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.