Day 7 - My Doctor

My family doctor is an idiot, seriously, are all family doctors like this? Or is it just mine? The biggest problem with my doctor is that he is an idiot, but he thinks he knows it all.

I went to the office today for an appointment, I didn't even know what the appointment was for, just that I had to get bloodwork done last week for it. So I get there, the nurse weighs me, takes my blood pressure and then tells me to wait for the doctor. He comes in and immediately starts asking me what insulin I'm taking and how much (its not like I answered these exact questions the last time I was there a month ago).

Then he starts going on about some other long acting insulin that he thinks is superior to the one that I'm already taking. From what I could understand, the only reason that it is better is because I would only have to take it once a day instead of twice. He starts telling me that I could just start taking it and then upping it every day until my blood sugars are good.

I sorry but I just got to a point where I'm really happy with my blood sugars and the amount on insulin I'm taking. I've been on the insulin that I'm on since I was diagnosed six and a half years ago. This does not mean it is time for a change. It does mean that I know how it works, I know how it works with my body and I'm comfortable with it. I tell the doctor this and of course, he doesn't agree.

He says "Well, if you think you're doing alright fine, I guess you can keep using that one. I'm just saying, in my profession opinion and in my experience, this one would work better for you." I'm sorry, is this not the same person who asked me at my last two appointments whether I was taking insulin to manage my diabetes or not? In my personal opinion, I think I'll stick with the insulin I'm using until I decide to switch or until my endocrinologist recommends something different.

Then he says to me "I don't think you're doing as well as you think you are since your blood sugar was sixteen last week when you had your blood work done." When he said this I wanted to scream, I explained this to him last time I had blood work done. He is a doctor and I never expected that I would have to explain this to him, let alone explain it a second time.

So I say to him. "I had my bloodwork done at eleven in the morning, I hadn't taken my morning insulin yet." He just looks at me blankly and says "Yes, but you took your insulin the night before." Hello??? Yes, I took my insulin the night before...twelve hours before! How long does he think it lasts? He expects me to fast before my bloodwork, I am not going to take any insulin at all if I can't eat anything. If I take insulin and my blood sugar drops and I can't eat or drink anything with sugar, I'm screwed. I'll have to have something and then I won't be able to get my bloodwork done.

My a1c (which is a three month average of my blood sugar) has dropped almost 2% in the last two months. Does my doctor give a shit about that? No! All he cares about is that my blood sugar was high the morning I had my bloodwork done and that I didn't want to take the insulin that he seems to like so much.

This pisses me off to no end. My doctor has set me up with a diabetes nurse and a new endocrinologist at Mac. I've met with the nurse already and she didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with me, my bloodwork or the medication that I'm taking. If something works, why change it? I don't understand why, when I have these two other specialists looking after me, do I even need to discuss my diabetes with my family doctor? It makes no sense!

Anyway, rant over, I'm done for the day. Goodnight friends.