Words from Alumni: Diabetic Barriers

Here is a great experience from a recent Grad!

“I wanted to share a patient experience I had today.  I have a 78 year old male that I’ve been seeing for the last 4-5 months – working hard to get him in the best health I can.  He’s an out of control diabetic, A1C of 12.7 but refuses to take medication or insulin.  We have been battling over this for a while.  I have referred to endocrinology – but the wait for an initial appointment is sometimes up to 5 months! Just recently he came in to see me – ready to start to take care of himself.  Upon further digging into his barriers around taking the insulin I’ve been trying to prescribe for him – I learned that he was terrified of the act of self-injecting. Instead of charging him a copay for another visit – I arranged for him to meet me over the lunch hour today – told him to bring in all of the medications I had prescribed, including his blood glucose meter, strips and lancets.  We sat together – going over how to use each piece of equipment – got his glucose monitor put together, showed him how to check his sugars – showed him how to inject his insulin.  I wrote out each step of how and when to take his meds for each part of the day.   At the end of our chat – I felt like he can do this on his own.    This was my favorite part of the week. ”

He/She continues…

“You asked earlier how I’m doing.  There are days that I am overwhelmed, stressed, and pulling my hair out.  Days that go more smoothly.  and many days, (like today) that are so incredibly rewarding – they remind me why I chose this profession in the first place.  That is the rollercoaster of primary care, and I love it.”