A couple of months ago I wrote about how frustrated I am with my diabetes diagnosis. To be honest, it still stinks. I feel a lot of guilt for ending up with such a horrible disease. One the ADA (American Diabetes Association) even encourages you not to get, to the point they make it sound as if it is easy to avoid -- just eat healthy and don't gain a lot of weight.
It ignores that some of us do that our entire lives and still end up with it. Taking a risk assessment quiz, I only hit two categories: age and genetics. My risk is low.
That doesn't change the results of five years' worth of blood work. I can't diet my way out of it (though I have been able to control it that way).
In the post linked above I chronicled my path until the end of May, so I won't repeat that here.
What happened afterward I wrote that post is nothing short of a miracle. I met Dr. Maria "Adi" Benito, a doctor who truly listens. Who treated me with care and compassion. Who wanted more blood work before deciding which medicine I should take (instead of insisting I do what works for most people). Who after seeing the blood work did a few things no one else has done for me:
1) She apologized medicine is the only path, and acknowledged my feelings about handing this holistically are valid (I should have mentioned she is both an endocrinologist and a specialist in holistic medicine -- a combination I didn't think was possible in the United States, let alone in the town next to mine).
2) She fought the insurance company for me and is becoming my strongest advocate.
3) She gave me different ways to reach her (phone, email, text, her front porch) and responds when I do.
4) She signs her messages "warmly" with her nickname, thus breaking the doctor-patient wall into making me feel we are on the same team.
If every doctor showed this much compassion, I believe people would be healthier, if for no reason than they would receive the help and care they need sooner. I was diagnosed over five years ago. Five years wasted trying to find someone who was willing to try a non-traditional approach. Who would look beyond my A1C (which I can control with diet) and see the other numbers that were not quite in control, but close enough. Who would listen when I said I can control it through diet, but I'm tired of this approach and want to eat a greater variety of foods.
She is not covered by insurance, but we have such a low end insurance plan not much is covered until we reach our high deductible, so there is not much difference to us.
Insurance wants to charge me $15 a pill ($432 a month) because there is no generic form of the medicine she believes will work best for me -- it will stabilize my sugars without making them plummet into hypoglycemic levels, it will help preserve my liver and kidneys. I would only need one pill a day, but still. She called my insurance company and is in the process of negotiating a more affordable rate.
Glad I ignored the note on HealthGrades that said she is no longer accepting new patients and reached out. She has been a lifesaver -- literally.
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