Last week was a full one. What was supposed to be one doctor appointment one day and one a week later quickly turned into 3 in one day. But I've already explained all of that. Two of those appointments were with brand new doctors. The first was with an endocrinologist. In my 3 years with diabetes I've only seen family doctors for my care. The first who diagnosed my Type 1 as Type 2 and then quickly passed me along when I proved him to be wrong 18 months later. The second a family doctor with a lot of knowledge about diabetes who got thing straightened out for me and started me on insulin. I was very happy with the second but I received a letter from the clinic where she works a while back that said she was leaving there and I was never able to find where she was going. Being in between doctors and thinking about going on a pump I decided it was time I found an endo. I made that appointment over a month ago and have been anxiously awaiting it. I love the new doctor (Shout out to Dr. Robert Ennis in Meridian)! He listened to everything I had to say, took plenty of time to go over my history and any concerns I had. When I asked about pumping he was quick to suggest a few and refer me to a few reps that could help me figure out pricing. He even complimented me on my fasting numbers and didn't chastise me for forgetting my meter (oops). The nursing staff was great as well, despite missing a vein when doing my blood draw. Everyone was personable and, get this, when they told me my lab results would be in by the end of the week and they would call me with the results...the actually did it! And my A1c came back at 6.8. I see the beginning of a beautiful relationship here.
The other new doctor I saw that day was a new psychologist, Amy Walters. I had met Amy previously as she does a lot of volunteering with Camp Hodia and she spoke at DTreat when I attended in August. I have seen a few different therapists in the past year or so and finding one that clicks can be such a struggle. I am an introvert by nature so opening up and talking to strangers is a struggle for me. Then there is the fact that diabetes plays such a huge part in my overall health, especially my mental health. Dr. Walters works at the Humphries Diabetes Center in Boise, Idaho and works exclusively with patients with diabetes. Plus, she has a daughter with Type 1 so she knows what's going on. Not having to explain the ins and outs and the daily frustrations of being your own pancreas was a breath of fresh air, We spent almost an hour at my first appointment getting to know each other. She asked a lot of questions to dig into what is going on with me and I felt like she was genuinely interested in what is going on in my life. It was a great first impression.
Overall, I am really happy with these two new steps in my T1D journey. Taking control of your care and being your own patient advocate is such a huge part of this disease. If you don't make it known what you want and take the steps to get there, you will just continue along the same path you're on and you'll likely never get to where you want to be.
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