You Either Do, or You Don’t

September 28th, 2011 by Amy Gonsalves Leave a reply »

Some of these studies have just such goofy titles I have to blame the editors.  I mean, you have to think about the researchers who came up with the study idea in the first place: they probably already suspected the answer, but wanted proof so they came up with the study to prove/disprove the theory.

In any case, the study that brought this up for me is called: Does Blood Glucose Monitoring Increase Prior to Clinic Visits in Children With Type 1 Diabetes?

If you have ever BEEN a child with type one diabetes, you probably have already answered the question.  Assuming you are anything like me, the answer is most assuredly Y.E.S. (with a twist)

I sort of think that’s why they make us come in every 3 months, and why my endo in high school made me come in more often than that.  (She is an entirely different story and one not quite appropriate for me to discuss here.)

But this study is I’d say completely accurate when it says, essentially, that those who already checked a lot increased the checks the month before the visit but those who didn’t check in the first place weren’t likely to check any more often just because a visit loomed.

I can just hear the thoughts of those unlikely to check: “I’m not afraid of you, doc.”

I can hear them because I’ve said and thought them.

(The twist comes in when I say that downloadable meters haven’t always been available so I used to have a pending visit and drag out a couple different pens and pencils and make up a “realistic-looking” blood sugar log book before the visit.  So in that way, I did increase my activity related to BG checks… they just weren’t in any way BG checks.)

The goal, of course, is to use the doctor as a tool just like any other we have at our disposal for managing our disease.  If you’re smart, you write down your questions in the weeks before you go in, and check often so that you can discuss periods of your day or specific issues you’re dealing with.  (They are supposed to be great at that kind of detective work.)

If you have a funky chirping or whirring noise when you drive your car, you try and see how you can replicate the noise for the mechanic.  I don’t see checking blood glucose much differently than that.  If it’s an issue with something that only happens when your car is cold, write down when it happens and leave it with the mechanic overnight so they can hear it, too, and then trouble shoot and hopefully fix whatever is weird in your car.

Same here, in my world.  If you’re smart about it.

Having been on the other side of things, I agree with the results as they seem realistic.  If you aren’t responsible enough to check your blood glucose levels on your own for yourself, you aren’t likely to check them for a doctor visit either.

Growing up with diabetes is tough stuff.

Really tough.

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