a review with a dream attached

about a month ago,  i travelled to Barrie, Ontario to see the one and only George Canyon! (i actually met the man, in person, in real life, i touched him!!!)

when we first arrived at the venue, "the diabetic" (that's what they said, i swear!) was given an arm band, a bag of "goodies", and directions to the bathroom, the food tables, and the "vendors" tables.  there were people from Connected In Motion there.  Animas had a table set up.  i got a new pump cover (purple), and a pin stating "i love animas" on it (now attached to my purse).  there were people from JDRF there.  you could sign up for the Telus WALK to cure diabetes.  there was also a table set up introducing the new Verio IQ, by One Touch.  i will admit, after driving for 3 hours, i was more interested in the washrooms and the food, than a new meter.

a couple weeks after the concert, i was tidying up my dining room table (it's become a bit of a drop place for all kinds of stuff),  i discovered the contents of the goodie bag from the concert.  the reusable bag had already been delegated to the bag of bags that i take to the grocery store (no plastic bags for this girl!), but its contents had been dropped in the pile of  "stuff".   as i was looking through it i found a pamphlet from OneTouch for a free, limited time offer on the new Verio IQ.  i decided to phone the number and request my free meter.  i love "new" and i also love "free"so why not?

well the meter arrived last friday.

photo credit my daughter!

i've given it a trial run and here's what i think (good things in green and not so good things in red)

• i LOVE the size and colour! it is slim and compact, very much like an ipod in size
• i LOVE the light ~ makes night testing sooo much easier!
• the ability to alert you to patterns without downloading and searching for them [although with only 10 strips i didn't really get a chance to see this wonderful feature in action =( ]
• the screen is really well lit and the colours are bright
• blood can be applied to either side of the test strips
• take a really small amount of blood [at least i think so!]
• the battery is rechargeable (you just plug the whole meter into your computer or the wall!)

  

• i really wish it would sync with my pump like my OneTouch Ping does, then i could test, bolus and go,  in one fell swoop
• the test strips tend to stick together in the little black vial.  i empied them and put the in my own flat container to make it a little easier to get them out un-attached to each other.
• it only gives the option of "before meal' or "after meal',  not which meal, or snack
• there is no screen that allows you to input how you were feeling or why (stressed, menses, illness)
• the battery charge does not last very long 

 overall i really like this new meter.  i probably won't use it often though, simply because i like that i don't have to fish my pump out of wherever it may be hiding at any given time to bolus.  and this is where the dream comes in.  since i have only had my pump for just over a year, i won't be looking at a new one any time soon.  and i really love Animas and One Touch.  i have used a One Touch meter forever.  even before using a pump, i tested with a OneTouch.

soooooooooo....if there is anyone out there from OneTouch reading this, perhaps you could pass this on to the design team.  what i want in my next pump/meter combo is a nice slim pump, preferably NOT silver(love the white!!), with light on top for night testing (or sitting in a movie theatre watching a movie-testing, or sitting in a car on the side of the road at midnight-testing). one with a well lit screen with bright colours and large font (for us older folks).  one that is basically my Ping meter and the Verio combined.

now that would be a meter that really rocks!!

**Disclosure...although i received the meter and 10 test strips free, i was not asked to blog about my experience.  the  opinions stated here are my own, and i can only hope that someone, somewhere gets wind of it and can get my dream meter on the drawing board, so that by the time i need a new pump/meter the Animas Ping/IQ will be a reality! (call me!)