When your doctor/parents start to feel like the Diabetes Police...

Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure all of our doctors and our parents want to help us. Your parents want you to be healthy so you can be happy so you live forever and do amazing, incredible things. Your doctor wants you to be healthy, so you can be happy, so you can live forever and do amazing, incredible things.

Sometimes, though, they might not show it well, especially when you're in the doctor's office with both your parents and the doc staring at you wondering why your blood sugars aren't perfect.

"230 at breakfast? That's too high. Why do you think you got so high? What happened? Then you were 65 after school, and back up to 210 at dinner. On Friday you were around 130 all day. What happened on Thursday?"

Well, I'll tell you what happened: we have diabetes, we aren't perfect.

It can be stressful, sure, for them, but FOR YOU more importantly because you are doing the best you can and that's not always perfect. But the thing we want to avoid is when you start feeling like your doctor's appiontments are the opposite of helpful.

When you meet with your doctor it should be an apportunity for you to look at your numbers, your basal rates, carb-ratios and lantus doses. It should be a chance to adjust things, talk over any questions you have, go over new approaches to maintaing your blood sugar during your basketball games, etc.

It should NOT feel like an interrogation or blame game. You should not leave there feeling guilty or helpless because you can't make your blood sugars what everyone hopes them to be.

The last time I went to a doctor, a new endocrinologist for adults (I miss my pediatric endo!), he never smiled and he essentially accused me of lying when I said I've almost never forgotten to take my Lantus insulin. He did not let me talk at all. He interuppted me repeatedly when I tried to explain what I knew about my own diabetes, and he simply clearly didn't care about who I am as a person, what I want to do in my life despite having diabetes, and that I am more than just a silly disease.

These are not the qualities of an effective doctor. I was so shocked by his rudeness that I didn't get myself together to stand up for myself...and I should have!

If you are frustrated with the way your doctor works "with" you, here are a few suggestions:

1. Simply state the problem: Doc, I know you want my blood sugars to be perfect, but that isn't easy to do. I have trouble after basketball practice because I'm scared of going low during practice, so I under-bolus for my snack, because it's better for me to be a little high after than to be at 30 halfway through. If you have a suggestion that might work for ME, I'd appreciate hearing it."

or "Doc, I'm doing the best I can. This is really hard for me. I don't think anyone with diabetes knows how to do it perfectly, and I'm also living my life and trying not to let diabetes RUN everything. Maybe we can compromise, I will check my blood sugar more often if you could help me by not expecting perfection every day."