And you could cut your strips in half the long way to extend the supply! For truly strip-hoarding has been with us since the beginning.
On edit: Or to put it another way, ever since there have been strips, there have never been enough of 'em!
And you could cut your strips in half the long way to extend the supply! For truly strip-hoarding has been with us since the beginning.
On edit: Or to put it another way, ever since there have been strips, there have never been enough of 'em!
I hated that device! the protruding part would break off periodically, and the thing hurt since it didn’t retract the lancet after punctures.
Good picture of the Chem-Strip system. In January of 1984, I Ieft the hospital with a vial of NPH insulin, some disposable syringes, a tube of those test strips as well as the infamous guillotine. The actual visual brutality of the lancet device seemed small in comparison to the massive reality of dealing with insulin dependent diabetes.
I still call my test strips chem strips.
I think technically we were supposed to change the “platform” after every use. Of course nobody did! I think my “guillotines” came with 10 platforms each, and I would on average break one or two every year, so after ten years I had gone through them all, and then I found out they didn’t sell the platforms anymore.
I also remember there were two colors of platforms for slightly different poking depths… Um, blue and yellow I think?
They had also given me I think 200 lancets with the guillotines. After ten years I still had many lancets left :-). At the teaching hospital where they showed me home bg testing, they recommended cleaning the lancet after every use in alcohol (or… possibly… what was the name of that cleaning solution used to wash glass insulin syringes? Oh man, drawing a blank) but of course I never did at home.
After breaking my last platform I “updated” to a chintzy lightweight BD lancet… those lasted me on average about a month before I destroyed it ! Just chintzy and lightweight plastic.
Tim
I “loved” these, as I have a bit of color-blindness, plus I swear I would frequently get the top color @ 200 and the bottom color @ 80 (or vice versa).
I have red-green color weakness also. I am glad meters that read the strips became availible.Diagnosed in1958 I remember clinitest tablets, testtape which to me remained the same or turned black, chemstrips and then various meters.
Have several old Meters most which have never been used. Understanding that the cost of meter is nothing compared to strips, but if anyone wants any of these, let me know:
Accu-Check II
Accu-Check Aviva Plus
Accu-Check Active
BD Logic
Prodigy AutoCode
and also an IR Mate 210 with 9 pin serial connector to download Accu-Check
You know because our fingers are retractable! I recall that I always pulled my finger away from it, however my parents started to hold my hand for safety!
My first one was the Boehringer Mannheim Refloma AKA the orange box…
This guy have an electric cord that you need to plug it into an outlet
Check this article for meters history, which have some images as well: Ahistory of blood glucose meters and their rolein self-monitoring of diabetes mellitus
Thanks!! This is a wonderful history.