That, unfortunately, is because the other half of both my life and this blog revolves around the horrible diabetes monster.
It's been a rough couple of days in D-land. Really rough. My 3 hour appointment with a certified diabetes educator (and in reference to her, I use the term very loosely) was a wake up call to the absolutely pitiful state of health care in more rural areas. Four days later, and my head is still reeling from the amount of completely outdated information I was given. And my anger at being made to feel like a "difficult" patient still seethes.
I'm angry, and I feel a little helpless. What is my next option for a good, knowledgeable, up-to-date endocrinologist or CDE? As I've mentioned before, I already drive an hour away from my home for appointments. Next on my list - heading to Ann Arbor, a three hour round trip, and HOPE for better luck there.
Through all of this nonsense, I'm beginning to understand the sub group of Type 1's out there who want to differentiate themselves from Type 2's by completely changing the name of the disease. We are honestly such a small section of the diabetes population. When I go to a CDE, I expect her to be knowledgeable in Type 1 diabetes, as well as the technologies, drugs, and diet plans used by type 1 diabetics in the treatment of their disease. I do not want to be lumped with the type 2's. Not because type 2 is better, or worse, or whatever. It is just as difficult to live with every day as type 1. I feel that although the idea of treatment in both is the same - to keep blood sugars as close to normal as possible - the methods can really differ. So I wonder, if I had "Autoimmune Pancreatic Disease", would people, including healthcare professionals, see me differently? Treat me as an individual? Help me to find a plan that works in my own situation?
(Cause let me tell you, this 60 grams of carb a meal "meal plan" isn't working. Really, lady? I'm 5'2, for crying out loud. How many calories do you think I need? Ok, rant over.)
I guess that, once again, I've
garnered how essential it is to be your own advocate. Doctors, CDE's, and dietitians should always be able and open to explaining the "whys" of a diabetes program. And sorry, "That's just the way we do it here" isn't explanation enough. Neither is "But we're a nationally recognized program."(This picture is a perfect example of type 1 and type 2 being lumped together. The fact that a diabetes center would ask me this question, implying that there is something I could do or not do to prevent my child from acquiring a frickin AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE makes me LIVID. Maybe the fact that I wanted to claw out the eyes of the CDE after reading this was what labeled me as a "difficult patient"??)
I agree that this question unnecessarily lumps type one with type two DM. It seems like a really good idea to call them by two different names, since the treatment is so different. On the other hand, there is some evidence that vitamin D deficiency may be linked with a higher liklihood of getting Type one.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about the vitamin d thing, as well as staying away from gluten in the first year of life. But both of those are still vague and in the research phase. Moreover, it was more the wording of the question seemed very...blaming. But I may very well be ultra-sensitive to that sort of thing.
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