That was the term I used to describe it. I have earned the right to make fun of old people because…I am old. 
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Tina Turner, EmmyLou Harris, Jessica Lange are all Grandma’s.
Harrison Ford, Kiefer Sutherland, and Pierce Brosnan are all Grandpa’s.
I’m old too. 
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Hey, I’m a 65 y.o. Grandpa and I think it looks pretty cool. Almost as cool as my first one.
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Ok - I’m stumped. What is it, what brand? Was it based on the colorimetric system?
It’s an AccuChek BG c.1981. About 8"x3 1/2"x1 1/2". Strips about the length and width of your pinky finger.
Under strip to calibrate. Remove strip and place a large(!) drop of blood on the reagent pad. Count to thirty. Wipe it off with cotton(not a tissue, but cotton), place in holder and close it, push button, wait 30 seconds and, viola! You get a number. Might even be fairly close.
Yes it is colorimetric.
I recall my first glucometer must have been the Accu Chek II; it looked just like the Accu Chek II. What a heavy bulky device it was!
Here’s a historical perspective:
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/centers/BarbaraDavis/Documents/teaching-keystone2009/Owens_1.pdf
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No $hit. Both parties go to the principles office. Both parties serve detention. Both parties complain about what an a$$hole the principle is. You end up getting along by the time your sentence is over.
Yeah - playground life used to be simple.
Today lawyers probably get involved in playground fights.
Speaking of old-school meters, I came across this article about how a man considered himself “brittle” because he was using a wonky old BG meter for 10 years:
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I was cyber bullied in an online diabetes support group.i guess that makes me a cyber wussy. Oh well…
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OK Sam, we all know what happened there - in the other online diabetes support group. What happened to you there was not right; the admins addressed the situation poorly. I apologize if my comment offended you.
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That’s truly messed up. However, it is understandable. Many diabetics may not consider that strips expire, must be kept at reasonable temperatures…etc.
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LH you couldn’t offend me if you tried;) I’m just joking around and making light of it
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Sounds like a challenge…
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The only two Contour Next meters I’ve used are the Next USB and the Next One. I like to have a backup meter for travel, so, two of each. They all agree with each other to within 5% when tested. I’m a fan.
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Totally agree. And the price of the meters on Amazon is pretty darn low. Apparently (obviously?) the profit comes from the strips with the meters being (likely) sold at discounted prices to get you into the strip stream.
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Yup, the old razor blade, and film pricing trick. Years ago when I worked at Polaroid, it was similar in that the film was the profit center. The new models of cameras were developed and introduced to sell new films. The profit margins on those instant films were HUGE. (Ink cartridges and printers are based on the same model too).
I object to the test strips being priced so that they are enormously profitable for the corporations that make them. BG testing is life saving. People’s lives and health can literally depend on them. The other ones, razor, printer cartridges, films are not immediately life saving or threatening applications. In theory, these aforementioned items are not life saving necessities. (Certainly someone can make the argument that BG testing is a luxury and not a necessity. However, perhaps one of the many reasons that some diabetics suffer from health complications is the lack of diligent BG testing.)
Can we form a lobby group, or a politcal action committee or something like it? It is in the best interest of society as a whole if diabetics can manage the condition well. It would lead to overall decrease in health costs. The cost of test strips compared to amputations, kidney failure, DKA hospitalization…etc are minimal. Yet for some, the cost of test strips deters them from frequent testing.
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Yep, a Contour Next One on Amazon is going for $13 with Prime delivery. But, if you simply call Ascencia and ask they will send you your first One free. At least that was true last January. My reason for needing a second meter as an emergency backup is pure intellectual laziness - so I don’t find myself in, like Spain, and having to purchase a meter that is in mmol.
For test strips that is not necessary. The free market works just fine.
How much lower can the price be than $.20/strip? The free market prices them there on Amazon or eBay.
If insulin was taken off prescription I suspect the same thing would happen. The free market works like that.
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I’ve heard that certain types of insulin are available without prescription from Walmart, but they are not the bolus types of insulin.
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Yes. Regular and NPH, as discussed in the forum previously, are available at Wal-Mart and other outlets at $25/vial without a prescription. It is a valuable, if imperfect, safety net.
If novolog was to be taken off of prescription it wouldn’t take long before it was $25/vial at Wal-Mart instead of $300 at your local pharmacy.
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