The Poke Bag
Over the course of many D-meetups, I’ve used the phrase: “In the poke bag…” Everyone has turned their head in a “Whaaaaat?” face. My mother found it a while ago and said something along the lines of “I’ll just throw this out.” I might have over-reacted and yelled NOOOOO! What I wouldn’t have given to have gotten rid of it for those 10-15 years, but now that it sits in the bottom of my childhood closet, it’s a glimpse into the life of diabetes of the MDI years. So for those of you who are thinking, what could she possibly be talking about? Here is the evidence:
What can I say, it’s an 80’s cosmetic bag.
I can’t believe there is still insulin in there
Rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, pen, insulin, syringes, alcohol swabs, needle clipper, & logbook
Does anyone else remember these?
Yes this insulin from 2002 is still in the bag
Alcohol: Take 1
Alcohol: Take 2
The cotton balls are for the rubbing alcohol. And to stop the fingers from bleeding.
I hated these at the time, but now I wish they still made these
I actually didn’t realize this was in the bag
This is my last religiously-used logbook and this is where it was
This is what is still in the bag, but keep in mind there was always a meter & meter supplies in there as well. This bag was always too heavy for me to carry (even when it wasn’t), but it was somehow always with me.
inDpendence 
We must have used up all those fun band-aids you had to have after your “poke.” (testing), as I don’t see them in the Bag. Because you were 3 when diagnosed, you were intrigued with continually squeezing your fingers to see the blood. So the bandaids were always on your fingers. They were probably the only outside evidence that you had diabetes. And of course all your friends and cousins wanted a bandaid as well. They were quite curious to see what their glucose # was, and we often logged those in your books as well.
We also have all the log books which detail not only your blood sugars, but your life. Who you played with, where we went, what you ate, your MOODS, etc. At family & friends houses, their moms & dads would fill in the boxes and notes as we did. You were (are) one lucky girl to have had so many families caring for you, so that you could have the flexiblilty of going many places, without us.
Particularly, Aunt SueAnn really liked your schedule of eating. Because you needed 1 starch and 1 fruit mid morning, 2 starches (one a ‘dessert), 1 milk, 2 meat, and 1 veggie at lunch, and 1 milk & 1 starch mid afternoon, she found that Kate, Carolyn, and anyone else there, seemed to “do better” all day. IE they were not getting cranky from being hungry. So she kept up your schedule of eating, even when you weren’t there!
What you probably for many years thought of as a rigid schedule and life, is now a wonderful memory of the fun times. I think so many of your childhood friend families will be happy to see that the Poke Bag lives!
Love you.
I bet those BD glucose tabs would go for big money on the diabetes black market these days.
I SWEAR I saw those same glucose tabs at Walmart the other day. They were more expensive than the others and marketed as dye free, etc. I almost bought them but decided I’d stick with my fruit snacks & juice boxes. I need to go back and see what they are…I hate Walmart but I’ll do it for you.