Saturday, February 17, 2007

New Endoc Visit

After going to the same endoc for over 10 years, I went to a new one this week. I got my A1C results in 7 minutes, as opposed to waiting over a month to get them from the previous endoc. Also got my cholesterol results right there. A1C was 6.5. down a smidge from 6.6 last time. At least I'm consistent. Total cholesterol 170, and HDL (the good kind) over 100. I guess the exercise is working since my HDL was in the 70's last time. Newbie doc seemed knowledgable, but not pushy or arrogant.

Noone wanted to download my meter. I offered it to the nurse, but she declined. The doc asked about my sick day mgmt plan, which is a good thing to review every so often. Since I knew about basal testing, insulin to carb ratios and correction factors, he commented that I had already been well trained, and didn't really offer any suggestions. We did talk a little about how I handle exercise, but no new suggestions. We talked about options for replacing my pump and I got current #'s for the local pump reps. We talked about the pros and cons of CGM. He is close to home and work, affiliated with my local hospital of choice, and knows my other doctors. He checks cholesterol at every visit. And he will not insist on seeing me every quarter, and said every 6 mos is OK. Ran some other lab work with results to come later.

Overall, I think it went well and am comfy making this change, but I still left feeling just a little let down. This is such a self-managed disease, and most of me is really glad for that since I'm pretty independent by nature. But there is another small part that would like to feel that someone knows some tricks that I don't. Or that someone wants to look with me at the downloads from my meter and help me to differentiate the forrest from the trees. The only person who has ever done that with me was my dietitian/cde, who is now working for Abbott. I think I miss that a little bit.

8 comments:

BetterCell said...

Since T1DM is a "self-managed disease", it takes an enormous amount of emotional energy to deal with it on a 24/7 basis.

Chrissie in Belgium said...

I understand your ambivalence concerning managing on your own and help from others. We do and we don't want medical involvement - both! Gosh wouldn't it be nice if someone had really good answers to the questions that continually pop up! I also feel that we need to share with someone our experiences - otherwise it is SO very lonely.

Scott K. Johnson said...

I too think I would find some real value in working with a CDE to grind through all the data and offer thoughts or suggestions.

It would be nice to be taken care of sometime too.

Anonymous said...

That last paragraph rang so strongly in me that I nearly wept (not that I'm prone to hyperbole or anything). I want someone to tell me more than "doing well" and say "have you tried?" or "May I suggest?" or even "I've read this new research, are you interested in it?"

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