[fgummett]

Originally Posted by Scrabblechick

Frank, I have embarrassed family members by grilling the docs on "What does this MEAN? What ARE these numbers?" No worries that I'll settle for "Everything's fine." LOL.

Good for you! There's still too many that do just settle for a pat on the head from the Doc... and we gotsta edjumacate them

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Scrabblechick

Frank, I have embarrassed family members by grilling the docs on "What does this MEAN? What ARE these numbers?" No worries that I'll settle for "Everything's fine." LOL.

That's great Scabblechick! Several things I've noticed over the years about doctors.....one is that they see so many patients that they forget that the patients are anxious to know what's wrong with them. The doctor sees that there's nothing wrong with the patient or that whatever is wrong he can treat with a few pills, so to the doctor, it's no big deal. To the patient, it's their life....even if there's nothing wrong or if the problem isn't serious, the patient doesn't know that.

Another problem is that a lot of patients are nervous in a doctor's office. They are afraid that the doctor will find something seriously wrong with them. They feel like if they can just get out of his office, they will be okay, so they don't want to tell the doctor everything that's wrong with them, lest he find something serious. They just want to maybe get some pills and get out of there, and hope everything will be okay.

The last thing, and this bothers me, is that most doctors treat a woman patient lightly. I've seen it with my ex-wife, my daughter, and female family members. When I first heard of it, I thought the women were just being unreasonably critical of the doctor....until I experienced it first hand with my daughter. I couldn't believe how differently she was treated than I was.
The doctors act like, "Oh, it's just a woman....they complain about every little ache and pain, so I'll just give them some pills and shut them up." I guess it stems from the old attitude that if a man goes to the doctor, there must be some really wrong, otherwise, he'd never be here, since a man has to be half dead before he'll see a doctor.

I have since told the female family members that they need to be more forceful when they see the doctor (like you are). I said that they are paying the same amount of money as I am when I see the doctor, so they should be treated the same as I am. If the doctor tries to brush you off, yell at him, demand what you think you're entitled to when you see him. Don't leave his office until you're satisfied with the service he's given you.

[pegasus]

Dave,
I'm going to go a little against the consensus for this one. I agree that if you're doing well and get along well w/ your GP who listens to you, and you have the other supports as well, that's significantly beyond what most people using a GP only have. But I also agree that it's impossible if not difficult for GPs to keep up. I refuse to have an endo who isn't also an internist--and agrees to *act* as my internist (or GP [that term's less used now here, maybe because they got tired of practicing! ], some of them seem to be certified in it but will only practice in the specialty).

As far as I've seen after 40 years of T1, most medical issues that develop for me are diabetes-related, and someone w/that combination of skills will know how. That way he also has a stable of specialists to refer me to if something develops that I need specific care for. For insurance reasons (he doesn't take mine) I got a separate internist in his practice who's a lovely, knowledgeable person (she officially "refers" me to him, but I have to check in w/her once a year; I also use her when he's on vacation) but I wouldn't use her as the primary. It just seems to make the most sense to me to focus on the core medical practitioner as the "coordinator." "Internal medicine," or GP specialty, is its own field, and they have to keep up in the specifics of that, so I wouldn't want to rely on them for everything else as well.

But ... what you're doing seems to be working for you, Dave, and you're keeping a solid eye on what's happening, so do what works until you feel a need for change. That's really the only way to deal with this anyway!

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by Hammer

That's great Scabblechick! Several things I've noticed over the years about doctors.....one is that they see so many patients that they forget that the patients are anxious to know what's wrong with them. The doctor sees that there's nothing wrong with the patient or that whatever is wrong he can treat with a few pills, so to the doctor, it's no big deal. To the patient, it's their life....even if there's nothing wrong or if the problem isn't serious, the patient doesn't know that.

Another problem is that a lot of patients are nervous in a doctor's office. They are afraid that the doctor will find something seriously wrong with them. They feel like if they can just get out of his office, they will be okay, so they don't want to tell the doctor everything that's wrong with them, lest he find something serious. They just want to maybe get some pills and get out of there, and hope everything will be okay.

The last thing, and this bothers me, is that most doctors treat a woman patient lightly. I've seen it with my ex-wife, my daughter, and female family members. When I first heard of it, I thought the women were just being unreasonably critical of the doctor....until I experienced it first hand with my daughter. I couldn't believe how differently she was treated than I was.
The doctors act like, "Oh, it's just a woman....they complain about every little ache and pain, so I'll just give them some pills and shut them up." I guess it stems from the old attitude that if a man goes to the doctor, there must be some really wrong, otherwise, he'd never be here, since a man has to be half dead before he'll see a doctor.

I have since told the female family members that they need to be more forceful when they see the doctor (like you are). I said that they are paying the same amount of money as I am when I see the doctor, so they should be treated the same as I am. If the doctor tries to brush you off, yell at him, demand what you think you're entitled to when you see him. Don't leave his office until you're satisfied with the service he's given you.

, Scrabblechick!
The irony is that so often men go when they're sicker and therefore more complicated to treat.

The other grotesque inequity when it comes to women's health is that medications have been developed over the years based on clinical trials on *men only,* and treat women (and children for that matter) as just, well, basically the same. That's why the Nurses' longegity study (I can't rememger if that's the same as the DCCT or another one) has been so key; it really shoved in the face of the medical establishment that women *are* different, have different physiologies and therefore essential, different needs. Now they're scrambling (sometimes) to catch up, sometimes seeing it as a way to extend patents (and reduce generic options).

Sigh.

So yeah, women really do have to be more forceful with their health-care providers--good for you for encouraging them to speak up!

[Kim_in_TN]

I was diagnosed by my GP but she has a full-time staff CDE. I see him every 3 months and now for the first time it will be 6 months before my next visit. She still sees me yearly for labs and a complete physical. I know that she would see me sooner if I had any concerns!

I've been on this schedule for 4 years now and do feel as though I am under very watchful care. If it ever gets to the point that I feel differently then I will perhaps look to make a change. It sounds like you are at the same "place" as I am. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[Hammer]

It's funny but I decide when I should see my doctor. He tries to have his staff schedule my next appointment when I'm in his office, but I tell them I'll call them when I feel like coming in. In the past, he tried to schedule blood tests for me, but I told the receptionist not to.

When they want you to have a blood test, the doctor has the receptionist fill out a hospital form that indicates what tests he wants done, and I take that form to the hospital, which is one block away. I tell the receptionist not to fill the form out since I won't be using it, but they fill it out anyway and give it to me. I turn around and throw it in the trash can on my way out.

I do think that the next time they want to do an A1C test, I may have it done....just for curiosity's sake. I don't think the A1C test is really that important. I figure, if I do my own tests every day, I know where my BG levels have been on a day to day basis, so what could the A1C test tell me that I don't already know? Also, I e-mail my daily readings to the doctor's office so he knows whats going on, plus I'll make a printout of the readings and take them with me when I go see him. So, why have an A1C?....unless it's just for curiosity's sake.