Oct
A Lecture for the Doctor
Written by Mike on October 6th, 2011
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When I went to see my doctor Monday morning for a routine checkup, I went with the expectation that I would be receiving a lecture about my blood glucose numbers being higher than she would like and about my A1c rising to 7.4. I had intentionally called for the result last week just so I would know what to expect from the doctor when I saw her. Paranoid much? No, I just know my doctor. And my expectations of receiving a lecture would have been met had I not prepared one of my own. And it went something like this:
“I been battling with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure for nearly three years, all the while trying to balance my care with working a crazy night shift 50+ hours a week, the stresses of trying to figure out how the hell to pay all of my bills, pay the co-pays for doctor visits & more than 10 prescriptions, and still have money for food. And by the way, the last year has been spent dealing with April’s mother being diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer and all of the hell that goes along with such a diagnosis. YOU try living with all of that and see how well you do with maintaining good diabetes management all the time. Then come talk to me!”
Yes, I had something of an emotional fit in the doctor’s office and it ended with my telling the doctor in no uncertainly terms that “I’m doing the best that I can considering the hell that I’m going through right now, but I’m beyond tired of all of it. I’m f**king Burnt Out!”
Would you believe that I felt much better after getting all that off my chest? Sometimes, you just have to let the frustration out.
After my rant was over, and the doctor stopped looking at me in shock, she suggested we adjust increase the dosage on my Byetta to the full 10mcg dose, which should have been done a couple of months ago, and she also thought it necessary to increase the dosage on my blood pressure medication. Gee, I wonder why. And, of course, before I left the office, I got the usual ‘try and take care of yourself and we’ll see how things are in a few months” talk.
And that’s what I’ll do. I’ll keep taking my medications, trying to eat well, and doing the best I can to care for myself. And everything else!
Excellent rant! That said, I kinda wonder… Can a doctors truly understand their patients w/ Diabetes (D) if they don’t live w/ it themselves? My guess is that maybe they can’t, but I’m willing to be wrong. In any case, we’re our own doctors in the end since we live & breathe it 24/7.
IMO, a doctor & patient relationship should ideally be a shared learning adventure that appreciates that nobody’s D is perfect. Life w/ D is alway a work in progress (like any other life is). All we can do is try our best from one moment to the next in this universe of ours.
Or we could all move to Mars where those groovy Martian Folk have already cured D… ;^)
“Try and take care of yourself” is a pretty innocuous and expected parting greeting. Your doctor knows in theory what you’re going through and really does seem to care; it’s just hard to express that AND all the other information in the fifteen-minutes-or-less she gets to review your chart, see you, mark down any needed changes in your therapy, verify that your insurance will cover them, and code everything so your insurance pays whatever part of your care it covers.
That said, sometimes the breakdown-in-the-doctor’s-office is just what both the doctor, and the patient, needed.
((((((Mike))))))
You are my hero! And you’re doing a damn good job! Never forget that.
Also, I love you!
That’s pretty badass that you said that to the doc, damn! Awesome!