Comments on: Doctor, Doctor give me the news: Good or bad, it should feel RIGHT.

By: katy

katy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:01:18 +0000

“If you feel like they don’t, you need to tell them that, or find another. If you are listening to your endo and they going home and saying “He or she is completely wrong; I’m doing it this way,” you need to voice that to them.” <—I did that. Our endo stuck to her guns and I told her we would have to leave over the disagreed-upon issue, even though we love her. And I thanked her for her loving care and we left. But if I saw her in the grocery store, I would probably want to hug her.

By: Lynn Pratt

Lynn Pratt — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:15:46 +0000

We are very lucky with our doctor that we go to. My daughter is seven, diagnosed at five and she still looks forward to her doctors visits each time. They make the appointment fun for her with things to do while we talk and a prize at the end for her and my son(5). The have helped us with everything and pushed to help us against our insurance to get Ashley on the pump right away which she needed (She only needed a bolus of .25 and that was impossible to do with the shots, but insurance said it was too soon for a pump). Her doctors also came out and skied at our fundraiser event to support us. I don’t know what we would do without their positive support and encouragement.

By: Scott K. Johnson

Scott K. Johnson — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:45:50 +0000

I think this is a complicated thing.

I remember dreading my appointments because I didn’t want to disappoint my doctor, I didn’t want my parents to worry about my poor management, I didn’t want to get caught fudging my logbook.

Looking back, I had THE BEST pediatric endo, and he helped me a great deal. But there was always that anxiety.

There’s also that whole “knowing/doing” gap that many of us fight with too.

Lot’s of sides to this one, Moira, and definitely worth talking about.

By: Rose Edward

Rose Edward — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:23:01 +0000

The only thing we dread is the long ride to Syracuse. . .especially going through white-outs in winter.

By: Lauren M.

Lauren M. — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:35:00 +0000

I could not agree with you more! I really look forward to K’s endo appointments and we always walk out of the office feeling empowered and encouraged to fight on. I have made a point of surrounding my family with all kinds of medical professionals that empower us in all areas of our medical care. I feel for those that don’t have those choices.
And I completely agree that Dr. Dude is wonderful, even though we only had the privilege of being with him for 3 days!

By: Danielle B.

Danielle B. — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:16:36 +0000

I love this; Dr. Wonderful Dr. Dude :) . And you are right, everyone needs something different and it is ok to say so and pick a new DR if that is what is needed.

By: Michelle Gonzalez

Michelle Gonzalez — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:47:33 +0000

I agree with you. In our situation we are happy with our endo, but with Kaiser HMO we don’t really have much of a choice. We don’t always see the same Endo. In fact, we’ve seen all four Endo’s at the facility. I haven’t asked, but I think they have Endo’s who specialize in different things. The first couple of years we saw the head of the department. Once or twice we saw another Endo who didn’t make much of an impression. Then we saw a very nice male Endo (the others are all female) who I really liked because he was the first who explained things (like c-peptide) so I could understand them. And the last couple of visits we’re seeing a very nice, mellow young Endo who is new to the department, and I’m pretty sure we’ve been put on “maintenance”. I’ve only once had an issue with an Endo, and that was when the male Endo changed a bunch of Sarah’s pump settings – even though it was the week of her monthly cycle, so I KNEW they didn’t need to be changed permanently, but we hadn’t quite gotten to where we could predict what we needed to do. Sure enough, she was ALL wacky starting the next day and I ended up changing them all back. I will never allow an Endo to fiddle again. Next time I will write down the suggestions for consideration at home. My only real complaint is that Kaiser doesn’t really provide much education. I’ve learned a whole lot more on my own than at clinic visits and I feel for parents who might not have the mad scientist research skills, or who haven’t found the DOC to bounce things off other parents.