No More Sawblades
Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 11:19AM Yesterday was the day. I had an appointment with who would potentially become my new doctor. Not an endo but just a doctor.
He was not “just” a doctor at all. It was incredible to put it lightly.
When I walked into the office I saw a stack of TuDiabetes postcards on the magazine table which made me sure I was in the right place. The receptionist was very nice and as soon as I walked up she handed me a clipboard with all the paperwork I needed to fill out.
I got called back almost immediately to weigh in (3 pounds less than last appointment) and was taken to an exam room. The first thing I noticed were all the pictures on the wall. Hulk Hogan, Taylor Swift, and people I assumed were his family. His Nurse asked me why I was coming to see him and I said, “I am actually looking for a new doctor and I was referred to the Doc by a close friend.” The nurse actually guessed Jaimie’s name before I could say anything. That made me smile.
“You are going to love him.” The nurse was totally upbeat and I could just tell that she really meant it. Could this doctor be THAT different?
When the Doctor came in he asked why I was there. I told him that I have had some bad experiences in the past (i.e. Doctor F-Bomb) and heard he was a great doctor. He sincerely thanked me and said that he would take care of me. His exact words were, “We are going to get you better George.”
We went through a list of questions. Diagnosis, family history, complications, medications, and so on. The difference was it was not a questionnaire, it was the doctor asking me stuff and digging deeper to understand my complete history.
After looking at my pump and seeing my settings he said, “The way you are trying to manage your diabetes is wrong. You are taking way too much insulin and doing it in the wrong way. Now I am not telling you this to scold you are blame you. This is not your fault. You were not taught correctly and frankly I have a lot of respect for the fact that you have tried your best. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, you will not get the control you want doing it this way. The good thing is that together we are going to get all of this straightened out.”
It took everything I had in me not to cry. He meant it, he wants to help. All the while I kept catching glimpses of his pump on his belt. He gets it. He lives with it. He understands.
We changed a few of my prescriptions, had blood drawn and he checked me out from head to toe. All and all the appointment was 2 and half hours long. We talked about a lot of things and even went on to some fun tangents that had nothing to do with diabetes or health. It was a really great appointment.
At the end he showed me the A1C he took when I got there. It was 9.0.
“Don’t worry about this number. This should show you that what you were doing is not working and that we are going to get everything where it should be.” He could see my look of frustration. “From what you are telling me George, you know more about diabetes than the doctor you were seeing and no one knows your body better than you. We are going to work together and get you all fixed up. How does that sound?”
I have never wanted to give a doctor a hug before but this guy was so different. So caring and understanding. I had to reach out my hand to shake his in thanks.
Before I left the Doc gave me a spreadsheet with all my prescriptions and a game plan for how we are going to get my numbers reeled in. Then he handed me his card, “Here is my email address which I do respond to and my cell number for any emergencies.”
On the drive home I thought about the last visit I had at my last doctors. She went through the print out of all my numbers asking me why I was over 400 here and there and how could I EVER get that high!?! Then a few minutes later when she got my A1C and it was 7.0% she high fived me! HIGH FIVED ME? Right there it proved to me that she didn’t get it. My A1C means nothing if my blood sugars are from 40 to 400.
“No more saw blade BG’s. We want as smooth a line as we can get.” My new doctor’s voice echoed around in my head. This guy gets it!
Tomorrow I will get into some of the stuff we are doing to get my numbers where they should be.
