A Lesson in Technique

I would describe it as heavy.  It's that feeling you get in your stomach when hope is shattered, your sense of control slips away, and despair starts creeping into your bones.  258 mg/dL.......this was the reading on the glucometer after testing my 2 year old's blood sugar. 

Sure, he had just indulged in a peanut butter sandwich with honey, but 258 is still outside of the normal postprandial (after meal) glucose range.  I was 2 when I was diagnosed, and I began to believe that my son and I had more in common than looks.

After consulting with his pediatrician, we headed for the ER to have blood drawn.  Thankfully, they were not busy on this particular Sunday afternoon, and we marched straight back to the lab.  Several tears and a prized rubber lizard later, we trod right back the way we came and waited for the phone to ring.

Just 20 minutes later, the doctor called back with a stunning report.  His glucose was 98!
"No diabetes.  Could have been a number of things, but I would certainly calibrate your meter.  That's the most likely culprit."

An uncalibrated meter; there was no way that could be it.  I use that meter everyday.  It's more accurate than my wristwatch.  Then it hit me like a rigid palm swatting a mosquito: I failed to wash the boy's hands.  He just finished handling a sandwich with honey on it, and I tested his blood sugar without washing his hands!  Consequently, the sugar on his sticky fingertip transmitted to the test strip and created a false reading.

I recount this story as a reminder to myself to stick with the fundamentals.  Just as a baseball player in a slump must review his technique and return to the basics, diabetics must also audit their practices and stick with gold standard recommendations.  They are the result of much study, research, and hard work, and are a great resource to avoid costly mistakes like the one I made.

I will plug JDRF and ADA here, as I have before, as the best places to go for valid info and up-to-date resources.  Stay the course; and let's be less than seven, greater than low!