Being a Type 1 diabetic means constant blood sugar testing and regular insulin injections.  Since I don’t want to suffer the consequences of poor blood sugar control, I test 10 to 15 times a day, and inject various insulins anywhere from 4 to 10 times a day.  To make to the effort less annoying, I decided a nice box would add an elemant of pleasure to the ordeal.

This box is the second incarnation (third if the cardboard version is included).   It holds all the various paraphenalia I need for about 2 weeks.  To keep from awaking my wife during middle of the night tests, I included a light that comes on when the lid is opened. The batteries are underbthe meter, and the wire runs through the laminations of the lid.  It also has a lock,  for when the grandchidren are rummaging around the house. Since the technology changes over time, the custome fiited compartments for the meter etc. are carved from cedar and are removable.  Every compartment is sized virtually perfectly to hold its’ intended item.  The open compartments are lined with the same kind of wood on all 4 (or more) sides, and each is different.  To do this I made all the plywood separaters myself.  The hinges on the 2 waste compartments, at the back, are less than 1/8′ thick, so the hinges are moulded into the plywood, and pinned in with dowels the same length as the thickness of the lids.

The ouside of the box is made of Lacewood, which resembles the islets that I lack, (which is the cause of Type 1 Diabetes).  The narrow inlay in the lid, I did not make.  It was made in France in the late 1800’s… before the discovery of insulin.