Hello, All.

I have a question (or two :) for y'all... right now, I'm under the VA's
care for my diabetes and hypertension.  They gave me a nice Accu-Check
Advantage meter and prescribed me to check my blood sugar twice a week. 
Now you know that that's not realistic to keep things in check (my
stepfather, who is Type 2 and takes insulin, checks his twice a day).  They
will only prescribe me a certain amount of strips and lancets per
quarter... and as it is, they're not very good quality (the lancets).

I was looking at Wal-Mart tonight and there was an Accu-Check Active meter
for $17.95.  The strips are 50 for $27.95, which really isn't too bad. 
Plus, unlike the Advantage, the Active meter can do non-finger readings
(meaning pricking your forearm, etc), smaller amounts of blood (that
Advantage is like a vampire with the amount of blood it needs) and the best
part for me is that I can get a cable and software to help me track my
glucose levels.

I admit that before, I've been really bad at keeping track of everything,
but if I can do this with this new meter, it would help a lot.  What I'm
asking is this: have any of you used or heard about this meter and its
quality?  Also, if I go buy my own lancets and strips, is it
tax-deductible?  I can get 100 lancets here from the Publix (a supermarket)
pharmacy that not only fit my lancet pen better than the ones from the VA,
but are smaller and hurt less to prick my finger with for $4.99 (a good
deal!).

I don't mind paying for this out of pocket if I can keep track of my health
better... the VA's health care is minimal at best... I'm hoping that after
I get my A+/Network+ certs and find a decent job, I can get health
insurance to cover me and get away from the VA...

On an aside: can I get life insurance since I'm a diabetic?  I'd really
like to have some for my wonderful wife in case I kick the bucket before my
time. She'll outlive me anyway since she's ten years my junior. :)

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

Thanks,
Sean

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