January 24, 2009

Prestodigitation

Delaney has been using WaveSense Presto meters for a week or so. As mentioned in an earlier blog entry they have the huge advantage of color. Pink to be precise.

They also have a nice big easy to read screen that is kind of back lit. Big numbers are nice. Particularly in the middle of the night when my eyes are blurry and don’t focus. OK truth be told my eyes don’t focus worth a darn any time of day without reading glasses. But the Presto’s numbers nice and big (just this side of brail) and I can see them.

The meter also seems to be happy with a lot less actual blood. It does fine with little drops that would get an “err 5” from a One Touch.

So far so good.

I said “kind of back lit” because the light is on a timer. It isn’t long enough. About ten seconds after the strip goes in the light goes off. There isn’t a menu option to adjust the delay.

At night when we test - the kids sleep through it most of the time. What I have learned is that there is an order to doing the process. First I get the meter ready with a strip. Next I hold the finger in question in one hand while poking it with the other. I set down the poker and pick up the meter with strip ready to go.

Under no circumstances do I let go of the finger. ‘Cause while the kid is asleep the reflex actions are still going strong. And what is the reflex action to having a sharp needle stuck in the finger? Why to pull away of course. If your kids are like mine it is also to lick the stuck the finger. Parents back me up here am I right?

I also have to put the poky jamoky down on the bed side table with enough care that it doesn’t get away. It wants to. It wants to be under the bed with all the other escaped Poky Jamokies. I think pokies have a better escape committee than Steve McQueen in the Great Escape.

So if I don’t hold the finger with the drop of blood it is going to go away and I have to start all over again. So I NEVER let go of the stuck finger until the test is done.

Now the Presto meter takes a few second to run a test. The say “As fast as 1-2-3®**” Where the ** in real small print says, “** In some conditions test may take as long as 12 seconds.”

At least that is what I think it says - I only have 1.75 power reading glasses on. It is some serious fine print. For all I know it could say, “In some conditions you could be back asleep in 12 seconds.” What ever it says, in real use the meter is as fast, or faster, than any other meter I have used. Of course at 3:00 am I have little sense of how long a second is anyway. It is just a second I am not sleeping.

Where was I? Oh yeah - my point here is that however long the light stays on it isn’t enough time to poke, draw blood, hold the finger so it isn’t wiped off, licked or both, put down the poky where it wont tunnel away under the bed and take all the other testing supplies with it, pick up meter, line up strip and blood, test, wait “1-2-3**” and read the results without the back light going off.

So that is my not so big (even though I wrote an epic about it) gripe - the light doesn’t stay on long enough. Considering we were using One Touch Ultra Minis where there is no back light at all it isn’t the biggest deal in the world.

Oh and a belt loop on the case would be nice. The kids don’t us them but I do. I like the batman utility belt look.

2 comments :

  1. Press the center button to bring the light back on.

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  2. This is one of the main reasons I love the Freestyle Lite. Middle of the night checks are so much easier. On the Freestyle the strip itself lights up while you apply the blood. Once it's got enough blood then the screen lights up to display the number.

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