Many people with type 2 diabetes fight
to avoid insulin. Yet, others cannot get their doctors to prescribe
them insulin. What are the problems for these people? The first group may feel like they have
failed and that the doctor is disappointed with them or a few may
have a real fear of needles. Chances are they are victims of their
doctor that used fear of insulin to keep them on oral medications.
The second group is battling to manage
their diabetes in spite of their doctors who follow the ADA and
believe they should rely on their A1c only. These patients are
forced to seek out other doctors once they know that their doctor
will not refer them, so they can start insulin.
Both groups are dealing with doctors
that do not believe in patient centered care and may or may not have
adequate knowledge of how to treat type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately,
this is a fact of life for those of us with type 2 diabetes. Many of
us constantly find ourselves forced to change doctors because of what
the doctor says or doesn't tell us about diabetes.
A minority of doctors is willing to
admit they don't know everything and do work for what is best for
their patients. They refer their patients to other caring doctors if
they can. If they are unable, they apply themselves and obtain
advice from knowledgeable physicians and work to help their type 2
diabetes patients.
The majority of doctors bully their
patients and think they are all that the patient needs. Yes, I said
bully their patients. I have had a few of these doctors and will
never deal with them again. They are more interested in their
schedule and were determined to change my medications to what they
could profit from and when I refused to take the prescription slips,
told them I would not change medications or the dosage, they told me
I would. I told them that I would not and walked out the door. Only
one tried to get me back into his exam room, but I continued to leave
and am happy I did.
On the way out, another of his patients
was being taken to another exam room and he recognized me and made
the signal to call him without the nurse knowing. We had a good
conversation later when he asked me why I saw his doctor. He agreed
the doctor was a bully and had increased the dosage of two of his
medications that day. I asked him if he had a copy of his lab
results and he said he never received a copy even when he asked.
After some more discussion, he agreed with me and said he would
change doctors.
A week later, he called and said he had
changed doctors and the doctor had given him a copy of his lab
results and reduced the dosage of several of his medications. When
he asked the doctor why, the doctor said that the tests indicate that
he was being overdosed and did not need that large a dose. The
doctor continued that the next time should confirm the dosage or if
it was still too large. He said the doctor showed him the test
results and what the ranges were for each medication and how the lab
results compared. He said this was when he was given a copy without
being asked.
I told him it sounded like he made a
great choice. He said he was going to ask for the lab results, but
was happy that he did not need to. He said he thanked the doctor
profusely, but the doctor just said he does this for all patients and
he feels that he has better and more proactive patients as a result.
He said that this was an eye opener for him and he is setting up a
database to record each lab result and in the future to do analysis
to track how he was progressing.
I said this is great and I wished him
well.
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