Like most of you reading, I live a diabetes life 24 X7 - And I’m OK with that, for the most part.
Yes, I want a cure sooner rather than later and yes diabetes is a pain in the ass both literally and figuratively, but diabetes is a part of life and we do what we must in order to make a go of this life - diabetes nor not.
Still, Diabetes weirdness always comes into play.
For instance, I save my used test strips & diabetes supplies and put them in an empty detergent bottle instead of a Sharpie's container.
I used to fill up empty 1 liter seltzer bottles with used test strips & lancets and jokingly call them my Test Strip Bottle Art.
And you should have seen my pharmacists face when I dropped them off to be disposed!
But a few months back, I decided to switched it up and challenge myself to filling up a 50 fl ounces instead of a measly 33
and started adding used pump supplies in the mix - just for shits and giggles ~
Yes, I’m damn near obsessive when it comes to putting my used test strips, pump supplies, lancets, etc. in that ALL bottle!
And as that bottle continues to get heavier and darn near filled to the tip top, I have this really weird sense of pride & accomplishment.
It’s like filling that ALL bottle reminds me that I’m accomplishing my job as my own artificial pancreas.
It’s stupid really, it’s just an empty bottle of ALL, after all. Nobody’s grading me on if or when it gets filled, or how long it takes me to complete that task. But when it’s finally filled to the top and I drop it off at my pharmacy for proper disposal, I want shout out loud from the roof tops: I DID THAT, BITCHES!!!
Total diabetes weirdness? Yes, of course it is. But it makes proud (and psychologically, it might even make me test more, but I doubt it) and filling that bottle of ALL makes me smile :)
Maybe the next container I fill with used diabetes supplies should be an empty 2 -liter bottle of Diet Coke.
But since I don’t drink soda, I’ll leave that task for Mr. Scott K. Johnson to consider!
What's your "diabetes weirdness?"
Posts
10 comments:
Challenge accepted! :-)
We used to do the same thing! Not stupid at all! In fact, we still have a bunch of containers full of D used syringes and lancets. Saving them for future art projects, I think.
How about a Costco-sized container of some sort?
That's great that your pharmacy will dispose of the supplies for you. Neither our pharmacy nor our hospital, endo's office or pediatrician's office will handle the disposal for us.
Oh I has to laugh cause Grace fills one of those giant cat litter bottles, the TidyCat ones, every 3 months! To the brim! I lug that sucker into her endo every 3 months and slam it into the red bag. It feels great. We get odd looks from people on the street as we lug it in, but hey.
Diabetes weirdness??? I collect all her night time test strips in a bowl in her room, on her bureau. I empty only every 3 months or so. It gives me a view that I am lucky enough I get to test her at night and reassurance that she is alive. I know, weird, but it does it for me. A giant bowl of test strips.
I don't know about weirdness, but funny dinner guest story. We had a family over for dinner last w/e. They made a german chocolate cake. Joe is testing, I am getting ready to unwrap the cake and doesn't he strike a "squirter"...blood is spewing all over our kitchen island. Thank God the saran wrap was protecting the cake. Otherwise, just Joe and I woulda eaten it. LOL. The guests were horrified btw...not into blood I suppose.
Hi! thanks for writing this- I thought I was alone with this "weirdness!" I work at a school and have the other diabetic students contributing to the test strip soda bottle(not Diet Coke!). The nurse thought I was crazy - but to see the kids reactions when we filled it the first time was awesome! I want to display the bottles for the whole school to see... The lancets would add a little more color to the mix! An awareness campaign for the month of November!
My curbside recycling picks up those kind of disposable items, and I used to just stuff them into any empty bottles or containers going out. After my several-month MDI journey last year, I started using an empty milk jug and that's what I use most of the time now. But yes, laundry detergent containers have been filled up on this end before (Diet Coke bottles, too!)
I am doing a collection of test strips. From Feb to August I will collect them (they are pretty blue colour) in a shoe box, then transform them all into...something :P got to do something for the upcoming art exhibition! :)
Never considered a laundry bottle, bood one. We fill up Diet RootBeer Bottles in our house-o-D's. Cheers!
I like collecting the little blue needle protective covers from the insulin pen needles. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but It will definitely be some sort of awesome art project! I can't wait to have an original piece of diabetic art!
I use a medium sized sharps container and fill it to the brim every few months. I, too, feel a satisfaction when filling each container. I then bring it to the local hospital where they dispose of it.
Post a Comment