I called a member of my health team yesterday to have them peruse my blood sugars as I was experiencing more highs than I was comfortable with. It was like they were not listening to me as they stated that I had some lows that they wanted to be rid of. Then they proceeded to lecture me about the dangers of having lows during the day. I promptly stated that I did not call for a lecture as I was not 7 years old. I knew the dangers of lows and have been treating them. I then proceeded to state that I work at this 24 hours a day 365 days per year and I did not need someone lecturing me on the importance of controlling one’s blood sugars. I agreed that the lows had to be decreased in number, but I also stated that I hated feeling like I had the flu (how I feel during highs). It was the highs that were most troubling to me.
This person was also ragging on me because I was not cycling as much as I was earlier in the year as I have been getting over some injuries. This is not the first time that I have had interactions like this with this health care professional. It was very frustrating. Argh!!!
If YOU know you’re working hard, then tell them to stop with the nagging. Or ask for someone else to fill that position in your team. Or find another provider. I wouldn’t put up with that. Their job is to HELP you, not annoy you. That’s your family’s job.
Wow, some red marks on your HCP. Not listening. Thinking only of themselves. And blaming the patient. I would agree with @Timbeak48, time to find a better HCP.
Ditto.
Any successful relationship is built on mutual respect and knowledge. It appears that the health care professional you talked with was more concerned with checking off their list of defensive medicine tactics instead of listening to you. They don’t seem to respect the intense and deep understanding you have of your daily diabetes care since you live with it 24/7/365. Most diabetics quickly pass their health care providers’ experience level with daily diabetes care early in their diabetes careers.
Good for you for taking a very rational stand regarding your values and competence. Health care providers need to hear this more often. I fear that the parade of disinterested and unengaged diabetics that these providers see has them dealing with people like you in a rote fashion. That is lazy and disrespectful. It makes you want to startle them and ask, “Why don’t you just drop the script and simply genuinely engage with me?”
I guess we can accept inept bedside manner in a highly skilled surgeon but an endo and their team is in the communication business, first and foremost. They can’t fix what they fail to truly understand!
I’ll be curious if this person/team changes how they handle you in the future. I wouldn’t give them more than one more chance to adjust their tactics and try to help you.
Sorry this happened, I don’t think it is uncommon at all. Few of the HCP actually have any real clue how difficult this really is and therefore they tend to blame us when things don’t work and many do focus on lows. I’m surprised that they wanted you to cycle more with so many lows though, lol.
I don’t know what is more difficult, having this disease or dealing with all of the people you need to deal with to get what you need. Of course having the disease is worse, without it we wouldn’t need any of these people in our lives at all.
Do we have the same clinicians? lol
I used to get so frustrated when I’d call the clinicians. I could barely get a word in.
I didn’t call them that much, but they seemed very irritated with me after a while and I was tired of being treated like a pest so I found a diabetes hot-line #.