I must admit that I have far too many glucose meters. For me It all started back in 1994 with the OneTouch II. the test strips were huge and required a 10 microliter sample size. That's 10x what the newest OneTouch meters require, and 20x more than most Freestyle meters require, yikes! It's a wonder how i didn't bleed to death. Another quirky thing about this meter was that it required you to "clean test area", that's right, a big round sensor was right there in the open to get dirty and dusty. My second meter was the OneTouch Profile, now for it's time this was one snazzy meter (keep the oos and aws to a minimum please), but still nothing revolutionary.

Many years later I stumbled upon the all mighty (and all tiny) OneTouch Ultra! Now this was the first time in diabetes land that I was truly impressed. This meter used new small strips that used (what seemed like at the time) the tiniest amount of blood draw-able. And it was fun because it looked like a little alien head, gotta love that.

Now I stayed with the Ultra for a good 7 or 8 years until i got a OneTouch UltraSmart. This fancy thing was like having a little diabetes PDA that also tested your bloodsugar. Graphs, averages by time of day, by meal, carb entry, doctor visit entry, medicine entry. It was really amazing. T

he only thing that could really drag me away from the UltraSmart meter was the teeny tiny OneTouch UltraMini. Now, initially it only came in silver, but shortly after they released black, pink (more like red), and lime green, then again a year later another release of purple, and blue. I ended up with silver, two reds, and a purple, and in my opinion the purple is the most attractive (and i usually don't like purple, it's just a beautiful shade).

Finally a couple of months ago MiniMed sent me a OneTouch UltraLink that wireless (and immediately) sends my readings to my insulin pump, where I can then take a correction bolus from that number (more in the Insulin Pump tab). Lastly I'll add that for whatever reason, over the years I have also ended up with two OneTouch Ultra2 meters, and a Freestyle Freedom Lite.

Basically, if you have any meter questions ask away, I have plenty of experience.

Well, here she is, Pumpy. I love Pumpy and (usually) she loves me too. Okay i'll stop referring to it as a her, for your sanity. Anyway, it is a MiniMed Paradigm 722. I have been using this pump for almost 2 years now (and a MiniMed 508 for 4 years before that).

For my first 5 years of pump therapy I used the Quick-Set infusion set. This one has a 6mm (or 9mm depending on your preference) soft Teflon cannula that goes straight in (not angled). This is a very popular infusion set, most diabetics I know use this one...but to each his own. This worked out alright for me but I always felt a little bit of discomfort, I figured it was normal, until I decided to ask my doctor about it. My doctor said the discomfort was probably caused by the teflon 'tickling' muscle tissue when I was dancing (which is most days).

From there, we decided to try the Silhouette. This one has a slightly longer cannula length but it goes in at a 30 degree angle. I give this one a try and immediately knew it wasn't going to work. My biggest complaint was (oddly enough) with the construction, not so much the actual comfort. Because of it's angle, you could actually see the site at which the cannula goes in your skin, which I won't deny is a benefit of this set because you can directly see if irritation occurs. The problem I had was that there was an opening in the adhesive dressing that (in my opinion) left my open "wound" exposed to the elements (and any other germies i may encounter). They assured me that this was fine and caused no potential threat but I just couldn't deal with seeing that thing open all the time. ...next...

Finally I called MiniMed directly to ask them about which they suggest. They told me I may prefer the Sure-T because it causes less irritation due to the fact that the cannula is metal instead of teflon. (which sometimes causes a minor allergic reaction or irritation). This set also has (what I named) an "anchor" which is another part stuck to you that does NOT enter the skin. It's just there so that if you, say, drop your pump it won't yank your site out, it will just tug on that anchor. The fact that the cannula is metal is surprisingly much more comfortable than the flexible teflon

Here I am on to trying another infusion set, the Sof-Set. This one has very little adhesive on the actual set, but comes with two extra adhesives to lay over the site. This set has a teflon cannula, and is extremely small on your body due to it's small clear wings (as opposed to a circle of white adhesive). So far I really like them, we'll see how it goes!

In the summer of 2008 I decided to order something I had been waiting for since I was diagnosed at 10 years old, a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS). I can't even begin to describe to you the level of my excitement, it was out of this world. After using this gadget for quite a few months now let me explain why, although extremely handy and useful, it's not as magical as it sounds. Let me start by first describing to you the process of using this little guy.

To begin, let me start with the introduction needle (the needle that directs the sensor under your skin), it is one of the most wicked i've seen my entire 15 years of diabetes. Now keep in mind this needle is removed right away, it isn't intended to stay in your skin, but it still cause for holding your breath while pressing the trigger button.

Once the sensor is in you have to wait a good half hour to let the sensor soak up some fluid (they call this the wetting period). After that you can attach the wireless transmitter (that's the white clam shaped part). Once that is done you tell your insulin pump that the sensor is on and good to go. Now have to keep your bloodsugar stable and in a healthy range for the next 2 hours for calibration (not an easy feat i might add). Once this is done you will see your continuous readings, that is until 6 hours from then when you will need to be stable again for another calibration, and then another after 12 hours, and every 12 hours after that.

Now, I do NOT want to turn you off to the CGMS, not by any means, I just want to demystify the way it is viewed as a 'cure-all'. It is surely not. What will the CGMS do? I will show you trends in your glucose levels, meaning you can overlay graphs (provided via the CareLink software) and notice if you rise at the same time every day. This may suggest you need to reassess your basal rates. Another Thing is is great for are high and low warnings. It will alarm you if you drop too low, or too high. I especially love this at night! No more waking up 300 because of a miscalculation in carbs the night before, instead my pump will alarm when I reach 170, I wake up, test on a meter (always do this, never correct based on the CGM reading), and correct before it's a problem. This also goes the same way for lows.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.