Did I Seriously, Really, Actually Forget My Glucometer?
July 28, 2007 by Kendra James, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
I thought I had lost my glucometer this week. I arrived at the beach on Monday morning 
and could not find it anywhere. I know I had packed it and even double checked before I left my house, but guess what? It wasn’t there!
So, what did I do you ask? I ate exactly what I was supposed to. Well, except for that one ice cream sundae, which was so worth it! I ate my low carb cereal bar in the morning and my yogurt, low carb of course, and fruit for lunch. I had a salad with a small portion of a carb and protein for dinner and nuts for a snack. I even through in some popcorn. Oh, how I love popcorn!
So when I arrived home to find that my glucometer was actually in the trunk of my mini van under a towel, yeah I had it the whole time, I was pleased to see it read 114. Yeah, I did all right! So moral to the story? No, I guess it isn’t leave your glucometer behind, but maybe I should eat like that always. No cheating here or there, not that I do that much besides an occasional piece of cheesecake thanks to my friend Debbie, but stick to what I know works.
So yeah, no one is perfect and this certified diabetic educating cardiac nurse left her glucometer laying in the trunk of a 95 degree mini van for 5 days, but all is well and I made it through. I wish I could say the same for the very low illumination on the LCD screen of my glucometer, but that is another story isn’t it? Have a great weekend!
A CDE should know that “cooking” a meter & strips can lead to erroneous readings.
But it sounds like the 114mg/dl reading was taken at face-value, meaning everything was OK.
But was it really?
It’s most likely that after being in the hot car for 5 days that the strips are shot & even the meter would be questionable (witness the dim display commented on).
Time to check the meter against another or a-lab reading, at the very least.
Then there’s the fact that without a meter to keep tabs on bg’s, she was eating things that were surely destined to drive bg’s up (Ice cream sundae, fruit & popcorn).
All this kind of shakes my faith in CDE’s.
Hey Roger,
Thanks for the comment! Popcorn and I do great together, usually. I have never had a problem eating th natural pop stuff, maybe it is just my weird body but…
. Not that bad? Anyway, fruit… I find this topic interesting. Most diabetics stay clear of this but it is perfectly acceptable to have a half of banana or half of an apple. I don’t do the raisins, grapes, figs and oranges. But I have a half of a nana every day! Always have, especially after finding out I was diabetic. So, I am not saying go eat all the fruit and ice cream and the whole darn bag of popcorn, but there is something to be said about eating what works for YOU! I know my limitations and I also know that I still eat my 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day, and WITHOUT them my bs goes way up. I hope you are having a great weekend.
“but stick to what I know works” for me. Everybody is different but this is what is ok in my body. And a sundae here or there isn’t the worst thing, at least I don’t think so, and believe me when I say my kids consumed most of it, and it was sugar free ice cream as a base
PS- I checked my bs on my backup glucometer and it read 98 so I think I was in the clear, this time! Thanks for the tip though!
Kendra