Does anybody have a go to diabetes educator? Do you find them as helpful as your doctor?
I don’t see a CDE now that I’ve moved to western Massachusetts, but when I lived in St. Louis I worked with a wonderful nurse-educator. She not only knew more about fine-tuning the pump than my endo there did, but she also seemed to understand that no one lives in a clinical setting, and worked with me to achieve good control even in the midst of “real” life.
Are you kidding? Every one of my CDE’s have known more than any doc. They spend all their time with their patients, they see you day in, day out, they follow people’s lifestyles. Yes, they want to see numbers, but they also want to know about the events surrounding those numbers. What kind of lifestyle do you have, what are your hobbies, what do you do, etc. They take into account everything when working with you. Some CDE’s are also diabetics themselves!
If all I could afford was between a CDE and an endo, I’d pick a CDE , hands down. They just don’t KNOW diabetes, they LIVE diabetes. My CDE, Joan, is the closest thing to a diabetic friend I have. 
She truly understands everything I go thru. And I’ve had quite a few like her over the years.
Yes… and I find mine more helpful than my doctor (primarily because she’s easier to get ahold of… my current endo is great). This is definitely a YMMV thing though… in the past I have had some that are NOT so helpful.
My CDE is also a T1, which I think makes her particularly easy to relate to… she really “gets it” in a way that no other CDE I’ve ever seen has.
My current CDE is wonderful. She is also a nurse, and knows quite a bit. She has been doing her thing for about 35 years. My general practioner referred me to her. He admitted to me that he does not know much about diabetes. He then went on to say that with her help, and us all working as a team, I will succeed (diabetes control, weight loss). He didn’t pretend. He said if I need her, to call or email her with questions I may have. I have emailed her quite a bit, and she has been very helpful. It is so hard to get into see her. I had to wait like two months. I live in a town of 10000 and all the bigger towns have them. She is the best! I know people that drive 30 to 45 miles to see her instead of 5 or 15.
I love my CDE, too. As others have said, she looks at the big picture to help me manage my diabetes the way I live my life. No matter what my numbers are, I’m never “in trouble.” She simply asks lots of questions to figure out what’s going on and then suggests solutions. It feels like a partnership, like I’m not in this alone. She really, really gets it.
She also takes as much time as needed during appointments, answers my e-mails very quickly, and has given me a phone number to reach her after office hours. Wow.
I looked up her credentials to see if they might help you find the right person. She has these letters after her name:
APNP – Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner
CNP – Clinical Nurse Specialist
CDE – Certified Diabetes Educator
Credentials are not the most important thing, although they are important. Each of us needs to find someone we’re comfortable with, who listens and gives good, solid, “real world” suggestions.
While I like my doctor a lot, I LOVE my CDE when it comes to diabetes. I hope you find someone great to be on your team, too.
Janet
For Me my CNP Tina has helped me thru it all… I love and trust my doctor but its Tina i go to for any problems. anything can get your sugars off track… mine are the stress i am going thru and a cold. she order some meds had my doc sign them …gave me some samples of astepro for nasal congestion…and wallah all better… i do see a CDE and pump specialist but Tina coordinates it all… She is Pre diabetic but comes from a long line of diabetics so she knows my struggles… By the way Domo love the TATT…
My diabetes specialist has an educator / registered dietician on staff in his office. On my first visit, after all the testing, I had a long chat with my doctor, and then I had an even longer chat with the educator. I learned a LOT about diabetes, my condition and about how my diet can affect it. Talk about information overload. He even gave me his email address and number so that any time I have a question I just shoot a quick message over to him and he gets back to me pretty quickly.
Love my CDE- wouldn’t trade her in for anything!!
I have a nurse educator that is absolutely fantastic. She was the one who helped me set everything up when I started my pump, looked at my numbers, tweaked the doses. I haven’t seen her in almost six months, and it shows. My last A1c was up. If you have a chance to work with a cde, take advantage of it.