I got an email from a reader about her son this week and thought I’d throw the question out to the community to see if we can get any other ideas (Aaron has already contributed a few). Can you guys help with this please?
T is 14 and when we go out, his supplies are in a bag that gets slung over his shoulder – well, his Dad’s shoulder actually. But he is now at that age when he doesn’t want to have to carry a ‘man bag’ with him. I guess it is just not cool.
But there is not way I let him go off with his mates without his jelly beans and meter.
Aaron, as an adult male, what do you do with your supplies when out and about? Do you have a bag of some sort, or do you try to wear clothing that you can stuff the pockets with supplies, including the meter? Or do you just not take the meter, but make sure you have sugar of some sort and rely on the fact that you will feel low and just treat without testing?
My ten cents is to get T either a Freestyle Lite meter or a Performa Nano, both of which are tiny and would fit in a pocket easily. You could portion off say ten test strips and put them in a small sealable plastic bag. Mentos now do a family pack of mini tubes of sweets so he could chuck one of them in his pocket and he’s away…. still not ideal to have a pocket full of D stuff before he even thinks about a phone and a wallet though. It’s a shame they don’t make smaller insulin pens too. I’m sure the BeingDiabetic community can come up with something better than my idea though, particularly those with boys around the same age.
On a totally different subject: I went to see my diabetes nurse specialist yesterday. I spoke to Aaron on the phone last night and he tells me this is old news but I was fascinated when he took my HbA1c by using one of those mini plastic things with a small drop of blood from my finger – result five minutes later. This is the first time I’d encountered this – amazing! When he told me he was going to measure my HbA1c I thought he was going to send me to the blood lab…. and we all know how well that last one went for me.
Have a wonderful weekend people.
Nic
Posted in Community, Hypos & Hypers, Kids & Teens, Medical Services, Monitoring
Tagged as HbA1c
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16 comments have been made on this post
Scott S wrote
I recently wrote about this topic (in May 2010) and there were some interesting suggestions in the comments I received on this posting. Have a look at it at http://bit.ly/blqru2 . Happy reading!
Michael Hoskins wrote
Great topic! I actually am planning to write one before long on the very topic of D-Fashion for Men… But in my case, I carry one of the little black zip up cases that’s about the size of an older PDA device. Has my meter, strips, finger poker, bottle of insulin, a couple needles. In the colder months, I carry a sleeve of GlucTabs in my coat/jacket pocket. In warmer times, have a keychain holder that holds 4 tabs for me to take with me wherever I might go.
Renata Porter wrote
My son carries one of those string sports bags that you wear like a backpack. It’s light weight and not bulky. He uses the freestle meter and then he has all of his back up hypo supplies in there as well. As a matter of fact if you look at all of his pictures you can see tha bag is with him everywhere.
Jacqueline wrote
I’ve often thought how it must be tricky for guys, I get frustrated if I want to take a small clutch bag or something out with me and tend to only take insulin, a muesli bar and jellybeans, which isn’t really ideal. By the way, thanks for the Ryan Reynolds pic!
Sarah wrote
Aah, the bag thing! Yes, it must be tough for guys. Maybe a discrete pouch worn on the belt, underneath a T-shirt? I never leave the house without a bag and sometimes I fantasize about it. I tried it out the other day, just collecting the kids from school, but then I had a hypo (despite loading up with juice and toast before I left the house) and had to hustle the kids home.
Nic wrote
Oh Sarah, I know that scenario only too well… and it sounds strange but yes it would be a fantasy to just stroll out of the house with nothing on your person! Thanks to all who’ve made comments so far. And Jacqueline – great spotting on the RR pic!
Rebecca wrote
I think that is actually one of the more annoying aspects of being diabetic – that you cant just “go out”
i always wonder how my older brother does it – i think he wear pants with large pockets and stuff things into that. Also “man bags” are much cooler now that people carry so many digital devices with them these days – but I dont know how my brother coped when he was a teenager in the 90s. at least i can carry a hand bag!
dan wrote
One of the worst things about being a boy with diabetes is we run out of pockets very easily!
Some blood sigar machines have an extra zip pocket on them and you could fit the hypo treatment in there.
Finger pricked HbA1c’s i belive are usefull to health professionals but not used too often as to prevent this being taken for granted and all the other bloods doctors and nurses want to see.
Debs wrote
Thanks for the suggestions guys. It is me that asked the question originally. The bag he has was cool when we got it a few years ago but I guess we just haven’t caught up with fashion yet!
Ali wrote
This is a frustrating issue as a female – must be so much worse as a guy!
Have you looked at some of the pouches/wallets etc that you can buy for travellers? A lot of them are designed to be worn underneath clothing (to keep valuables safe and hidden).
Debs wrote
Unfortunately Ali, Tyler is a bit of a fashion prince and a pouch worn under his clothes would affect his ability to wear skinny jeans!
Trust me, we have suggested all sorts. It seems that we are going shopping next week for something that is more to his liking.
I’m not even sure it is a bag issue as such, but maybe more of a being different issue. None of his mates have to carry a bag with all sorts of guff in it!
But we don’t make a big deal of it – picking our battles as they say!
James wrote
I use the Optium exceed, it’s supplied pouch’s zip pocket makes for a good wallet in this paperless age, all my cards fit in there, I don’t use cash really so that suits me.
I keep jumbo jelly beans in my bike jacket, and in the cars, and if I’m going far on foot, to a meeting, extended shopping, I just throw a few in a pocket, a bit of pocket fluff on my beans doesn’t matter to me if I’m hypoing
Seldom carry insulin pens unless I”m specifically planning to eat. Which is a bit of a pain actually since often I think it would be nice to stop and have something to eat, grab an ice cream etc, but no insulin, so no go.
When I DO carry insulin pens, they just go in a FRONT pocket. Sitting on humapens breaks them in half too easily!
Nic wrote
Oh Debs. You’re going to laugh at this one. My Mum (hi Mum!) subscribes to the blog and she called me tonight after seeing this post come through. She related a story to me that I remember now but had previously totally forgotten. She is still slightly horrified about this story.
One night when I was about 20 and was going out clubbing, I came upstairs and showed her my genius new idea. You see, at the time I was still having to take a long-acting injection at about 11pm, so always had to take my pen out with me. Totally sick of taking an extraneous bag out with me when I wanted to be hands-free so I could dance my socks off, I had syphoned the long acting into an old skool syringe, and (using medical tape) taped said syringe in between my shoulder blades across my back.
She is still horrified about the whole scenario. She spent the whole night waiting for the police to ring because some bouncer of the club had chucked me out for having a syringe on my person.
So – Debs…. sounds like T might be the 18 year younger version of me
Debs wrote
Nic, I am laughing so hard at your story! God help us if he is a younger version of me at that age…….a man bag would be the least of our worries!
(Hi Nic’s Mum!)
Jude wrote
I have 2 sons with T1 (18 and 20) and they both have smallish sized black bags from Kathmandu which they wear with a strap across the chest. A lot smaller than the manbag in your pic but fits pens, test kit and snacks.
Chris wrote
I have to admit I go out unprepared. I leave my tester at home, always, unless I’m overnighting somewhere. I pretty much never have insulin on me, and jellybeans only come for a ride when I’m heading out for a long trek in the wilderness. Dinner out, or spending the day away from home and I’ll often (not always) take my pen with me, but never my test kit. Best-guess rather that clutter. It’s worked for me so far