I am bummed out thinking about an upcoming appointment with my educator. The truth is that I dont like her nor do I trust her. I think she is on one big power trip. . What I dont like is she is pushing that I get on all sorts of drugs and mentions sales meetings she just recently had with drug salesman. She then is telling me “oh you should go off this dosage or that dosage and I will talk to the Dr” Which I think she never does. I went off a dosage and my numbers went back up.
I am from the old school. The proper response should be " I will check with the Dr and you will get a call from him/her and they will let you know if its ok to change your dosage" That would make me feel a whole lot better knowing the one responsible in the first place for the prescription has reviewed it. She has no skin in the game so to speak. I never got a followup call from the educator after she told me to go off a dosage. That kinda tells me something.
Another thing that bugs me about the educator is these drug companies and salesman are coming to them pushing their products. She has said I just went to a meeting with a salesman and these results are with these drugs. Its bad enough the Dr’s get inundated and seduced by the drug companies now the educators are in the loop too.
I am thinking of dropping the educator piece for awhile and do my own research. I am venting and have a sour taste in my mouth with them right now. Any advice out there?
If you do not feel your educator is doing right by you, then by all means find someone else. I’d also tell your doctor how you feel about this woman and why. He/she probably doesn’t know what the educator is doing.
Are you in a support group? There would be an excellent place to find a reference for a good DE. There are many out there and its worth researching to find one.
I had a terrible physician’s assistant in my old endo’s office. She’d lecture me about all kinds of stuff and then when she started on a diabetic pregnancy, just after I had delivered my 1st child, I stopped her and asked if she’d ever had a diabetic pregnancy. Well, no was her answer. I have, and it was a successful one. So stop talking, leave my room and please never come back. I forbade my endo from letting her talk to me. She was ridiculous.
No educator should be pushing drugs on you without consulting your doctor first. I’m not sure she can legally or ethically do that, but I could be wrong. Go with your gut on this one, she is not doing right by you. Remember, she works for you, you don’t work for her.
Thanks Cara, thats a good idea to find a support group and look for an educator that people find they like. I want one that talks to me and not at me. I need to do that. I am going to move on from that experience and do some more searching.
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Your encounter with a physicians assistant reminds me of the movie THE DR with William Hurt when he sees the Ear Nose and Throat Dr and feels what its like to be a patient when he is diagnosed with cancer and ends up on the roof with another cancer patient. Some in the medical profession have no idea how they treat or talk to you.
Funny isn’t it, how the Dr.'s with the most empathy, best staffs, and office practices you can never get an appointment. Kinda says something doesn’t it.
I’m a newbie to Type 1 - just 4 years. But I now form my own plan for meds, dosage, etc. I’ve got ALL the skin in the game, so I’ve spent days/weeks/months educating myself on what insulin, what pump, what statins, Symlin, you name it - that I have to take. It is a huge pain in the neck. My records are better than my health care provider’s. I go into every appointment with suggestions on how to modify my regime - with data to back it up. I change my dosage only when I know it’s the right thing to do - not because some CDE or doctor told me to.
I’m also lucky enough to have a CDE and doctor who recognize my approach, and support it. If I were in your shoes, I’d ask myself if I knew enough about my own treatment. If I did - I would fire the CDE you mentioned. If I wasn’t smart enough to know whether her recommendations were sound, then I’d get educated, then fire her.
It sounds like you’ll do well because knowing what needs to be done in managing your Diabetes. So follow your thoughts and you should do well. You have to be your own advocate.
Thanks again. My physician GP does not know diabetes as well as he should and its ho hum onto the next patient. I am finding on my own what tests should be done on me which he never he mentioned that are basic on the diagnosis for a person my age and condition. Based on my readings and how I feel right now I already have some complications from the disease, gastro emptying and possible thyroid problems. My numbers have not been good and my home A1C test yesterday is 8.1 I am changing Dr’s to one more attune to my issues. As Donald Trump would say to my educator and current Dr your fired!
Go Pauly!! I admire your decision to fire your dr. It’s like shoes if they don’t fit right get rid of them. Through the years I have fired drs. because of their lack of knowledge of what’s good for me.
I know what you mean Pauly, my old educator used to do the same… You should take this and that… And she used to phone me to see how things were going and ask me to chat in the most inoppertune places even when I told her that it was inopropriate for me to speak about my health at that time, she would push and say “It will just take a moment!”. I would be with friends or out shopping at the Mall and would tell her no. If I saw her number come up on the phone sometimes I would ignore it if I was out, but she would phone several times and then the next day if I hadn’t picked up.
Eventually I told her that if I needed to talk to her, I would contact her to make an appointment for me to see her as I did not like her method of contacting me all the time. That did it for me, she backed right off but didn’t like it. However, I recently saw a different educator and she was really nice… never bothers me and I can email her if I have a problem. So maybe you could change educators.
I think we find out more doing our own research anyhow… it’s just making sure what we’re reading is the truth and we’re not falling for tall tails (shall I say!). You need to be happy with your choice of Dr’s etc… so it’s your choice who you want to help you with this. x
