Blood Test Blues

As it happened I had my check-up this week.

It all went fine, BP 125/80, thank you very much, weight stable, nothing to be seen here. It comes to the HbA1c. Now, my practice has its own testing machine. I've never actually seen it, and for all I know the DN goes off out of the room for ten minutes, has a coffee, and picks a number out of one of those things they use for the FA Cup draw. I'm fairly sure there's a machine now, because this is what happened:

DN comes back.

Me: "what is it?"

DN: "53"

I have a sudden mental picture of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Me: "53? It's never been 53, that is my highest reading ever"

DN: "Well, it's 53."

Me: "Nothing's changed. I've not had any fingerprick tests that were high, and I get symptoms at 43, let alone 53. I've got no symptoms. I think it's wrong."

DN: "I can do a blood draw for you, and we can get it done at the lab overnight. And I'll check with [the other DN] if there's been any other funny readings today - is that OK?"

I was fine with that. And I got a call at 10.00 this morning to say that the HbA1c lab test result was 37mmol/mol which is around where I've been for five years now.

Moral of the story: Blood testing machines get things wrong. Who knows why, in this case. But if you've got a sensible human being involved, it can be put right. That goes for fingerprick testing upwards.

MrsA2 said:

Was the first test from a blood draw or a finger prick?

Click to expand...

Fingerprick. Blood goes not on a test strip but on a little cassette that I presume plugs into the machine. I think there might be an issue with congealing: if you want to give yourself a scare re-use a test strip. It can give an abnormally high reading.

Until I get a chance to speak to the DN I won't know if they know if it was other readings or just mine.