A Meeting with Our Consultant

Tim sent several of us an email on Monday saying Dr. Tom wanted to meet with us that afternoon after office hours. Jason, A.J, Tim, Jerry, and I attended. Dr. Tom said several of you are aware of the request to have the same program we had on Saturday for a group about three hours northeast of us. Jason said yes, and he and his family are well known to me. His parents are now deceased, but he is still known to many of us. Dr. Tom said he had invited himself and wanted permission even though he had it from the doctor.

Tim said they had talked about March or April depending on the weather. Jason agreed that this should be okay. Tim said some of the older members our group are not happy when we have to change our meeting date to accommodate other groups for presenting programs to them. I said I thought that was why we wanted some informality in our group. I follow this up by saying I can understand when we put out the schedule, that we should follow it, as people make plans and then having to remake them can cause problems.

A.J said that we should then find out when a group for our program plans to meet and they reschedule or we not present a program. Jason said this group already has to reschedule as they normally meet on a Monday and they will move to a Saturday for us. Tim said that could be a problem with some of us still working unless we could leave work at 4:00 PM and be ready to leave then. With the three hours minimum travel time, we would need things to go almost perfectly to make it by 7:00 PM. Jason said it really takes about three hours and 15 minutes so Saturday would be better for us and certainly for Dr. Tom.

Dr. Tom handed each of us a copy of the paper he had given to the two doctors so we could all be informed in case of questions. He said he should have given this to us before our meeting and realized this when Tim called and he needed to come to the meeting. He was glad it was as late as it was, but an interruption still the same. Then Dr. Tom told us why he wanted to go with us and that was to network with different doctors and to learn what was available.

Dr. Tom also informed us that we would not be invited back to the last group. Tim said after he arrived, the doctor with his group has happy with the presentation, but the rest voted not to invite you back. That was the reason he had come here as several of his group want to break from the rest and have their own group even if it was smaller. They felt that the college group was not for them and too many showed disrespect for others. They would like to come for a few times when the weather is good, but would need to miss in bad weather. Tim said he did not see a problem with that, but did hope that they could have their own group and pick up others that were interested and have their own programs.

Dr. Tom then said he would remain as a consultant for our group, but he would be attending fewer meetings. He said that our group was well established and capable of handling most problems and even taught others a few things. He felt that we needed to spend more time with our new members and less doing programs for others. Tim said that was a goal for us and we would continue to invite his group when they felt they could benefit, but we wanted to make our new members feel welcome and a part of the group. Tim commented that we have two others that want to join at our next meeting. He then surprised us when he said one of them was a person with LADA. He is still in the phase of not needing insulin, but knows it is coming. He knows that there is not a support group for type 1 people, but knows two of our new members and feels that we might be a good fit for him.

Dr. Tom asked if we still have the honorary type 1. Tim said yes and her parents want her to stay with us until she attends college and can find a group there. Dr. Tom then said that two members of his group want to join your group and he said he told them to ask first. A.J asked if it was because they were now on insulin and Dr. Tom said that it was because of the research you do and the programs your group does. One does need to go on insulin, but does not want to do it. The other is doing very well, but feels she needs more interaction that your groups tends to provide.

Tim commented this is a goal of our group and we also have to thank Jerry and James for being very open about what they went through and discuss this with others. Presently one of the female members is working hard to help another person with type 2 diabetes, but is meeting resistance and an intervention may be necessary. The person's husband is not making life easy and keeps blaming her for getting diabetes even though it is in her family. Jerry asked where he could help. Dr. Tom said that it might be best to sit back until needed, but to Tim he asked that our member come and talk to him, as he might be able to get needed information for her.

Tim agreed and asked if there was anything else. Dr. Tom said not that I can talk about at this time, but you should know within a month or two and he would tell him when he knew that it might happen. With than we ended our conversation and Tim said on the way out that he would call me later.