As meters go, he wasn't very "fancy" or revered,& the young meter felt that he had little to offer the world. He wasn't an Omnipod, One Touch, or Reveal...and couldn't directly beam readings into the pump of choice. He had no fancy backlight.( for the popcorn chewing, diet-coke swagging,testing-in-the-dark patron with diabetes) Yes he was small,& cute,but in the cutthroat world of diabetes technology where does that ever get you? In despair,the young meter wished to be run over by the nearest 2,000+ lb vehicle but as a case of last resort,decided to pay a visit to the oldest (and wisest) resident of Meterville.
Grandfather Accuchek...the very first meter of them all. Grandfather Accuchek possessed more knowledge then any of the other meters,for it was he that had trained that young PWD oh-so-many years ago. The young meter loved to listen to Grandfather's stories(of diabetes care back in the '90's) for it made him feel shiny,young,& special...not just another generic meter.
"What can I do for you today,oh young one?"
"Oh Grandfather, I need a special function,for all of the other meters are so much better then I. I don't have a backlight,manage pump info, or are waterproof. If I had a superpower,like being able to instantly analyze the carb content of any given food that would give me some credence,but I'm just another dumb,useless meter!"
The old meter looked at the younger one & sighed. "You have much to learn,young Meterwan. Listen to your owner, for the day may come that YOU are the meter of the hour."
"Yeah,right. I'm just trash!" moped the young meter. And he went away angry,that the older meter would not help him.
One day,there was quite the commotion in the land of Meterville. A big diabetes Exposition was going on,& all the brightest & best meters were selected to attend,to represent just how far technology had really come. The young meter watched the other meters leave,& cried bitter tears that he wasn't going to.
But then came that night....that terrible,terrible night. At 1 am,young meter was awoken by sweaty,shaky hands grabbing,jabbing,trying to insert a test strip into him by the light of the hallway haze.
49.
Young meter wanted to scream out "Eat Sugar!" but seconds later was knocked onto the floor in the PWD's mad rush to do just that.
56.
Picked up again,he could feel the hypoglycemic heartbeat madly vibrate to his own inner core. The minutes,& hours passed...and the heartbeat slowed, the sweat cooled,and shaking fingers slowly uncurled as the body fell into a sleep of exhaustion.
That day,the young meter learned that it's not so much the fancy features of a device...it's the ability to do the job.(that ultimately matters) In a pinch,you need a meter that delivers.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Love this Heidi. :-)
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