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Home » Articles » Inspiration
Best. Patient. Ever.
by Michelle Haus
All of my life, I was always teacher's favorite - through grade school, high school, college and graduate school. Whether it's some pathological need to be the best or because I really liked school and wanted to know more, I'm not sure why. In grade school, students who had made the honor roll every quarter were awarded an honor pin at the end of the school year. I still have my honor pins and I still love them!
As an adult, it's become an obsession; although not competitive with friends and family career-wise, I am competitive with myself. So when I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, it became my opportunity to shine! OK, this is not the typical response to being diagnosed with a chronic, potentially life-threatening disease, but it was MY response (or as my husband would say, my CUKOO response!)
My chronic story
So, on to my chronic story: I had been feeling ill for a few months, and after going for my yearly physical, my doctor called and gave me the news. It wasn't a total surprise because Type 2 diabetes runs in both sides of my family, and I had gained some weight in the last two years.
So, after receiving this life-changing phone call, I immediately ordered three books on Type 2 diabetes from Amazon (through the ChronicBabe link, of course, since Editrix Jenni is a hero of mine). And I started exercising, joined Weight Watchers online and began my quest to be the perfect patient. One month later, I had lost 12 pounds and my A1C (three-month average of glucose) went from 8.7 to 6.7.
I told the doctor's assistant that I wanted to be the best patient ever, and she said that was a good goal, but because of HIPAA (the Health Insutance Portability and Accountability Act), they wouldn't be able to tell anyone! Two months after the initial diagnosis, I had lost a total of 25 pounds and my A1C was 6.0, the high end of "normal." Yay, me!
My chart has smiley faces
My physician, Dr. Anderson (a fabulous woman and practicioner), and her staff have been so supportive and helpful, even awarding me smiley faces on my chart and copies of my lab results - the "honor pins" of my quest toward patient perfection!
Dr. Anderson sent me to an ophthalmologist immediately after my diagnosis to check for diabetic retinopathy (even though I was just diagnosed, she told me that most people have had diabetes for 10 years at the time of their diagnosis - who knew?)
The good news was that I had no diabetic retinopathy and my ophthalmologist, another fabulous woman, said that if I can keep my A1C below 7.0, that shouldn't be a problem for me. The bad news was that I had narrowing angles in my eyes, so I had to have two minor laser eye surgeries in two weeks to correct the problem, before I could even have my eyes dialated to see if I had retinopathy. At that point, I was thinking, "Why can't I just deal with one horrible problem at a time?" But the competitive part of me said, "Yes! Another problem solved! More problems? Bring them on!"
Not perfect, but very well, thank you.
I'm no longer going to the doctor every month - it's every two months now - and I feel better than I've felt in a long time. I obsessively take my blood glucose levels - first thing in the morning, before meals, two hours after meals and before bedtime - and am doing well. Not perfect, but very well. And I continue to lose weight, although I have more to go. But best of all, I'm still getting smiley faces from my doctor - not to mention the smiley face I have now, knowing that I'm dealing with this disease head on, and at this point, kicking its butt!
And did I mention I have a wonderful group of supportive friends, including a registered dietician and a former nurse/diabetes educator? They all know that they don't need to be my food police, but they're around to cheer me on and celebrate my success. As Editrix Jenni says, we all need our teams, and I have a great one.
The moral of my story is, there's always a bright side: Challenges always bring opportunities. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." In my case, it's a strong cup of green tea - with no sugar, please!
Posted: 11/12/2006 in Inspiration
