RE: Dropping sugar level

March 24, 2006

and I'm glad they do subsidize the Voicemate.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>

>> Dee,

>>

>> What I don't get is why it's so difficult to have a talking glucometer.

>> The

>> talking part of the technology is already there, and we already have

>> talking

>> thermometers and such, so why the difficulty with talking glucometers is

>> beyond me. Probably it's about money and licensing of technology. And

>> then

>> when we do get something it's 10 times the actual expense because the

>> market

>> allows the blind (or insert the infirmity of your choice here) to be

>> gouged

>> because " you're a very small minority. " But we're a growing minority

>> aren't

>> we? Oh well, off my soapbox, I need it to do laundry.

>>

>> Bill

>>

March 24, 2006

HI Bill:

I agree with you that technology certainly ought to be cheaper and

affordable. The problem is that the folks that invent this technology that

we have today know that if we need it bad enough we'll find a way to get it.

Until that changes the prices are not going to come down. Or, until there is

competition out there with more than one brand of talking glucose meter that

we can use independently and that is accurate, we're going to be smacked

with huge price tags whenever we need to buy that technology.

I don't like it either. After having had to jump through hoop after hoop of

fire just to get my own Voicemate I can sure sympathize with anyone who

needs any type of adaptive technology and has to struggle in order to get

it.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

> Mike,

>

> I know that " gouged " and " allowed " are very loaded words. But it just

> seems

> like anytime there's technology for the blind or visually impaired it's

> _ALWAYS_ expensive, and most people that might benefit from it are on

> fixed

> incomes well below a level where they could afford such technology. It's

> almost as if the companies that do business for such products figure that

> all blind people are just loaded with goo-gobs of money and they'll charge

> what the market can bear. A good example is the Owaysis phone. In England

> the phone costs very little compared to what it costs here in the States.

> Wonder why that is? I've seen startup technology companies at exhibits

> show

> off their products costing thousands more than their competition yet

> presenting the attitude of " well, you Americans can afford it. " Same is

> true

> of medications that people in other countries get for next to nothing, yet

> we bear all the cost of research and development here. This is a soapbox

> that I don't want to stay on here and I don't want to convolute this board

> with political arguments, but I think technology could be cheaper which

> would sell more product, and it could be more uniformly priced from

> country

> to country instead of simply " sticking it " to the U.S. Just my 2 cents

> worth.

>

> Bill Powers

>

March 24, 2006

Hi Mike:

I considered the Prodigy when I was having so many problems getting the

Voicemate. If I remember correctly, doesn't the Prodigy also require a

sighted person's assistance in order to calibrate it, too?

bob made some comment about the Prodigy and told me to go ahead and buy the

Voicemate. I'm glad that I held out for insurance on that one even if it

turned into a royal pain in the neck.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>

>>>> Becky,

>>>>

>>>> Unfortunately it's not always possible to take a glucometer everywhere

>>>> I

>>> go,

>>>> like to a grocery store, for example, which is where the last episode

>>>> occurred. Though I wasn't able to test the BG level right there, yet

>>>> took

>>> a

>>>> glucose tablet, when I got home I tested my BG level and it was indeed

>>>> within normal limits. So if it had been high for some reason, it wasn't

>>>> within about half an hour from the onset of that episode. I surely

>>>> would

>>>> have thought that the sugar would go high and I thought about how I

>>>> might

>>>> feel better when the sugar reached an abnormal high as can happen, but

>>> from

>>>> this experience I can only deduce the sugar was too low and had been

>>>> bolstered by the glucose tablet. If another such episode should happen,

>>>> I

>>>> will have to pay more attention to details and tell my doctor about

>>>> that

>>>> episode, too. Meanwhile, this remains a mystery. I guess stranger

>>>> things

>>>> have happened though.

>>>>

>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>

March 24, 2006

You're welcome, Bill.

Here at home I have a coffee can that I use to drain grease off of meat and

I toss the used strips and lancets in there. I figure no one is going to

want them after they've been in that. LOL!

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

> Becky,

>

> Good idea on relabeling the bottle to take out in public. Thanks for

> another

> idea that is workable.

>

> Big Bill

>

March 24, 2006

Mike,

I have very good hand and arm strength but I could not re-open it, no one

else that tried could either. It was sealed for good. At least it did what

it was supposed to.

Bill

March 25, 2006

Hi Mike:

I'll keep my Voicemate, thank you, because I am totally independent when

using it and I like it. However, if the price ever does become affordable on

the Asenso I might pick it up as a travel meter, or spare. I do have another

meter but Bob has to operate it, thus making it attractive for me to pick up

the Voicemate, bulky or not, and go with it.

Like some other folks on this list, I have seen technology evolve in a big

way over the years and am glad of it even while I curse the manufacturers

that want my leg and arm in exchange for that technology. When I think back

and wonder how any of us would have tested twenty, thirty, or forty years

ago, I am thankful for the technology that we have today because with this

technology, no matter the cost, we do have a better way of managing our own

Diabetes and managing it more independently.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>

>>> Mike,

>>>

>>> I know that " gouged " and " allowed " are very loaded words. But it just

>>> seems

>>> like anytime there's technology for the blind or visually impaired it's

>>> _ALWAYS_ expensive, and most people that might benefit from it are on

>>> fixed

>>> incomes well below a level where they could afford such technology. It's

>>> almost as if the companies that do business for such products figure

>>> that

>>> all blind people are just loaded with goo-gobs of money and they'll

>>> charge

>>> what the market can bear. A good example is the Owaysis phone. In

>>> England

>>> the phone costs very little compared to what it costs here in the

>>> States.

>>> Wonder why that is? I've seen startup technology companies at exhibits

>>> show

>>> off their products costing thousands more than their competition yet

>>> presenting the attitude of " well, you Americans can afford it. " Same is

>>> true

>>> of medications that people in other countries get for next to nothing,

>>> yet

>>> we bear all the cost of research and development here. This is a soapbox

>>> that I don't want to stay on here and I don't want to convolute this

>>> board

>>> with political arguments, but I think technology could be cheaper which

>>> would sell more product, and it could be more uniformly priced from

>>> country

>>> to country instead of simply " sticking it " to the U.S. Just my 2 cents

>>> worth.

>>>

>>> Bill Powers

>>>

March 25, 2006

HI Mike:

I agree with you regarding the Voicemate. When you consider that I searched

the house until I found a working cassette recorder and then listened to the

manual and assembled my Voicemate without any sighted help whatsoever, its

easy to see why the Prodigy turned both me and Bob off because of the fact

that it isn't totally accessible. I can see where the Prodigy would be nice

for someone with limited funds and uncooperative insurance.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>>>

>>>>>> Becky,

>>>>>>

>>>>>> Unfortunately it's not always possible to take a glucometer

>>>>>> everywhere

>>>>>> I

>>>>> go,

>>>>>> like to a grocery store, for example, which is where the last episode

>>>>>> occurred. Though I wasn't able to test the BG level right there, yet

>>>>>> took

>>>>> a

>>>>>> glucose tablet, when I got home I tested my BG level and it was

>>>>>> indeed

>>>>>> within normal limits. So if it had been high for some reason, it

>>>>>> wasn't

>>>>>> within about half an hour from the onset of that episode. I surely

>>>>>> would

>>>>>> have thought that the sugar would go high and I thought about how I

>>>>>> might

>>>>>> feel better when the sugar reached an abnormal high as can happen,

>>>>>> but

>>>>> from

>>>>>> this experience I can only deduce the sugar was too low and had been

>>>>>> bolstered by the glucose tablet. If another such episode should

>>>>>> happen,

>>>>>> I

>>>>>> will have to pay more attention to details and tell my doctor about

>>>>>> that

>>>>>> episode, too. Meanwhile, this remains a mystery. I guess stranger

>>>>>> things

>>>>>> have happened though.

>>>>>>

>>>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>>>

March 25, 2006

Hi Mike:

You are right. When I worked for the city's sewer division we received calls

about disposing of needles, etc, all of the time. Our refuse collection

division was no help either and to this day I have no clue what the laws

state regarding disposal of needles, etc. What's even stranger about this is

that neither the dietician, the nurse practitioner, my former doctor, the

pharmacy where I purchased my first box of lancets, has even so much as

asked me what I'm doing with the used items.

I have to go to the grocery tomorrow (groan) and I'll stop by the pharmacy

counter and see if they even know what the state's laws are and take

appropriate action.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>

>>>

>>> Becky,

>>>

>>> Good idea for putting used lancets and all into a coffee can with

>>> grease.

>>> I

>>> have one of those containers you can buy in the drug store especially

>>> meant

>>> to dispose of lancets and test strips and they will certainly hold a lot

>>> of

>>> them. Big drawback to those though, as I found out the hard way. I

>>> accidentally closed it just a little too snugly one day and they only

>>> close

>>> once never to be opened again. You kinda have to keep them not quite

>>> closed

>>> until you absolutely want to dispose of the whole thing. Well, I'm more

>>> careful with my second container....

>>>

>>> Bill

>>>

March 25, 2006

Hi Mike:

After I wrote my last post the Accu-check manual actually recommends using

an old coffee can for disposing of used lancets and strips.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

> You should be able to drop your strips and lancets thru the slots in the

> container.

>

> Mike

>

>> You are right about your drain can being cheaper. These containers aren't

>> that expensive but as I say, once you close them, bye-bye container.

>>

>> Bill

>>

March 25, 2006

Becky:

I agre with you wholeheartedly. I don't know how blind diabetics managed

their diabetes prior to the advent of talking blood glucose monitors.

But then diabetics in general didn't manage the disease to the standard

that is " best practice " now. I also like my Voicemate--this one isn't

flaky as my last unit was-- and don't mind carrying it around. But then

I didn't mind portable radios with tubes, either (yes, they existed and

I still use one occasionally). I'll probably get a SensoCard, though,

assuming the strips are covered by my insurance, if for no other reason

than curiosity. But I'm happy with my VoiceMate.

Mike

> Hi Mike:

>

> I'll keep my Voicemate, thank you, because I am totally independent when

> using it and I like it. However, if the price ever does become affordable on

> the Asenso I might pick it up as a travel meter, or spare. I do have another

> meter but Bob has to operate it, thus making it attractive for me to pick up

> the Voicemate, bulky or not, and go with it.

>

> Like some other folks on this list, I have seen technology evolve in a big

> way over the years and am glad of it even while I curse the manufacturers

> that want my leg and arm in exchange for that technology. When I think back

> and wonder how any of us would have tested twenty, thirty, or forty years

> ago, I am thankful for the technology that we have today because with this

> technology, no matter the cost, we do have a better way of managing our own

> Diabetes and managing it more independently.

>

> Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

> maddpoodle27@...

> Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>

>>>> Mike,

>>>>

>>>> I know that " gouged " and " allowed " are very loaded words. But it just

>>>> seems

>>>> like anytime there's technology for the blind or visually impaired it's

>>>> _ALWAYS_ expensive, and most people that might benefit from it are on

>>>> fixed

>>>> incomes well below a level where they could afford such technology. It's

>>>> almost as if the companies that do business for such products figure

>>>> that

>>>> all blind people are just loaded with goo-gobs of money and they'll

>>>> charge

>>>> what the market can bear. A good example is the Owaysis phone. In

>>>> England

>>>> the phone costs very little compared to what it costs here in the

>>>> States.

>>>> Wonder why that is? I've seen startup technology companies at exhibits

>>>> show

>>>> off their products costing thousands more than their competition yet

>>>> presenting the attitude of " well, you Americans can afford it. " Same is

>>>> true

>>>> of medications that people in other countries get for next to nothing,

>>>> yet

>>>> we bear all the cost of research and development here. This is a soapbox

>>>> that I don't want to stay on here and I don't want to convolute this

>>>> board

>>>> with political arguments, but I think technology could be cheaper which

>>>> would sell more product, and it could be more uniformly priced from

>>>> country

>>>> to country instead of simply " sticking it " to the U.S. Just my 2 cents

>>>> worth.

>>>>

>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>

March 25, 2006

Becky:

I also assembled and started using the VoiceMate unaided. Like you,

though, I did know how to use a meter as I was taught to use an AccuChek

Advantage in the hospital even if I had to have a sighted person read

it. (The C D E knew there were talking meters but didn't know where to

find one; I did and bought mine over the phone while still in the

hospital).

Mike

> HI Mike:

>

> I agree with you regarding the Voicemate. When you consider that I searched

> the house until I found a working cassette recorder and then listened to the

> manual and assembled my Voicemate without any sighted help whatsoever, its

> easy to see why the Prodigy turned both me and Bob off because of the fact

> that it isn't totally accessible. I can see where the Prodigy would be nice

> for someone with limited funds and uncooperative insurance.

>

> Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

> maddpoodle27@...

> Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Becky,

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Unfortunately it's not always possible to take a glucometer

>>>>>>> everywhere

>>>>>>> I

>>>>>> go,

>>>>>>> like to a grocery store, for example, which is where the last episode

>>>>>>> occurred. Though I wasn't able to test the BG level right there, yet

>>>>>>> took

>>>>>> a

>>>>>>> glucose tablet, when I got home I tested my BG level and it was

>>>>>>> indeed

>>>>>>> within normal limits. So if it had been high for some reason, it

>>>>>>> wasn't

>>>>>>> within about half an hour from the onset of that episode. I surely

>>>>>>> would

>>>>>>> have thought that the sugar would go high and I thought about how I

>>>>>>> might

>>>>>>> feel better when the sugar reached an abnormal high as can happen,

>>>>>>> but

>>>>>> from

>>>>>>> this experience I can only deduce the sugar was too low and had been

>>>>>>> bolstered by the glucose tablet. If another such episode should

>>>>>>> happen,

>>>>>>> I

>>>>>>> will have to pay more attention to details and tell my doctor about

>>>>>>> that

>>>>>>> episode, too. Meanwhile, this remains a mystery. I guess stranger

>>>>>>> things

>>>>>>> have happened though.

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>>>>

March 25, 2006

Hi Mike:

I used to lug around a TV/radio years ago and it was bigger than my

Voicemate. I figure that if I could haul around that radio for my listening

pleasure I can sure pick up the Voicemate and take it with me for my health.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>>

>>>>> Mike,

>>>>>

>>>>> I know that " gouged " and " allowed " are very loaded words. But it just

>>>>> seems

>>>>> like anytime there's technology for the blind or visually impaired

>>>>> it's

>>>>> _ALWAYS_ expensive, and most people that might benefit from it are on

>>>>> fixed

>>>>> incomes well below a level where they could afford such technology.

>>>>> It's

>>>>> almost as if the companies that do business for such products figure

>>>>> that

>>>>> all blind people are just loaded with goo-gobs of money and they'll

>>>>> charge

>>>>> what the market can bear. A good example is the Owaysis phone. In

>>>>> England

>>>>> the phone costs very little compared to what it costs here in the

>>>>> States.

>>>>> Wonder why that is? I've seen startup technology companies at exhibits

>>>>> show

>>>>> off their products costing thousands more than their competition yet

>>>>> presenting the attitude of " well, you Americans can afford it. " Same

>>>>> is

>>>>> true

>>>>> of medications that people in other countries get for next to nothing,

>>>>> yet

>>>>> we bear all the cost of research and development here. This is a

>>>>> soapbox

>>>>> that I don't want to stay on here and I don't want to convolute this

>>>>> board

>>>>> with political arguments, but I think technology could be cheaper

>>>>> which

>>>>> would sell more product, and it could be more uniformly priced from

>>>>> country

>>>>> to country instead of simply " sticking it " to the U.S. Just my 2 cents

>>>>> worth.

>>>>>

>>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>>

March 25, 2006

HI Mike:

I learned how to use my Voicemate between reading the manual and Bob reading

the print edition and then supervising and coaching until I figured out how

to get the blood onto the strip. The biggest problem that we had was that

the lancets sent by the medical supply company were too short for the

Asensia Contour lancing device and didn't fit the Soft click supplied with

the Voicemate. Once we solved that issue it didn't take me long to get the

blood where it was supposed to be and to get my results.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: Dropping sugar level

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> Becky,

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> Unfortunately it's not always possible to take a glucometer

>>>>>>>> everywhere

>>>>>>>> I

>>>>>>> go,

>>>>>>>> like to a grocery store, for example, which is where the last

>>>>>>>> episode

>>>>>>>> occurred. Though I wasn't able to test the BG level right there,

>>>>>>>> yet

>>>>>>>> took

>>>>>>> a

>>>>>>>> glucose tablet, when I got home I tested my BG level and it was

>>>>>>>> indeed

>>>>>>>> within normal limits. So if it had been high for some reason, it

>>>>>>>> wasn't

>>>>>>>> within about half an hour from the onset of that episode. I surely

>>>>>>>> would

>>>>>>>> have thought that the sugar would go high and I thought about how I

>>>>>>>> might

>>>>>>>> feel better when the sugar reached an abnormal high as can happen,

>>>>>>>> but

>>>>>>> from

>>>>>>>> this experience I can only deduce the sugar was too low and had

>>>>>>>> been

>>>>>>>> bolstered by the glucose tablet. If another such episode should

>>>>>>>> happen,

>>>>>>>> I

>>>>>>>> will have to pay more attention to details and tell my doctor about

>>>>>>>> that

>>>>>>>> episode, too. Meanwhile, this remains a mystery. I guess stranger

>>>>>>>> things

>>>>>>>> have happened though.

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>> Bill Powers

>>>>>>>>

March 25, 2006

Hi, Mike

I can tell you how I managed without glucose meters! And... That is not

well; although I am still alive after going through all those years of

testing urine with tablets and/or strips. Very inaccurate, but we did not

know that at he time. Also, I remember glass syringes and needles you had

to sharpen yourself on a little stone and then boil to sterilize. ly,

we did not even know that it carbs were the main culprit in raising blood

sugar-we thought that it was the total of calories. I knew some diabetic

that ate very little meat (the old kidneys will be destroyed theory) ad ate

almost all carbs and fats! Most of them are still not with us.