Hey Alyssa!
Check this out: Brief History of Insulin!
Ginger
[quote user="Candice"]
does anyone remember when testing your blood sugars having that special paper to dab your finger on three times ... thats when you practically need a blood transfusion for one test
[/quote]Candice, the first home testers required a calibration strip that was different for each vial of test strips. It looked like a grocery store barcode. You inserted it into the meter and closed the door and pray it would "calibrate". This took practice because it was really hard to get the calibration barcode to read correctly. if you damaged the calibration strip the whole set of test strips were shot. If it calibrated, then it would alert you to get a blood sample. Then you poked a finger and got (and I am not making this up) "A large hanging drop of blood". You smeared it on the test strip and wiped it with a cotton swab, so that there wasn't a puddle of blood but more of an even, blood painted area on the strip. The strip active area was about a quarter inch square. This took practice to get exactly right. Then you started the "timer". Then at 1 minute a bell would go off and you would wipe the strip with cotton to remove the excess blood. This took practice not to damage the strip. Then you waited another minute, then you closed the door on the test machine and it would give you a number, sometimes.
=) It was better than benedict solution by a country mile.