plonq | Stabity stab

I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor today to go over the results of my sleep study, and to get an update on how things were going with my new medication. He tested my blood pressure again, and while it has not gone down, neither has it gone up. I fall right in that zone of "high, but not alarmingly high".

The other thing he did was write a note for the pharmacy to set me up with one of those stabby machines so that I can start measuring my blood sugar level. He had apparently intended to send me home with one on my last visit, but I guess it slipped his mind, and even though I was surprised by that, I did not exactly broach the subject. "Hey, did you want me to start stabbing myself and take glucose measurements on whatever spurts out of my body?"

The pharmacist stabbed me in the finger to show me how it worked. It hurt. I think she had it cranked up to Maximum Cruelty setting, so I may adjust that down a bit when I start using it myself.

The doctor has recommended that I take 2-3 readings a day. I know that some of you reading this are experienced with this stuff, so I was curious if you could give me some pointers. When do you typically take the readings? I am thinking first thing in the morning so that I can get a "fasting" reading, again before dinner, and then a couple of hours after dinner. Do you tend to trade off fingers and hands for the stabbing so as to not build up calluses, and to share the misery between fingers?

Once again I left my picture of the day until the last minute, and ended up grabbing a shot of one of the cats - my go-to subjects for when I leave it until late. Rather than dabbling in software effects like I have been doing lately, I went completely old-school with this one, and I like the result. I think the picture actually benefits from the fact that I shot it with my phone because the lens added some distortion that my DSLR might not have done.