Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

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EDUCATE YOURSELF

by Peter J. Nebergall, Ph.D.

Some years ago, an eminent neurologist warned me: "You can't

believe everything a doctor tells you. You need to separate the valid medical

advice from the medical nonsense."

I was irate. "But he's the doctor! He's the expert. How

am I, the patient, qualified to sit in judgement of his professional advice?"

"It's your body," he answered. "You need to get

qualified."

He's right. Though it sounds a stretch, you, the patient, need

to learn everything you can about your condition, your medications, and your

body's unique behaviors. Michael Cohen, RPh, Director of the Institute for Safe

Medication Practices, says the last bastion of medication safety is not the

prescribing physician, or the dispensing pharmacist, or the bedside nurse, but

you, the patient.

This is not just good diabetes advice. Could you recite your medical history—or

have you left that to your doctor? What prescription medications are you taking?

Do you remember the dosages? The strengths? Do you know what they do? Do you

know what they look like? Why not?

Maybe you think that's the doctor's business, the province of

the trained medical professional. Well, it is; but your doctor has to be familiar

with an enormous variety of conditions, of patients, of possible procedures

and medications. You just have to be familiar with one person, yourself. Your

doctor might see you for 20 minutes a visit—but you have 24 hours a day.

You have more time, more opportunity, and A LOT MORE REASON to make it your

business.

Do you use insulin? Do you adjust your own insulin—or

do you wait for the next clinic appointment, and let your doctor tell you what

to inject? Lots of diabetics adjust their insulins, regularly testing their

blood and raising or lowering their next dose, to rapidly bring their blood

sugars under tight control. You can learn how to do this, and be healthier for

the learning of it. Talk to your doctor about adjusting your insulins.

And what about diet? Do you know how many calories you eat each

day? Do you know how much you should eat? Can you describe a "healthy diabetic

diet?" Or are you one of those folks who eat whatever and let the insulin,

or your oral meds, cover it? There's Carb-Counting, the Exchange List, and the

Food Pyramid. Using any one of them will give you better diabetes control. There

are dietitians who'll help you learn at least one of these meal-planning systems.

Exercise is important. We've certainly preached that message

to you, a lot, but do you understand why? Better still, do you know how much

difference a given amount of regular exercise will make to your BGs? I'm not

talking "textbook;" I'm asking you to become the resident authority

on just what your favorite exercise (Treadmill? Stationary bike? Walking the

dog?) does to your blood sugars. So move yourself, test, record, and know.

Is this a lot to learn? Yes. Does it look confusing? Of course.

But a lot of people have already learned these skills, have become the ultimate

experts on their own condition and their own medical needs, and there's no reason

you can't, too. .

It's like being a pilot. An untrained person, sitting in the

pilot's seat, can be overwhelmed by the complexity and unfamiliarity of the

instruments and controls—while a trained pilot, in the same seat, has no

difficulty taking off and flying safely to the destination. The difference is

education. Just as folks can learn how to fly, you can learn how to take care

of yourself.

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