Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Device

I know hate is a strong word, and you’re not supposed to hate anything—only dislike it a little. Hate can come back to bite you. But since hate is already biting me, I think it’s an okay emotion to have in this circumstance.

I hate my lancing device.

And I’m not just speaking metaphorically here. I don’t hate it because of what it represents or how many times a day I have to use it. I literally hate it.

I use the Freestyle blood meter, which I love. I bruise really easily and testing just once on a finger can leave a black and blue mark over my whole fingerprint for a week. When I was told about Freestyle by a wise doctor during my diagnosis hospital visit, I immediately (upon being released and sent home) began my research and bought one. With Freestyle, you can test on your arm and multiple other sites. I usually test on my arm, but I will do my finger or my palm in low moments.

I started with the large-sized meter, which had a large-sized lancing device. When Freestyle came out with the Flash meter that was half the size and weight, I bought that, too. It came with a little lancing device—which I disliked immediately. It was more cheaply made and broke within a week. I ordered another one from Freestyle, thinking I just got a bum one, but the second one broke within a week, too. I went back to using my old, larger lancing device and I was very happy.

Well, in a moment of kindness, I gave my large lancing device to someone else and went back to a small one. Freestyle has a new meter out that doesn’t require coding and I got a free one at a health fair. The strips are a lot more expensive, though, so I decided not to make the jump to it yet. I did take the lancing device from the box, though, and that’s what I’m using now.

And I hate it.

It’s still cheaply made and something is seriously wrong with the spring device on it. It doesn’t gently tap my skin and produce a little drop of blood. It gouges into my arm and leaves a gaping hole that scabs over or turns purple. My arm looks like it was attacked by a million tiny venomous spiders who all bit me at the same time, all within an area the size of a quarter.

I called Freestyle to order the larger lancing device, but I’m still waiting for it. I’ve seen generic devices at the drugstore that don’t necessarily go with any particular meter and I’m thinking I may be heading there this weekend to pick one up—although I just put in a mail order for 300 more lancets that work in my current device. Oh, the dilemma. And the hate.

As always, more to come…