t.
Sure, I have other kits. Smaller kits. I keep a spare in my gym bag. I have an older meter and some out-of-date strips at the office. My wife, in her benevolence, carries a OneTouch Meter in her purse; at least, that is, when she’s carrying her purse. Which isn’t really a purse. It’s a Timbuk2 bag. And that she doesn’t always carry. See, Kathryn’s a nothing-in-my-pocket kinda gal, a woman who prefers the convenience of less — give her a small travel bag with just enough room for phone, license, and a few cards, and she’s good. Or better yet, have her carry nothing at all and she’s over the moon.
My kit be damned.
I guess I could request more kits from manufacturers. I could come up with more stories about how I’d like to sample certain meters to see what the differences are. You know, don’t you, that meters are often given away by companies. Just ask. Go on, try it. They want you to switch to their meter, and they’ll happily eat the cost of a meter because, once you’re hooked, they have you for those dollar-a-strip strips. And I use about eight a day.
I’ve done it many times before, asked for meters. It’s why I have two extra OneTouch meters. But I need a couple dozen more stashed in strategic locations about town. One for the car (but what about the heat?), one for the gym, for work, for the local brewery to keep behind the bar.
Or I suck it up and keep lugging the suitcase that contains my OneTouch meter-remote.
My life, dear readers, is hard.