I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic for a decade. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with diabetes here.
I’ve used various glucose meters, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. Around 6 months ago I was switched TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare by my GP. Here are the Pros and Cons of the TEE2 Glucose Meter:
Pros
It’s easy to use.
It meets the latest coding standards.
No coding is required.
The customer support is brilliant and really responsive. You can telephone a freephone number: 0800 881 5423 or email info@spirit-healthcare.co.uk
The meter shows trends data.
Apparently the testing strips are cheaper for the NHS to buy.
Cons
The meter and its accessories look and feel cheap. For example the zip off the pouch came off in my hand during my first week of use.
It’s around the average size of other meters on the market. But my previous meter was much smaller, making it feel big to me.
The screen isn’t colour like my previous meter.
The date is set in the American-style format: Month-Date, with no option to switch to UK formatting.
No automatic changing of time. You have to manually change time on the meter when clocks go forwards and backwards.
The meter has no connectivity to smartphones. It would have been great to have Bluetooth connectivity that put meter readings into a smartphone App.
The desktop software just wouldn’t work on my iMac. This meant that I would have to go back to recording results using pen and paper in a logbook. No logbook was provided. This again felt like going backwards, as my previous meter did connect to my computer and download test results and trends data to my iMac.
Although the pros and cons for this meter are equal in number, overall this meter has felt like going backwards for me. The TEE2 Glucose Meter feels really limited when compared to my previous meter and other meters on the market right now.
I really wanted to like the TEE2 Glucose Meter and for it to improve my diabetic self-care. But it hasn’t done this. Instead it’s given me more to remember to do (writing results in logbook).
If you have a choice on which Glucose Meter you use, my advice would be to do your research and choose one that is more sophisticated than the TEE2 Glucose Meter. If you don’t have a choice and have been put on the TEE2 Glucose Meter by your GP or Diabetic Specialist Consultant/Nurse my advice would be not to have too high hopes or expectations for it.
I’ve had a lot going on in my head recently, so much so that I decided to write my thoughts out as a mind map. The idea was to offload my thoughts on to the paper. I’ve written this blog post for the same reason. So this blog post is about me and mainly written for me.
Here is the mind map:
A mind map of thoughts to show what’s going on in my head.
As you can see I quickly ran out of room on the paper. So here’s the list of just some of the thoughts going on in my head:
My Brother after his recent spinal surgery – He is now in recovery. I am relieved that his surgery went well. But I worry that he’ll push himself too hard, as sometimes he thinks he’s indestructible.
My friend whose mum recently passed away – It was an expected death. His mum was 87 years old and had been in ill health for the last few months. She’d had a long and happy life and been in good health for most of her life. But it was still his mum. I have thought about my friend and his family often since I heard the news earlier this week.
How good my new Dorothy Morrison candles & oils smell – For several months I’ve been putting in small orders with The Angry Cauldron, ordering a few Dorothy Morrison candles and oils each month. A few weeks ago, I paid combined shipping and my orders arrived earlier on in the week:
Photo above is of my candle collection.Photo above is of my oils chest. Included are Dorothy Morrison limited edition oils and other essential oils.
Need eyes testing – I’ve not had an eye test by an Optician for a while. The Optician has sent two letters. Need to sort this out.
Vodafone letters wrongly stating I owe money – Vodafone have apparently sold a £100 debt of mine to another company. The problem is that I don’t owe Vodafone any money. I left Vodafone two years ago (in May) and everything was paid in full by Direct Debit. I have the bank statements to prove it.
The good time had at Grandma’s 57th Birthday meal – The family met up for my Grandma’s 75th birthday. We went for a meal in one of my favourite restaurants. I had a great time and have found myself frequently thinking of the family and the meal.
Week Off Work – I’ve got a week of annual leave coming up. I can’t wait. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to spend my time during that week off.
My friend’s Wedding in May – I’ve been thinking about what to wear, what to buy as gifts and what to take with me to the hotel (I’ve booked a 2 night stay in the hotel where the wedding is taking place).
What I’d do if I won the euromillions jackpot – The euromillions jackpot has been won quite a few times by UK winners this year. At the moment it keeps rolling over, making the jackpot prize bigger and bigger. So for the last few weeks I’ve been buying tickets and fantasising about what I’d do if I won the euromillions jackpot.
Electricity Final Bill – I misread my final electricity bill from SSE. I saw a credit on my account and not the debt balance that was in green. Easily done. But has meant that I have to find over £200 to pay the final bill.
I’ve left SSE via uSwitch for two reasons. Firstly because they didn’t take enough money by Direct Debt, so I was always in debt with them. I had repeatedly asked them to increase the Direct Debit, but they never did. The second reason was to save £50 per year.
Need to get rid of old sofa – My mum is kindly giving me her old sofa when she gets a new one. This is great because my sofa is on its last legs.
Man with a Van for new sofa – See above.
My Depressive Episode (December 2016 to now) – In December I started having some difficulties with my mood. I put it down to Christmas and being busy. My mood problems continued in January, with me noticing more symptoms. Again I put it down to busyness. In February I started talking to my GP about it. Fast forward to this week and my GP has referred me to my local Community Mental Health Team to review my medication.
The result of this depressive episode is that I’ve been working, eating, bathing, sleeping (terribly) and doing nothing else. Very little reading. Practically no creative output including no writing, no blog posts and even no thinking about them. Depression makes you feel empty, no ideas, no inspiration, no motivation, no energy and no drive.
I have been mediating more often, taking more time to relax and tried to do more of the things that I like.
My car needs a clean – The inside of my car looks like a shanty town. This is one my signs and symptoms of depression.
Candle Making: Pumpkin Spice orange candles – I really want to make a batch of Pumpkin Spice scented orange candles for Samhain (Halloween). I have the perfect jars to put the candles in. But I need supplies and that means I need money. Despite not having the money or energy/motivation to make them now, I like to think about them. How good they would look. How good they would smell.
John Smith from The Dead Zone by Stephen King – I’ve been slowly reading The Dead Zone by Stephen King. It’s about a guy called John Smith who recovers from a coma and can see the future by touching people or things. What I can’t get over is the main character’s name. John Smith. The story makes clear from the outset that he is an average guy. So using such a common place name to represent that he’s an average guy is not required. It strikes me as lazy on King’s behalf. It’s a great story, but is let down by John Smith’s name.
My New Hoover bought on Amazon: VYTRONIX VTBC01 1400w Compact Cyclonic Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner HEPA Hoover
Microwave needs replacing – At home things generally break in threes.
First the hoover started making noises like it was about to explode and take out half of the apartment block with it, so I bought a new one (pictured left) for a bargain price on Amazon. If you’re looking for a new hoover, then this is the one. It’s compact and the suction is powerful. I’ve been really impressed with it and didn’t realise how bad the old hoover actually was.
Since then the mop has snapped and the microwave has stopped heating up food properly and is rusting. So I now need to buy a new mop and microwave.
I feel like the insides of my body are like those of an old man. An old man who has lived a long life of over indulgence.
Maybe six months ago, while attending my GP for a regular medication review he asked for some blood tests. The results came back and the news wasn’t good. I was diagnosed with High cholesterol (Hypercholesterolemia). He starts me on a statin. Statins are medications that reduce cholesterol.
A month ago, another medication review and my GP checks my blood pressure (BP). Not satisfied with the result, he repeats the test several times, getting similar results. It’s high. He puts it down to anxiety, although I’m not particularly anxious. He says he will check it again at my next medication review.
Fast forward to last week, my latest medication review. He checks my BP again and it’s still high. He diagnoses Hypertension (high blood pressure) and starts me on Ramipril, a medication that lowers BP.
Both statins and Ramipril are usually given to 50+ year olds, not someone who is thirty like myself. I do have diabetes (type 1) (see How I was diagnosed with diabetes) and a ‘mood disorder’ (see my life hiatus). I probably don’t eat well enough, carry a little extra weight, don’t exercise enough, I do smoke but rarely drink alcohol. I have a family history sudden cardiac death (SCD). These medications are likely to extend my life. But let’s not kid ourselves, I don’t have a pension and the odds are that I won’t need one.
So although I have to say hello to Hypertension and Hypercholesterolemia, they’re not going to stop me from living an enjoyable and happy life.
I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a decade ago. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes here.
In the last decade not much has changed. I’m still testing my blood sugars 2-3 times a day. I’ve used various BM monitoring meters over this time, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. I’ve recently switched to the TEE2 Blood Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare Ltd which is one of a few that connects to desktop computers and produces reports on BM readings. Tracking trends and so forth. I will review this meter on my blog in due course.
I’m still injecting myself with artificial insulin 4 times a day. I’m still going for annual podiatry checks, annual retinopathy screening and annual diabetic review appointments with my GP and Practice Nurse.
Over the last decade there’s been countless reports in the media of better treatments or even potential cures for diabetes. But so far, nothing has materialised.
My hope for the future is that one day I’ll be healthy again. Let’s hope that the next decade brings better treatments and perhaps even a cure.
