Quirks!

I only do finger sticks on my middle two fingers. That gives me four fingers total, with two sides each, for a whopping total of 8 places to “prick” my finger.

This method seems entirely normal to me, but upon reading other blogs, I realized that maybe it’s a Kelsey-quirk and not a routine practice. The way this developed was simply habitual. When I was diagnosed at 13 I had a terrible phobia of needles. (I passed out when I got my ears pierced!) So, giving myself injections and testing my blood was traumatic. I’d sit on my bed with the lancing device against my finger for literally 20 minutes before having the courage (or impatience) to finally push the button.

I think the reasoning for sticking to just the middle fingers was this: the pinkie finger is too little and fragile, the index finger is too sensitive and we use it the most, and I had serious issues with thumb sticks from particularly traumatic blood tests at the pediatrician’s office (they used a razor blade looking device!)

So, 12 plus years later, I’ve developed pretty good calluses on my middle two fingers at the two places where I test. You can feel them more than actually see them however. I guess I’m a pretty good healer… and a real creature of habit!