Endo Troubles

My next guest post is from a dear friend of mine. I knew her husband when we were in high school and had stayed in touch with he and his sisters. When he married Angel, she and I connected on MySpace (yes, it was that long ago....) and had several chats about living with T1. Since then, I've had a chance to meet her several times and love getting to spend time with her and her family. I asked her to blog for me and I was thrilled to get her post, since it was on a topic that I know we have both dealt with before. So, on with the show:

Hey there! This is my first attempt at blogging. My wonderful friend Cara asked me to do a guest spot so here I am. My name is Angel and I am a lot of things, military wife, mother of 2, sister, friend, and diabetic. All of those and more make-up my life no matter which order I put them in. When life is good it seems that the diabetic aspect is first and taken care of before anything else. I spent way to long pretending it wasn’t something serious and life was crazy! Now in my late 20’s I try my hardest to keep everything balanced. So I thought I would share an experience from last week that really makes it hard to take care of myself.

So "textbook life" for a diabetic is a joke and I would like to take that text book and hit every doctor that believes it upside their head with it! I have had many endocrinologists in my 16yrs as a diabetic. Some have been wonderful, some make me want to scream and yell and be violent. In November 2009 my husband got orders to Davis-Monthan afb, az. Aka Tucson. After meeting with my PCM soon after arrival, I received my referrals for the endo.. First up... Julia Levi- all I'm going to say is she isn’t a real endo. She told me to test my blood sugar LESS and not to drink juice when low.

I called my insurance after the appointment and changed to Dr. Cordova-Kisse. She is a student at the University of Arizona and was under Dr. Thompson. Every appointment would go good until he came in. In April, I saw her and because of a DKA episode and my fear of it happening again while watching my kids. I took their advice and said goodbye to my pump for a little while and went on lantus. I don’t like the shots because once it is in, you can't take it out and you can't disconnect from it like with the pump. I was happy for the time being though.

After a few months the weight I had lost had started to come back and my numbers were going crazy. So I hooked my pretty pump back up and everything started to get better! I went to my endo for a check-up and to have him sign the scripts for Minimed so I could get my supplies…. If it was only that easy!! My blood pressure was extremely high, my heart was beating odd, and then Dr. Thompson walks into the room saying this “Good morning Mrs. Brumbaugh, I see you are not doing well, I think you and mother nature are having a big fight. I don’t think you know how to basal or bolus and I truly believe that you are being a 'bad diabetic.' I am not going to endorse your pump and will put that in your chart, you need to learn how to do this.”

Hearing this I was BEYOND PISSED! This doctor wouldn’t sign a script to renew my cgms earlier this year because he believes if you can test your blood you don’t need it… DERR! I picked up my purse called him a few names and told him he has no right being an endocrinologist and left. After I got into the car reality hit me. I just left the office with no Humalog, no pump supplies and no lantus. LOVELY! I called my PCM and was able to see her the next day, my PCM was about to sign all the scripts until she checked with her head doctor and found out she can't ignore what the other doctor put in my records (they are part of the same hospital).

Anywho, I called my pump company and told my rep that I don’t know what to do. She asked me who my doctor was, and after telling her she said "WHOA REALLY? He took you as a patient with a pump? He hates pumps!" Now that was a fun fact to learn. I was recommended by Minimed to make an appointment with another endo, and will see her soon. Minimed also came through for me and sent me supplies to get me to the appointment at the end of the month.

I have a hard time going to these doctors as it is. They think they KNOW what diabetes is. They know what their text book said. And can’t see past that. I think that an endo or diabetic educator should live like one for at least 5 yrs before they can advise a type 1… Which is why I am going to school for nutrition and eventually will become a diabetic educator. I hope its soon before I lose my mind from having to deal with all these jack wagons. I find that these kinds of doctors are not what type 1s need, they are the opposite.

Thanks again Angel! I'm so glad you chose to share this story with us.