While a meeting with a laid-back, laissez-faire-approach doctor may be a pleasant experience for a patient, that is not what you are there for. Having had diabetes for more than 30 years, my insurance companies have subjected me to a widely varying level of medical services. Only when I was able to truly choose my own endocrinologist was I able to get what I needed from doctors.
When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, my internist recommended type N beef (insulin) once a day and measuring urine for ketones. Metering hadn't been generally accepted yet and insurance didn’t pay for it. Three years after diagnosis, I bought one that was being used in California trials. Within days of metering twice a day, I could see how inadequate my "good" control was. I went to another doctor at my own expense and was able to get him to agree to a more intensive regimen. Since then, every time my management has improved, I have been the instigator of the change.
I've found that few doctors can keep up with the research on diabetes, understand it, and are able to apply it. They see a patient 2 or 3 times a year and take a few basic tests to check the progression of disease. Patients, on the other hand, can become experts on their own body's reaction to diabetes. They can monitor and manage their health almost continuously if they meter frequently and can work with a conscientious physician to develop an interactive management plan.
Diabetes is still a poorly understood disorder with NO CURE in sight 80 years after the introduction of insulin. The only thing that has changed in that time has been the quality and precision of the insulin and testing available to the patient, which gives him the ability to manage his health instead of relying on a doctor to treat an illness.
That huge difference shouldn't be relinquished by persons having diabetes.
P S, 60
Chicago, IL
137475