I've been feeling fatigue and some other discomfort for a while. They are mild and don't really affect my daily activities, but with a history of diabetes in my family, I think it would be better to take extra precautions. My father is a diabetic and he has a portable blood sugar meter, so during my last visit, I asked him if I could use it.
He set up the meter, loaded it with a test strip, wet a tissue paper with rubbing alcohol, had the lancet(a sterile pointed needle) ready, and then it was time to collect a blood droplet from one of my fingertips. I always hate this part. Even though I'd done it before, still I had to ask my father “It won't hurt, right?”
“No, it feels just like a mosquito bite,” my father replied.
“Yeah right,” I said to myself, but I still hoped it wouldn't hurt. He twisted the pen-like lancet device, made sure the puncturing mechanism was active, and handed it to me. I placed the device on the tip of my left middle finger, looked away and pressed the button. “Click” and a tiny sting, blood started to come out of my fingertip. I waited a while for the blood to form a small droplet, transferred it to the tip of the test strip, and checked the readout. Nothing happened other than a constant flashing on the screen of the meter.
“Hum.... Maybe this test strip is bad. Let me load another one,” my father said. So I had to do it again. This time, I switched to my left ring finger. “Click” and a sting, well, still nothing. My father looked really puzzled and mumbled “How can this be? They were not opened....” He searched his drawer for a while, found a box of test strips, took a look and said “Ah! I'm sorry. I used wrong test strips.”
“What do you mean you used wrong test strips?” I frowned.
“I got those from work because they were throwing them out,” he then opened the box and said, “these are new ones.”
“Are you sure you got the right one this time?”
“Yes, I'm sure!”
So I had to do it yet again. This time, I switched back to my left middle finger. To be sure it'd work better, I increased the strength of the lancet device.
“Ouch!”
My father helped me collect blood this time. Finally, a beep from the meter and it was done. Thirty seconds later I got the result. Well, let me just say I'm very healthy.
