Sean Dennis wrote in a message to All:

 SD> Hello, All.

 SD> I have a question (or two :) for y'all... right now, I'm under the
 SD> VA's care for my diabetes and hypertension.  They gave me a nice
 SD> Accu-Check Advantage meter and prescribed me to check my blood
 SD> sugar twice a week.  Now you know that that's not realistic to keep
 SD> things in check 

Duh...I check my blood at least 3 times a day...and then sometimes even
more when I am experimenting with different exercise, food, etc.  It's
really expensive, but I feel I can;t afford not to do it.

 SD> I was looking at Wal-Mart tonight and there was an Accu-Check
 SD> Active meter for $17.95.  

One of the tests I was in at Hopkins Hospital gave away the Accucheck
meters and strips....it was a nice meter...I use a Onetouch Ultra, which
doesn't take much blood and you can stick places other than your finger,


 SD> about this meter and its quality?  Also, if I go buy my own lancets
 SD> and strips, is it tax-deductible?  

As far as I know, the meter, strips and lancets are all deductable...check
the IRS web site, or call em on the 800 number...


 SD> On an aside: can I get life insurance since I'm a diabetic?  

Like health insurance, IF you can get it, the rates will be higher than
normal.  The insurance industry and medical profession regards us sugar
folks as high risks.


 SD> Any and all advice, answers, suggestions or ancedotes about any of
 SD> the above is greately appreciated... I'm not one to make friends
 SD> here locally and I really don't have anyone to talk to about my
 SD> diabetes except y'all here and my mom and dad.

If you watch people shop, you might identify a lot of diabeetics....I can,
and find that most all of them are willing to share, since we are all in
the same boat.

What you really might want to do is do an internet search for drug trials
for diabetics.  I always enroll in any I can find....the amount of free
stuff is huge....the one I am in now is not medicine based...it's designed
to evaluate customized exercise plans for diabetics.  So far I've gotten
thousands of bucks worth of tests, from full blood panels to an MRI, and
starting in January I'm scheduled to go to the Hospital's Cardiac Rehab
exercise center 3 times a week with a personal trainer to develop an
exercise plan for me.  After 6 months I'll get the entire round of tests
again to see what's happend to my blood sugar, blood pressure,
kidneys...the whole magilla.

And...if the people running the study get the right grants...I could be
enrolled in the exercise/testing program for years.

Goota tell ya, if you pick the right study, you not only get free tests and
meds, but you get paid...and if it's food related, they sometimes feed you.

I turned down a diet based study, since they were gonna put me on something
like insure for 2 years...my food cost would have been zero...but I don;t
eat/drink cardboard.

Check with you local/state health department...they sometimes can help, 
Here in Maryland, if I wasn't getting free stuff from the tests, I could
get assistance from the state.

I'm Peck's Bad Boy....I had legislation introduced into the state
legislature to have the health department pay for test strips for eligable
diabetics...it failed....but I will keep after them.

Good Luck.

cya,
thom
http://www.tlchost.net/echolist/ 
--- GEcho 1.20/Pro