[[0002]] Shiny new things

I figured my first proper blog post should be about my blood test kit... something pretty damn important when have diabetes. 

I'll be honest with you all, I have NOT been the greatest diabetic of all time (maybe not the worst, but definitely not that great either) and I would typically only do blood test readings whenever I was poorly with a bug or cold, or when I was having a hypo, to make sure I was having a hypo. I've never really liked any of my blood test kits, or I would use them for a week and ignore them as I got run down with life, work, stress and so on. SO yes, I own up to the fact I haven't been great and that my eyes and partly my right foot are not all the blame of stress, even though that has been a major factor.

Shiny new box for my GlucoMen Areo 2K blood test metre.

I know I mentioned in my opening post that I went into hospital in October, and while I was there, I met one of the nurses from the diabetes team at my local hospital. I had had a concern that my old kit was not reading my bloods as well as it could have, in comparison to the hospital kit, so she brought me this shiny new one (quite literally, look at that box!)  

Indeed, I was dubious at first, but when I got home, I realised just what the newer blood kits could do. This one in particular, the GlucoMan Areo 2K is able to use NFC to transfer all the blood results over to my phone, so I can see my results instead of writing them down in paper or blood test books (which I would ALWAYS lose). I can also include the amount of insulin I have done and the amount of carbs I've eaten (but I will save that for another entry, carb counting is a whole new ball game I'll be introduced to in February!)

In typical Queenie fashion, and thanks to the fiance somehow having badges in his bag when he saw me in hospital, I decorated the kit appropriately, as shown... gotta have some geeky Pokemon on there, and hey, might encourage me to use it some more!

It is a bit bulkier than my last blood test kit, but to be honest, I actually like how it works and what it does. The fact everything can be put on my phone means the little scientist in me can see graphs of my pretty results as well as see my average blood results over time and standard deviation of all my results too (thank you University of Lincoln for teaching me something haha!) It also means I can see trends and ultimately (as I am still learning), I'll be able to see trends with the things I eat and the insulin that I do, so I can better control my blood sugars. 

Bar graph showing blood results over a period of a month. 

I've taken a screen shot of one of the graphs from the period of 05/12/2019 to 05/01/2019 to show you all! (And yes, this makes me a little bit excited, how sad haha!!!) Personally, I like the bar graphs because they are pretty and colourful and I kind of figured it be one of the easier things to explain as well.

What are blood test results?

SO, to start with, type 1 diabetics don't produce insulin, and long story short, insulin is needed to deal with glucose levels in the blood. Without insulin, the level of sugar in the blood rises (so after eating food or drinking certain drinks), which can lead to Hi blood sugar levels, also known as hyperglycaemia. Prolonged exposure to high levels of blood sugar can lead to problems later in life, for example, diabetic retinopathy, in which small blood vessels leak fluid into the back of eyes, which can lead to blindness. So, diabetics use blood test results to see what their sugar levels are and can therefore act accordingly.

How is blood glucose measured?

So blood test results can range from anything between Hi (reaching above 30mmol/L, can you believe) and Lo, which I think one of the lowest blood readings I've had since I was diagnosed has to be 0.5mmol/L, but that was a long time ago. I guess I should explain the measurement, mmol/L (millimoles/litre)... I think there are a couple of different measurements that you can use, for example mg/dL (milligram/decilitre), but I've always stuck to what I've known since I was a child. 

An adult without type 1 diabetes, should have an average of 4.0-5.4mmol/L blood glucose level, which if you look at the graph, would be around the middle between 0 and 10. In my case, that doesn't necessarily always happen, and this could be due to many MANY different factors.

Why are Queenies results EVERYWHERE?

So if you've been looking at the graph, you can see that the little bars are here there and everywhere. So firstly, you will notice that there is a high reading a low reading, indicated by a dotted line across the graph space. Low level is any result less than 4.0mmol/L and if this happens, sugar must be administered to bring levels back to a normal range. 

Te high level is marked at 15.0mmol/L for me. This varies per individual, alas after my time in hospital, the nurses were always happy when I got a result less than 15, so it just kind of stuck. 

This 15 doesn't mean that is what my average should be though. 15.0mmol/L is pretty bad, and for a long period of time over the last fifteen years, my averages have tended to be 11.5mmol/L. Because of this, the nurses at my local doctors surgery have tried to help me make my averages into single figures, so my average blood glucose aim for me is between 5.0-10.0mmol/L.

My blood sugars are all over the place for many reasons, either not doing enough insulin with a meal, or doing too much and not finishing my food, misjudging my level of physical exercise but a lot of the time, the results which are above 20 are usually because I've suddenly become very stressed or anxious... one of the biggest problems in my life as a diabetic.

How do you do a blood test?

It is so so easy to do a blood test nowadays, and kits have come such a long way since the older days. You have a finger prick device, which you dial back, hold against your finger and press a button and a tiny needles punches your finger drawing a small blob of blood. You then drop this on the blood test strip which is connected to the machine, it counts for five seconds and boom, you have your result! So simple, I might even do a little video of it one day to show you all! 

SO yeah, I have come to love this little piece of technology and I am getting better and better at using it, considering my years of hardly blood testing at all. And recently, I saw how much this has paid off, alas I am rambling now, so I shall leave this entry here for now, but please come back for more int he future! Also, feel free to ask me any questions in the comments, and I will answer them for you as soon as I can!