Medical Rant

Daughter’s blood sugars have been over 200 the last two mornings, and the goal is for them to be under 110. (Some people are never satisfied.) I want to know the why of the erratic readings; endo wants to criticize everything I’m doing. I know I’m not perfect, but I’ve managed this disease fairly well for the last 8 years, so I know that what is going on now is different.

I just got off the phone with the nurse at the diabetes clinic. She’s going to talk to the endo. Endo is only in the clinic once a week. (One of the joys of living in rural America—specialists are hard to come by and often have very limited hours). I’m probably going to have to take her over to the clinic Monday to get hooked up to a continuous glucose monitor for 3 days.

I called and made an appointment with her primary care physician this morning, but PCP’s first available appointment is Friday, October 10. I took it. I want her to help me sort through the issues of the different medications she’s on and whether any of them could be causing these issues. There are two that I’m wondering about. The medications are prescribed by three different doctors, and my experience has been that each one views their treatment as most important and expects the others to adjust. I also want to talk to PCP about switching to an adult endo.

Daughter is on my insurance and has secondary coverage of Medicaid. The Medicaid is supposed to assure Daughter always has access to medical care, but my experience has been that it has been more of a barrier to medical care than a help. The reimbursement rate is so low that most physicians won’t take it even though my insurance (which is very good) is primary. I can’t even take her in on just my insurance and pay the co-pays and such with any provider who accepts Medicaid from anyone. For them to accept money from me would be to commit Medicaid fraud. So the question becomes, would either of the two adult endos within 30 miles of her be willing to see her given that she is on Medicaid? Would either one of them be a good match for Daughter? Both are men which is already a challenge, as Daughter still has problems letting men touch her because of the sexual abuse she suffered prior to her third birthday. She doesn’t like it when current endo, who is a woman, touches her as she’s checking for signs of neuropathy.

I’ve been putting off finding a new endo because I hoped we would be moving. I didn’t want to change and then move and have to change again. However, since it seems that God wants me here for now, I guess we’re going to have to make the change. Daughter currently sees specialists in 3 different cities, from 25 to 100 miles away from here. There are times when her medical needs and appointments take up a great deal of my time and energy. I am grateful that I have flexibility in my schedule and an understanding congregation.