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My nurse practitioner did give me a a Freestyle Light meter and thank goodness they have those meters and the test strips for them. I'm also happy that even though they measure sugar metrically with mmol/l, instead of imperially mg/dl, the test strips are the same and I didn't have to get my brain around the new way. I did manage to get a new Freestyle Light from here, but the battery drained in 2 days and I couldn't be bothered returning it (didn't cost me anything). I did find an app that converts from imperial to metric, this way it's much easier when I show my doctor my sugar diary. The meter I really, really want is the iBGStar, it's a tiny meter that you attach to your iPhone and your phone holds all the details, plus you can use it without the phone, only thing is it costs $100, and at the moment I don't have $100 to just buy that, it will be one of my first purchases when I get a job. The test strips cost me $15.90 for a box of 100 through the NDSS program, and the pen needles for my insulin are free! Plus I do NOT need a prescription for anything other than the insulin and glucagon. The NDSS program is the National Diabetes Services Scheme. The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) in Queensland is managed by Diabetes Queensland. The scheme provides diabetes products at a discounted rate and offers information and support services.
In 2012 there were 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, with diabetes.The total number of Australians with diabetes and pre-diabetes is estimated at 3.2 million out of 23,549,216 (Australian population as of end of 2013). There are more diabetic Americans than the entire population of Australia. More and more people every day are developing some sort of diabetes all over the world. The only good thing about this is that in places like Oz, more diabetes stuff can now be bought, though at a much higher price. In my car, in my bag, at my desk, by my bedside a tube of glucose tablets was always to be found, here in Oz they are a bit on the pricey side, a bottle of 50 here costs $25, in the US they sell for under $10 (one major thing I will be stocking up on my next visit). Living in the States I had a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), I loved that thing, I knew what my sugar was at all times, unfortunately it's available here, but the cost of the sensors is $2,000.00. My endo is a lovely woman, younger than me, and she says, she wishes all her patients were like me with a 6.4 A1C. That's lovely, she checks my blood pressure and my feet, and that's it, no stethoscope or taking sips of water to check my thyroid or even checking to see what your sugar is while you're there like all my previous endos have done. She does give me a referral to get blood work done, and she checks for everything, A1C, thyroid, cortisol, cholesterol and protein in urine among other things. I wish all endos around the world followed the same system, it'd be much easier for patients globally.
Since moving here, I have lessened the amount of diet Coke I drink, mostly because it's a bit more expensive here, so I've cut down to 2 a day, the rest of the day I drink water (amazingly) and this lovely tea they have here, it's green tea with mint and my other fave, green tea with lemon myrtle, a little zingy. There are not a lot of options for diabetics when they go out for a meal, most places sell diet Coke, but the Pepsi establishments only sell PepsiMax, and like CokeZero, it's DISGUSTING! I'd rather have the water bottled for Pepsi, but sometimes that's not an option, such as the new Costco that opened up, it's got free refills for Pepsi (go figure, the Costco in Melbourne has Coke), but the only "sugar free" option is Max, no water, no seltzer, just 7Up and all the other gross tasting sugary drinks. If you're at 7 Eleven or a gas station, you'll have better luck as quite a few sell, diet Coke and my Ultimate Favourite (and the reason I'm never leaving this country) is Diet Vanilla Coke - not available in the US, only Vanilla Coke Zero, which cannot be found in a bottle, though, the DVC is only available in 600ml and 2L bottles, no cans. One of the supermarkets did have Fanta Zero for a bit, but they stopped selling it, I've seen Sprite Zero in some vending machines at malls. If you're in the mood for a coffee and go to McDonald's or Zarraffas, you can sweeten your drink with Splenda, some cafes use Sweet n' Low or Equal, and I have seen some sort of Stevia in one cafe. Many don't offer any sort of "fake" sugar and that's why I always carry Splenda in my bag. Though I have found a brand of coffee here, called Rouge and when they make a cappuccino, it's so yummy all on it's own it doesn't need any sweeteners. Love going to that place but finding a parking spot is horrible.
