Without even thinking about it, I touched the tip of my right index finger to the very hot stove, trying to clean off some spillage. I was on the phone with my dad and immediately said, "Ow!" "What's wrong?!" he asked. "Oh nothing, just burned myself on the stove. This was about 2 weeks ago. My clumsiness strikes again.
A couple days later, the blister that had formed and swelled finally busted and allowed me to peel back the dead skin. (I'm sorry, I know this is very TMI on a Monday morning.) But the finger is still not well enough to use for testing. I've written before about how between the regular 6-8 tests/day along with calibrating/quieting Constance, I am testing a lot more. So I've had to expand my finger testing arsenal to all 10 fingers, including the very sensitive index and thumb fingers.
You'd think that having only 9 fingers available instead of 10 wouldn't be that big of a deal. But just like on a sports team when one player is out, the rest of the team has to pick up their slack. And I can tell that the other 9 fingers are ready for the other finger to come back on the field. The poor middle and ring fingers take the brunt of the testings (especially the middle of the night tests when I don't have the mental alertness to check all fingers for the least calloused). And with getting through the holidays with all the carb-loaded goodies, testing has been at an all time high. So it was like going into the championship game with a tired team.
I'd say the injured finger still has a couple of days before it returns to the rotation. And even then, it will have a few days of physical therapy, if you will, so it won't come back full force. We diabetics always hear about how we're supposed to take care of our extremities, especially our feet. But I think special care needs to be given towards our hands, as well. Because when you're testing as much as 8-10 times/day, having one finger out of commission makes for a very weak testing team.
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About Me
- Holly
- My name is Holly and I live in north Alabama with my hubby, two cats, and a dog.
I try to cycle through my fingers, testing on one side, then on each side of the tip, then other side of each finger to try and give them healing time. I usually can manage to get about 4 "sites" on each finger without having to repeat offend, and leave the extreme tip (and highly sensitive) area of each finger alone. I also leave my thumb alone, generally. It's not an exact science, but it's cut down on the calluses and dry pricks (i.e., pricking and getting no blood).
ReplyDeleteI only use my left hand because I am too lame to hold the lancing device with my left hand so my right hand holds and my lefty bleeds.
ReplyDeleteI am very careful with my feet but I never think of my hands too. Good advice.
I have a similar story, involving two fingers from my left hand and some hot browned sugar (but isn't there sugar always involved?!?!).
ReplyDeleteIn normal circumstances, lefty holds and righty bleeds, but I was checking into hospital to get my pump fitted in a week, try testing almost every hour with two fingers out of the game.