A New Problem for Several of the Group

I hadn't realized how important this is until Barry called Tim and me about an individual newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Because of the extreme elevated A1c, he had been prescribed insulin. Barry had been at the pharmacy when he went to pick up his prescriptions. When the pharmacist said he needed the syringes, the fellow said that there was no way he would stick himself with a needle. And, there was also no way he would stick his finger to draw blood.

When we arrived, Barry was doing his best and Allen who happened to be there for a prescription was helping. When Barry finished telling us the happenings, we shook our heads and asked the fellow if he wanted to die. I said all four of us use insulin and think nothing about pricking our fingers and injecting insulin, which we need.

The fellow said that he would not prick his finger and would not even consider injecting insulin. Tim asked why and if he was afraid of needles? His answer surprised all of us. He was not afraid and had used needles in the past when he was on illegal drugs. That was the reason he would not be caught again and go back to prison for using needles.

I said that had an easy remedy and as long as he had a copy of the prescription and a letter from the doctor, they should not bother him longer than to confirm the information. I said I had a run in with a policeman a couple of times but my boxes with the vials inside have a prescription on each and once they see that, they thank me and move on. I added that he could also go to the police station and show them the medications and prescription and that should help.

That got his attention, he asked the pharmacist for a copy of the prescriptions, and she ran copies and said that if he took the needles and insulin they would have prescription information on them as well. The meter and lancing device would not as a prescription was not required to obtain one. He paid his bill and asked who would go with him. Tim and I agreed and we followed him to the office.

The officer in charge recognized him and asked why he was there. He said I now have needles and insulin and wanted the department to know that I was not on illegal drugs. He laid the insulin and needles on the counter, they were looked at, and the prescriptions read. They made one phone call to the doctor and then handed everything back to him. They thanked him for making them aware of what had happened and this is appreciated. They stated that all would know of this and as long as he stayed clean, he would not be bothered.

With that we left and he asked Tim if he would show him how to test. He said he had been given starting amounts to inject and he would start there. Tim said he would and they got into Tim's car and he showed him where to prick his finger and receive enough blood to get a reading on his meter.

Tim emailed us that things had gone well and he was on track to bring his diabetes under management. Tim did say that the person was invited to our next meeting in February. He added that he felt that the diagnosis had been made late and insulin would be needed, but said the fellow will be working to attempt to get off all medications. Tim said he had sent him an email with the email addresses for the four of us and we now had his email.