Meters= Diabetes GPS System

TAKE NOTE FDA - This one's for you!

Like all of us, I pay a hell of a lot of money for glucose strips (even with insurance) and I rely on them every single day to stay healthy. I check my numbers between 10 and 15 times a day and I pay hard earned money for those strips - not to mention the fact that I literally and figuratively pay with my blood!

If I bought an antibiotic that might be 10% to 20% of the mark, that would be unacceptable, so why is such a big range “OK” when it comes to my meter?

I consider checking my blood sugar to be my body's own personal GPS system.

I don’t read maps very well and when someone asks me what direction North is, I say "Canada" and point towards the sky, so the whole GPS thing has made my life easier on many levels.

My blood sugar meter and strips are the navigational tools that help me to confirm what where my body is, and what direction it needs to go in.

Sometimes I need to make a sharp turn north towards Canada (when the numbers are dipping fast) and treat a low.

Other times I need to swerve and head south ( here's a visual, I'm currently pointing to the floor and thinking of Florida) when my numbers are going through the roof. I do a correction bolus so I don’t head for the DKA Hills.

The route I love (and prefer) is the road where I’m right on course and all is right in my world.

So here’s the deal FDA- WE,(as in every single person with diabetes) NEED and DEMAND that meters and test strips are accurate. Our health, our livelihoods, and futures depend on it. I It’s hard enough navigating through life with diabetes on a daily basis, but because of these inaccuracies, many of us have to test and test again because the numbers on are meters are somewhere between 10% and 20% off the mark in either direction.

Here’s a crazy thought: IF you pay for something, shouldn’t it work properly?

I don’t know (and I could be little nuts,) maybe I should start paying 10 to 20% less on my yearly taxes? Yes, I pay my accountant boku bucks to figure all that out, but heck, he might be 10% to 20% off in either direction!