Diabetics Are Above Average (we already knew that)

August 26th, 2010 by Amy Gonsalves Leave a reply »

I get several magazines every month despite how many times I think I have let the subscription go.  It is confusing to me but it only comes up once a month, so it’s low on my priority list to figure out. 

One of the ones I swear I haven’t paid for in more than a year is Self magazine.  The thing I like about Self is their little sentence-long blurbs of healthy eating, beauty, and fitness news.  Today I read one that said that Americans see about 19 doctors during their life, and have about 200 pieces of paper in the form of medical records spread in 19 locations.  The point was to keep a medical history close by to reference should you ever need it.

I couldn’t find the study that came up with these numbers, but that shouldn’t matter.  I’m still trying to count how many doctors I’ve seen in my relatively short life!

Seriously.

So we’ll skip anyone who cared for me as an infant and just go for doctors I can remember.  There was my pediatrician who diagnosed me when I was 10.  I saw a dermatologist before diagnosis because my skin was so dry, but I won’t count that one.  And I won’t count my CDE I saw for several months after diagnosis.  And I won’t count my eye doctor, although maybe I should because he always sang “Once in Love With Amy” to me and I really should honor him on my list someplace. 

So, I’m at two doctors and I’m not even eleven years old yet!  I’m not counting dentists or orthodontists, either.  Or dieticians.  Or CDEs

Nope, you need an MD to get on my list.

So there is pediatrician.  And eye doctor.  And my endocrinologist after my pediatrician.  And then my other endocrinologist, after the first one seemed nonchalant I had passed out from a low blood sugar and said “meh, so you lost a few brain cells” when I was 16.  Do I count the surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth?  He probably had an MD, so I will count him. 

So I think now I’m maybe at five.  Right? 

And then college brought on another round of doctors since I moved.  And then I moved back and started over with all new doctors.

So here I am at 33 years old and I have absolutely seen more than a lifetime’s allotment of medical doctors.  Keeping in mind, I’m only counting those people I saw more than twice and who have an “M.D.” after their names.

I really also have to giggle at the thought of how many pages of records I must have strewn about the state.  If each visit to my endo generated at least five pages (1 regular notes, 4 blood sugar records or what have you) and I’ve gone to an endo four times a year for 22 years… I’m way past the average, and still only 33 years old.

It’s a good thing so many medical charts are going paperless.  It’s also a good thing most places destroy records after seven years.  Can you just imagine how many pages and pages and pages just the blood sugar records alone would take??  And I don’t even keep records!!  

Yow.

So yet again those of us living with diabetes are above the national average.  Go us!

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