To Share or Not To Share?

 

Today's prompt: Often our health care team only sees us for about 15 minutes several times a year, and they might not have a sense of what our lives are really like. Today, let’s pretend our medical team is reading our blogs. What do you wish they could see about your and/or your loved one's daily life with diabetes? On the other hand, what do you hope they don't see? 

Embedded in this question, I think, is another:  How helpful, kind and realistic is your endocrinology team?

I know plenty of people equate the endo appoitment to a big test, or a performance evaluation. These people try to hide their recent out of range numbers.  If they can't do that, they find themselves cowering in their chairs feeling berated by the discussion of them.

To me, the only way to get the most out of endocrinology appointments is to share as much information as possible.  There's really nothing I 'hope they don't see.'  The more they see, the more they can help. 

Why the 300 the day before yesterday?  Bagel day at school.  She forgot to combo-bolus in the nurse's office, but even when she does she comes out high.  Any ideas, doc? 

"Don't eat bagels?" (Said with a wry smile...we love his sense of humor.) But then he goes on, "I like that it looks like you kept checking and correcting.  In those situations, that's the best you can do and you did it well.  I had a patient the other day tell me she boluses a full 20 minutes before the bagel and sets a temp basal rate when she starts eating it.  You could try something like that next time, maybe.  Basically, bagels are just bad news...but once in a while you're gonna eat one, so keep experimenting."  Not only did we benefit from sharing our bagel disaster, but we also benefitted from someone else doing the same.  We came away feeling empowered, not guilty.

We were fortunate to start out at diagnosis with an endocrinology team who understood that there was more in my daughter's life than diabetes.  When we moved, we did our homework and found a doctor with the same philosophy.  When he moved, we changed practices.  Perhaps the types of professionals we've contracted with for care influences my perspective. 

Our type of endocrinologist is one who would ideally follow my daughter around at all times, looking at her diabetes management and how it intersects with the rest of her life.  He or she would spout out helpful advice along life's diabetes journey.

Alright, maybe being followed by an endocrinologist 'at all times' would get a little creepy.  Yet at the heart of the matter, the idea is the same. Those extra eyes on the quarterly downloaded blood sugars are so much more helpful if they're able to see as much as possible of the person's life those numbers came from.  That's why we share it all.