problems with disposing used diabetes "SHARPS"

I have been saving my used lancets either in a large “safe” container at work or a small ex-pill container at home. I filled it completely and ended up with four used lancets next to it before I finally got around to disposing of them. To be on the safe side, I emptied the container into a grocery store plastic bag. From past experience, I knew that I could take them to “Paul”, the medical clinic pharmacist and he would put them in the bio-waste burn bag.

I walked in and told the clerk “I’m here to leave some used lancets for disposal in your biological hazardous waste container. Paul said I could drop them off.”

In the past (one time actually), I took in the container and “Paul” disposed of them with no problem. This time was different.

“Paul” walked around a stack of stuff and said “do you have a container?”

“No.”

“We can order one for you.”

“Well, I really don’t want to spend $12 for a bottle that might get thrown away.”

OK, I’ll try to put them in my bag.” Pause while he took my plastic bag and obviously tried then: “My container is too full. Why don’t you take it out front and ask someone?”

I walked “out front” and went to the family clinic and then asked a nurse there is I could dispose of my used lancets? She said “follow me” and was leading me to an empty examining room where I was obviously expected to empty the bag into their container one at a time.

I got lucky, our family nurse (actually, the nurse working for our family MD) took the plastic bag from me and went off to properly dispose of them.

I was fairly pissed off after this happened but it is four days later and I’m just a little miffed.

The State of Kansas forbids anyone from dumping lancets or used syringes into the garbage. You’re not allowed to put used stuff into plastic or glass bottles or containers for fear they may break and a trash collector could accidentally poke himself.

If you can’t shit can these items, then I’d expect

1. The state of Kansas to provide collection places

   it doesn’t...

2. Pharamacies to provide disposal points...

   With the exception of the clinic pharmacy, no one in Dodge City does...

3. The Dodge City Clinic pharamacy

   They have but I’m beginning to wonder if their policy is
   changing...

4. The clinic

   They still do if you ask the right people (the nurses!)...

5. The local hospital

   I haven’t asked but past experience with the Dodge City Hospital has convinced me that it would be a waste of time to ask...

I probably should not feel this way but I’m tempted to try the clinic pharmacy again the next time my container is filled and if they don’t take it, I’ll get a plastic container (i.e. a coffee container) and fill it. Then, maybe I’ll take it to the hazardous waste site at the city dump and simply leave it at the clinic. I’m too law abiding to shit can the container in our garbage or a local dumpster...

Perhaps it is more accurate to say I am afraid of getting in legal trouble if I were caught shit canning needles.

I don’t know why I am given there are hundreds of diabetes in the surrounding
area who are probably casually disposing of their used needles with care for the law or even aware of Kansas laws with respect to "disposing of SHARPS"...

"This ain't no shit..."

NATIONAL MEN’S HEALTH EDUCATIONAL SURVEY FACT SHEET
by
American Diabetes Association
9/8/08

The differenece between a fairy tale and a sea story is "fairy tales" begin with "once upon a time" and "sea stories" begin with "this ain't no shit".

Well, "this ain't no shit" and this pdf file surely isn't a sea story. It is a very sober discussion of problems men have with type 2 diabetes. I've had the reduction in sex drive for several years and my MD just agrees with me that "I'm getting old". Well, this article alerted me to the fact that I've probably got diabetes caused reduced sex drive; the drive started going south several years before I was diagnosed and really crapped out about a year after I was diagnosed. Viagara helps but it isn't a "total cure".

Alas...

noctural leg cramps...

I made roast beef last night and it was quite good. Unfortunately, any fat with the beef stayed in the gravy. So, I didn't drink much with dinner and had a gin-n-tonic after dinner. I deliberately refused to drink much water for fear that my stomach would be too full.

One of the symptoms of diabetes I have is that too much liquids and a fatty dinner will
result in barfing about an hour after going to bed. So, I abstain...

About an hour and a half after going to bed, I awoke with the beginnings of a leg cramp in my right leg. I sat up planning on walking to the main bathroom and peeing; by the time I stood up, my left leg was incredibly painful! I could barely get my flop-flips^* on and stumbled to the bathroom. There, it was simply too painful to do anything so I walked out to the kitchen. Then, for no apparent reason, I sat down on a living room chair and the cramps subsided immediately.

I went back to bed a couple of minutes later. My wife mentioned that maybe I was dehydrated and did I drink any water? I said no. (I typically don't drink water at night because it usually gives me a stuffed up nose.)

A couple of hours later, my right leg cramped and I did the put on slippers, go to the main bathroom to pee and went back to bed.

I had worked on hard on Wednesday and nearly as hard yesterday and I thought I'd walked/run too much on the treadmill. Maybe I did? However, thewikipedia page on noctural
leg cramps said in part: "The precise cause of these cramps is unclear. Potential contributing factors are believed to include dehydration".

I guess they are right.

* I despise the phrase "flip-flops" as it is cutesy and "American"; the
correct name for these shoes is "zorrie" as they were invented in Okinawa and not Oklahoma!