Kim,
Rule # 6 - never ever ever let anyone else poke your finger!
If a nurse is insistent that she must do it, what you do is just quickly jab your own finger before she can say anything or stop you, and then extend the bloody finger out for her to test with. What is she gonna do, refuse to use it?
If she refuses, you say, “Oh, wrong finger?” and then you quickly jab all 5 fingers and extend 5 bloody fingers out to her.
There is really no reason they can’t let you do it yourself. Power trip, I think.
I learned this lesson the hard way while in the hospital delivering my baby - I bruise easily (even on the shallowest setting, which doesn’t even always get me enough blood), so my fingers were a mass of bruises with the nurses poking with their lancing device. I finally asked if I could just do the pokes myself with my device, which was better, but the damage was already done!
When I read the Rule #6 post out loud to @EricH this evening he said “that man is a national treasure.” And you know, I think he’s on to something. At least we have laughter, even when the doctors get you me down.
(Also, I must’ve missed rules one through five.)
(Also, also, we should all make our own lists! Like diabetes lists. My friends who know me call them “Rantafestos” and I have many. One for houseguests, one for students, one for other drivers. I certainly should have a rantafesto for diabetes care.)
Oh man. That sounds rough @Pianoplayer7008. Thanks to you and @Eric we know what to look out for! I’m sure all those nurses didn’t actually want to hurt you, and they were probably really thankful when you did it yourself and it worked!
I know they didn’t do it intentionally, but OUCH. I was definitely on the fence about letting them do any of my diabetes care during/after labor, but being so new to everything, I wasn’t confident I could deal with it while trying to have a baby. I only freaked the nurse out once by eating half a full-sugar popsicle (I needed something for my queasy stomach during labor, and I can’t have alternative sweeteners). And got fussed at for eating food, but I bolused properly for it; it was fine…
When we take Liam to the Endo, they always jab his pad with their huge lancets…I finally got to the point where I tell them, “I will prick him”…and I pull out my small lancet device set at 2 depth, get the blood, and let them scoop it up. People have no regard or empathy sometimes.
That’s another thing - why do they always choose the pads of your finger?! So much more painful, and if you bruise like me, makes grabbing and touching things painful for days after.
One word…empathy. Some of them don’t have it. Many times we’re just another person that’s on their checklist of things that have to be done so that they can go home.
