Medical update

I stared to include this as part of my 2020 update post, but it really is too long and too complicated for that.

One of my 2020 goals was to kick diabetes to the curb. While I didn't completely fail at this, but I did learn it was harder than I thought. Nearly six years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. I controlled my A1C with diet and exercise. This should belongs as a separate post, so I will try to keep it short. A year ago I was seeing a holistic practioner who swore she could cure diabetes with a series of (what I call) potions and visits with her. I was spending $300 a month on these supplements and much more on visiting her when I put on a two-week patch to see how it was going. My A1C went up a full point to its highest level. I quit her practice, and moved onto a traditional Western practice at the University of Pennsylvania. 

It took several months to get an appointment with them. I wanted to start with a blood test. They said that wasn't necessary. By the time I saw them more than six months had passed since my last blood test and we were in the middle of a pandemic. The only good thing about this appointment (and the pandemic) was it took place over telemed. They (the doctor and her student doctor) prescribed Metformin, because it is "the gold standard." I did not feel listened to. They knew very little about me (even though I had faxed them much documentation and a letter in advance).

The third day I took Metformin I woke up with vertigo. I stopped taking it. I wrote to them. All they asked was "what was my blood sugar?" Um, in the middle of the night, the last thing I thought to do was go downstairs to check my sugar when I couldn't even walk a straight line to the bathroom. When I said that, I didn't hear back from them.

Feeling utterly frustrated I didn't know what to do at this point. Western medicine was failing me. Eastern medicine failed me, too. Ideally I wanted a combination of the two, but that didn't seem to exist.

Don then learned about an endocrinologist in Princeton who was Western trained, but also has a strong background in holistic medicine. We talked (again via telemed), and she listened. She really listened. She sent me to do bloodwork (I also sent her the results from the holistic doctor) and studied the results. I put on a fresh two-week meter and she studied those results to see where my spikes happened. She encouraged me to "play" with food to see how my body reacts.. She put me on Januvia. 

Discouragingly, three months later, my A1C was the same as when we started (6.9), but other numbers were better. Plus she kindly reminded me I added more carbs into my diet, and there is room for error. I put the patch on for another two weeks and that showed a 6.1. I return in two weeks for more blood work. Meanwhile she added Nettle and Hibiscus teas for iron, and an herbal supplement for cholesterol. I really love that she is well-versed in both paths and seems to genuinely care about my health.

We'll see what she says later this month.

2021 update: Insurance changed, and not in my favor. My options at the moment are to pay $432 a month, which will go towards my $3,000 deductible, or $300 a month, which will not. I have the best doctor who even returns my texts and calls on a holiday weekend. She will fight with insurance on Monday. If it does not go down in price, she will try another approach. It helps knowing someone is on my team.