Giveaway: The Bloody Diabetic

So. You know my fingers. My heavily callused fingers. My heavily callused fingers that became that way from decades of pricking them with a sharp needle. My heavily callused fingers that I squeeze blood from at least eight times a day. Have you ever wondered what I do with the excess blood lingering on those fingers following a blood test? Or, have you just assumed I use Kleenex or an alcohol swap or something else of that ilk. That would, after all, be the logical, un-gross thing to do right.

Yeah. That’s not me.

I like efficiency when it comes to blood testing, and adding an extra, in my opinion, useless step cuts down on said efficiency. I understand having to wash my hands prior to a test (which I do about 80 per cent of the time) but cleaning up with an alcohol swab post test, why would I do that – when I’ve got my mouth!

Yes folks, I am that person, that diabetic, I am 100 per cent a blood sucker! Not because I like the taste, most times, when it’s just a little droplet, I don’t taste a thing, but when it’s a large glob, ugh, the metallic taste filling my mouth, totally disgusting! But, it’s convenient. I’ve never been one to wipe the blood on my clothes, I cherish them far too much for that, I do wipe it on my hands sometimes, but most times, straight in the mouth that finger goes.

Like nail biting, which I broke free of 6 years ago, it’s a habit I wish I could break.

Diabetic Dabs *might* be the solution.

Diabetic Dabs are non-toxic, highly absorbent sheets designed to easily fit into any blood testing kit. They’re made by a mom of a young boy with T-1 D. The company sent me out a box to try, and you know what, I liked them. They were easy to use, convenient for the most part, and totally fun! I mean, it was like art time every time I tested.

I call it The Bloody Diabetic

But the problem, for me, was in that I don’t carry a proper meter case. For several years now, I’ve either stuffed my meter, strips and lancet device into a pocket in my purse, or most recently a small Coach pouch my moms got me a few years back. I find the cases cumbersome, annoying, and space taker uppers in my purse. So, when the company sent the dabs out to try, do you think I could find my proper case? Nope. I looked everywhere, in my wardrobe, desk drawers, nightstand, storage, but couldn’t find it anywhere. (I probably threw it out.)

I did, however, find another meter case that was suitable. So, for a week, I carried a separate case in my purse that  stored the dabs, which are equipped with sticky tape to attach to the inside of the case, as well as my Coach pouch containing my actual meter – now that was a full purse!

Stack o’ Dabs

And for a week I didn’t taste that nasty metallic in my mouth… well, actually, that’s a lie. Some habits are just too hard to break!

Shh… don’t tell Buffy 😀

But hey, maybe I’m just a diabetic weirdo! If you do carry a meter case, and if you do want a package of Diabetic Dabs of your own, or if you’re not a diabetic but want to hang out with the cool kids and pretend you’re a diabetic (I don’t judge 😉 ) the company has sent two cases for me to give away. You’ve got two chances to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post, prior to Thursday, March 20, telling me how you clean the blood from your finger… or how you’d like too!
2. Tweet this post out to the Twitter Verse: RT: @princessopavmnt: I don’t want to be a blood sucker, I want Diabetic Dabs.

The winner will be announced Thursday, March 20.

The legal stuff: The company sent me a box of Diabetic Dabs for free to review on my blog, but they did not tell me what to write. All words posted here are, as always, my own.