We Will Have a New CDE in a Few Months

Last weekend, Tom, Beverly's husband, came to see me, as he wanted to talk about some of the things she had taught him. He was concerned about her being taught so much about the ADA guidelines and not being concerned about lower blood glucose levels that our support group followed.

I told him that she needed to go along with the current teachings as she needed to pass the test and our goals would not help her pass the test. I asked if she was just explaining what she was learning, or actually telling him to follow what she was saying. Tom admitted that he had not thought about that and that she was probably explaining what she was learning to reinforce this and know it for the test.

I told him not to be concerned until she had her certificate and then what she said. He said he would be more careful and try to let her use him for discussing what she was learning. He said at the same time he would remember what the support group had taught him as it had really helped him manage his diabetes. He asked how Allen was doing and what he latest A1c had been. When I said his latest A1c was 4.6, Tom looked at me in disbelief and asked how this was possible.

I asked him if he had heard of Dr. Bernstein and he said no, he hadn't. I said I don't have the book, but if he remembered some of my blogs, I have written about him and his “law of small numbers.” Then Tom said he remembered this now, but where was this from. We went to my computer and I showed Tom his book “Diabetes Solutions” on Amazon. He asked me to put the URL to his book in an email to him, as he wanted to order the book. He then spent some time looking at the pages and reviews and said he would be ordering the book.

Then Tom asked me if I could call Allen over and I said yes and made the call. In a few minutes, Allen was here. Tom asked how he was doing with that low an A1c. Allen said he felt great and was even surprised that it was that low, as he had not had any readings below 65 mg/dl. Yes, he had many readings in the 70's to low 90's and about the same in less than 105 as in the upper 60's. Allen admitted he would prefer an A1c in the range of 4.9 to 5.5%. He said this caused him to need to find another doctor, as his current doctor would not believe him even though he had the meter readings to prove it. Allen said the doctor told him that he was no longer a patient and was concerned about unreported hypoglycemia. Allen said this is now the second doctor that does not believe he only has one meter and has unreported hypoglycemia on a second meter.

Tom said he would be ordering Dr. Bernstein's book Diabetes Solutions and Allen asked if he wanted to own it or borrow it. Tom said he wanted to own it and have it available for Beverly if she needed to use it. Allen said that sounds like the right idea.

At that point, Tom asked me to loan him a few books. When we were finished, he had four of my books that he wanted to read. In addition, he had three others set aside for later.