Carly, you are very fortunate to have had the education and support that you've had from an early age - but even more so you are a very impressive individual for absorbing all that information and taking charge of your life with such a positive attitude at just 18 years old (and starting at 11!). I'm sure your parents are incredibly proud.
I have no doubt that you will manage this disease like a champion for the rest of your life. I hope you'll continue to find ways to pay it forward and inspire others with the kind of empathy and courage you're showing here. Wishing you the best of luck at school!
Thank you so much for that advice! I will make sure to do that, I plan on making it perfectly clear to the dietician all my food accommodations no matter how many weird looks I get haha.
You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you! :) I majoring in nursing at the University of Vermont this upcoming fall! I ultimately want to become an endocrinologist,but I am taking it one step at a time!
Hi Carly, great to hear your story! Just wanted to post to say that I'm a Vermonter so if you ever need anything, let me know. I'm a Biology professor at Norwich University which is in Central Vermont but I collaborate with a scientist up at UVM and am up there regularly. Anyway, Vermont's a small state and wanted to let you know that there's at least one other Dr. Bernstein loyal/low-carber in the area! Cheers and good luck at UVM!
I would love to be able to meet you! I love the vibe of Vermont and how health conscious they are. I was a little disappointed to hear that UVM didn't have a College Diabetes Network (CDN), but I plan on making one to hopefully meet other diabetics and help deal with the struggles with diabetes. How long have you been on the Dr. Bernstein protocol?
Ginger Vieira lives in Burlington and went to Champlain College right there in Burlington. She is a really great person. I had the pleasure of meeting meeting her more than once. She doesn't follow Dr. B but probably has great connections in the area. Ginger is very involved with DiabetesDaily.com.
I can't believe you've not met any other diabetics. I go up to UConn at times, I like to stay at the Altnaveigh Inn. I'll msg you next time I visit and maybe we could have a cup of coffee. You might be surprised at the number of people all around you who have diabetes and just don't advertise.
You could contact Ginger. My experience is that few doctors advertize their philosophy. And what you really want is a doctor who accepts your personal goal of tight blood sugar control. I've found you can most evade the whole diet question, you don't really want advice from an endo on that anyway.
What I would suggest is looking for an endo who is more of a recent graduate, presumably more up to date and flexible. And then try to look at online reviews and find out if they accept "patient centered care."
And don't forget, UVM has a medical school that has a whole endochronology dept. You can probably inquire there as well. I believe they provide clinical services through a local diabetes clinic.
I was first diagnosed in 2010 and pretty much immediately started following the Bernstein diet. I was totally religious about it for a year and now I really try but I slip up now and again. That's awesome that you are thinking of setting up a CDN, since UVM doesn't have such a thing you can make quite an impact in the community in this way. My email is khinkle@norwich.edu if you every want to PM me and chat or need support in any way. Or even if you want a recommendation for a good restaurant with good LC options. :)
I haven't had any luck, have seen 2 endos in VT (I kind of gave up after that, honestly). One was Suzanne Trost in central VT and the other was out of the Fletcher Allen group in South Burlington (Dr. Leahy), he was actually accusatory and awful, like he was suspicious of me for even suggesting that I would follow a low carb diet. Steer way clear of him. I agree with Brian that looking for a younger doctor that is open to new ways of thinking might be the way to go. Please tell me if you have any luck, I have two little kids and a crazy schedule and just haven't had the time to devote to searching but if you find a good one that is open to LC life I'd love to hear it.
Hi Carlyo7. I too would love to hear more details about what you learned from Dr. Bernstein. (I have insulin-dependent diabetes, developed after i underwent pancreatic surgery). I read the book and try to follow it. I also have recommended this to many people.
I am very curious to know what additional knowledge might be gained from sitting with him in person, as opposed to studying his book (and listening to his webcasts). (I dont even live in the US so it would be difficult for me to see him, anyway).
The cookbook that I have is the 150 recipe one, which I LOVE! and yes that is the pale cookbook, which is also another very useful cookbook to use. The only downside is that you have to calculate you own carbohydrates because they are not listed in the book. My meal plan has slightly changed since college but my usual breakfast cossets of either a cup of Fage plain green yogurt with some blueberries, or 2 scrambled eggs with some type of protein like turkey sausage or bacon. And then of course a couple cups of coffee! For lunch I usually have some type of chicken salad, or I have the gluten free bread from the wheat belly cookbook and make a sandwich with a strawberry smoothie! At dinner I either have another type of chicken salad, or some variation of cooked/steamed vegetables with grilled chicken. I hope this all helps you out!! (Those two cookbooks really help with variation in having such a strict diet!)
I am so sorry to hear that had to happen to you! What I gained from seeing him in person was his passion, and motivation in controlling diabetes. Since he was abused by the conventional system and suffered from it, it was very apparent that he was using everything in his power to fight back. And the thing is, he wants his patients and other diabetics to have that same drive and motivation. Thats what he gave me, and is part of the reason why I am so interested in going into the endocrinology field as a nurse/doctor. Someone else asked me a similar question to this, and on page one I go into specifics as to everything he really showed me. I do think there is a difference from going to him in person versus reading the books. So I think you might be interested in reading that! (If you can't find it I can copy and paste it in reply to you with no problem!) I hope this helps you out, and I wish you all the best in trying to deal with this all. It definitely isn't something that is easy to manage.
