The Human Pin Cushion ~ by David Allen
About a half hour ago, as I was once more struggling to find a new place on my body to give myself an insulin shot, I wondered how many times I've mutilated my body with a needle.
I have to check my blood sugar 4 times a day, which obviously involves puncturing my skin with a sharp instrument. Then I need to give myself 5 shots of insulin every day. That's 9 times a day I have to make yet another hole in my body.
At first, it didn't hurt to poke myself. After seven months of doing this, it does start to hurt a little. When you prick your fingers, you have to rotate the fingertips you use so you won't build up calluses. Once you've done that, the pin won't puncture the skin or you can't squeeze out any blood. Eventually, you end up using the same fingertip and location on that fingertip. Once this happens, that's when it starts to hurt. Believe me, I crossed that road months ago.
Now, it's time for the shots! You MUST always rotate these spots too. The doctors say, if you inject the same spot with insulin over and over again, the insulin will start to "eat away the tissue"!
Anyway, it's easy to figure out the number of days I've had to do this since November 23rd when I got out of the hospital and started this body mutilation. If you count the times that I have to re-poke myself because I've not picked a good spot, this comes to 2000 or so times!!! This is in a little over 7 months. As you know, I have to do this for the rest of my life. If you think back to the cartoons when Coyote would run into a cactus trying to catch Roadrunner and then drink a glass of water, it would all pour out of the many holes. I think you get the picture of me in a couple years!!
By the time I die, the number of punctures in my body will surpass the number of dollars in the NATIONAL DEBT!!!
Just the stuff I think about when I'm bored.
D...A...V...I...D...
P.S. Yes, those dots are supposed to represent the holes in this tired old body of mine.
I have to check my blood sugar 4 times a day, which obviously involves puncturing my skin with a sharp instrument. Then I need to give myself 5 shots of insulin every day. That's 9 times a day I have to make yet another hole in my body.
At first, it didn't hurt to poke myself. After seven months of doing this, it does start to hurt a little. When you prick your fingers, you have to rotate the fingertips you use so you won't build up calluses. Once you've done that, the pin won't puncture the skin or you can't squeeze out any blood. Eventually, you end up using the same fingertip and location on that fingertip. Once this happens, that's when it starts to hurt. Believe me, I crossed that road months ago.
Now, it's time for the shots! You MUST always rotate these spots too. The doctors say, if you inject the same spot with insulin over and over again, the insulin will start to "eat away the tissue"!
Anyway, it's easy to figure out the number of days I've had to do this since November 23rd when I got out of the hospital and started this body mutilation. If you count the times that I have to re-poke myself because I've not picked a good spot, this comes to 2000 or so times!!! This is in a little over 7 months. As you know, I have to do this for the rest of my life. If you think back to the cartoons when Coyote would run into a cactus trying to catch Roadrunner and then drink a glass of water, it would all pour out of the many holes. I think you get the picture of me in a couple years!!
By the time I die, the number of punctures in my body will surpass the number of dollars in the NATIONAL DEBT!!!
Just the stuff I think about when I'm bored.
D...A...V...I...D...
P.S. Yes, those dots are supposed to represent the holes in this tired old body of mine.
posted by mary ann at 6:22 PM
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