The Clocks Being Turned Back IS NOT YOUR ONLY Job this Weekend.

Well first of all……Happpppppy Halllloweeeen.  🙂  What a fun day, and when it’s on a weekend, perfection.  Enjoy.

You will go to bed tonight and you will turn your clocks back one hour; Fall…..behind;  Spring…..forward.  The fire department has utilized this occurrence twice a year to remind folks to change your batteries in all of your alarms in the house; fire, carbon dioxide etc., it is good advice.

A few years ago I started to take this occurrence, and use it as well, for a diabetes-reminder.  When you turn you clock back tonight, it should serve as a reminder for you, in your diabetes world, that you have a little bit of work to do tomorrow.

If you are, as we are, and you have diabetes supplies in many different places; today is the day to check everything.

-Check your current stock
-Visit every place you have spare supplies (DO NOT FORGET the cars)
-Relook at your stock pile
-Turn on the meters and make sure they work, test them once if you can.  If you are like us, you have different (brands) meters in different places–check that you know how to use them.
Check all expiration dates on boxes and get rid of them if they are expired.
–check your glucagon kit and check expiration date. BUT DO NOT JUST THROW IT OUT.  Click and Read here to know what to do with it.
-Check your battery supply; it not uncommon for us to chuck them at some point and get new ones….FALL out of their storage and into the garbage is a once-a-year reminder to do it in the Fall.
-Check expiration dates on all insulin pens, bottles, etc etc.
-Might not be such a bad idea to check the lancets as well (especially at school), you would be surprised how many people go longer than they should with changing those (like……ALL OF US).
-Alcohol swabs can dry up….open one and dig down, grab one from the middle or bottom of the box, and open another just to see that they are still moist when you open them.
-This is a good time to check your inventory and make sure anything that is coming up on expiring is moved to the top.  Infusion sets etc. should be rotated so the ones at the bottom are not the ones you received two shipments ago.
-On the Monday after you move your clock back, not a bad time to check your child’s supplies at the school, even though school may have just started (it didn’t—it was 2-3 months already).
-Check all of the supplies your child has; back packs, in the drawer, by the night stand; take a look-see and make sure all is up-to-date.
-If you have an emergency kit for disasters etc. (and if you don’t, you should) that you made to grab and go, check everything in there too.

If I missed anything——feel free to add your own ideas.

So when you turn your clock back tonight; let it serve as a reminder to check all of the supplies.  In the earlier days, before we thought of this, I cannot tell you how many ties we would look frantically for ‘the one that worked’.  Use today as a reminder……clock changing day is also check day in the diabetes world.

So if Halloween scares you, just wait to you reach for a diabetes supply that is broken, expired, or isn’t where you think; you will take scary to a new level.  “Boo’lieve me that this is something you should get in the habit of doing now.

I am a diabetes dad.

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