I talked a little bit about the doctor in my previous post. I have a reason for that because today's post is all about doctors and the results of the doctor's visit today.
Why do we see a doctor? I think the answer is quite easy there, because they are experts in the human body, in its design and functions. However not all doctors are experts in specific design and functions so that is why we have so many different types of doctors for so many different designs and functions. When we need to have our car to be looked at for regular maintenance or for a tune up, where do we go? Do we take the car to a pawn shop and ask the dealer to fix it? No, we take it to the garage to a mechanic who has expertise in working with cars. The very same reason why we do go to doctor.
Now how do we find a doctor? If most of us are lucky enough to have medical insurance, there is a hitch with many insurances, they have a list of approved doctors for you. Some of us who may not be lucky enough to have insurance sometime are SOL...and if we are lucky enough, we can find a doctor who works with uninsured patients. For me, I have insurance so I checked out the biggest health cae system in this little town that I am in. I looked specifically for doctor who work with overweight people without resorting to gastric bypass surgery or those drastic measurements of losing weight. I found two doctors and I called to see if I could make an appointment. ALAS I ran into a problem, I couldn't get the first doctor I wanted because he wasn't accepting new patients. Ack, so that is something most of us need to keep in mind when we are looking for a doctor, ask this question "Is Dr. ________ accepting new patients?" and it will definitely save you time and trouble. Lucky for me, I had a 2nd doctor on the list to see if I could get an appointment with. He was accepting new patients.
On the day of the appointment, I saw my doctor for the first time. We had an intake session, basically he just wanted to find out what brought me to his office and what I was looking for. This session gave me a chance to ask him a few questions like what was his philosophy about weight loss and other things. The end result is that we formed a partnership in taking care of me.
Now I am going to fast forward this to seven months later, today I had a routine check-up with him. My doctor wanted to review three main things, weight loss, diabetes and blood pressure. Today's visit was all good news: my weight loss is going great, 40 lbs in 7 months. My doctor's medical student was surprised when he saw that I lost 40 lbs in 7 months. My blood sugar has been in the range of 120 in the mornings before I eat. That is about 10 points higher than the American Diabetic Association's recommendation for people with Type 2 Diabetes but my doctor seems to be okay with it, I am feeling fine with that. My blood pressure is in normal range with help of a blood pressure medication, however this morning when the nurse took my reading. It was high and I felt like "Oh no, my doctor will increase my medication" but he didn't because he said he thinks I have white coat anxiety which contributes to the higher reading.
With all this good news, he told me he wants to do lab work to check the hemoglobin (A1C) where they check the percentage of glucose attached to the protein in the blood cell. The protein in the blood cell lives for about 12 weeks, that is about 3 months so with A1C, we can find out what is the average glucose. I had one last Jan, so he wants one in June, he also wants a lipid panel. The panel tests for cholesterol and other fats in the blood. I am hoping for a lower reading on my lipid panel, but we will see how that goes.
After all, we do know I am working towards a healthier ME and my doctor is willing to work with me on that so I should be willing to be prodded with needles to be tested so we can see how it is going.
Why do we see a doctor? I think the answer is quite easy there, because they are experts in the human body, in its design and functions. However not all doctors are experts in specific design and functions so that is why we have so many different types of doctors for so many different designs and functions. When we need to have our car to be looked at for regular maintenance or for a tune up, where do we go? Do we take the car to a pawn shop and ask the dealer to fix it? No, we take it to the garage to a mechanic who has expertise in working with cars. The very same reason why we do go to doctor.
Now how do we find a doctor? If most of us are lucky enough to have medical insurance, there is a hitch with many insurances, they have a list of approved doctors for you. Some of us who may not be lucky enough to have insurance sometime are SOL...and if we are lucky enough, we can find a doctor who works with uninsured patients. For me, I have insurance so I checked out the biggest health cae system in this little town that I am in. I looked specifically for doctor who work with overweight people without resorting to gastric bypass surgery or those drastic measurements of losing weight. I found two doctors and I called to see if I could make an appointment. ALAS I ran into a problem, I couldn't get the first doctor I wanted because he wasn't accepting new patients. Ack, so that is something most of us need to keep in mind when we are looking for a doctor, ask this question "Is Dr. ________ accepting new patients?" and it will definitely save you time and trouble. Lucky for me, I had a 2nd doctor on the list to see if I could get an appointment with. He was accepting new patients.
On the day of the appointment, I saw my doctor for the first time. We had an intake session, basically he just wanted to find out what brought me to his office and what I was looking for. This session gave me a chance to ask him a few questions like what was his philosophy about weight loss and other things. The end result is that we formed a partnership in taking care of me.
Now I am going to fast forward this to seven months later, today I had a routine check-up with him. My doctor wanted to review three main things, weight loss, diabetes and blood pressure. Today's visit was all good news: my weight loss is going great, 40 lbs in 7 months. My doctor's medical student was surprised when he saw that I lost 40 lbs in 7 months. My blood sugar has been in the range of 120 in the mornings before I eat. That is about 10 points higher than the American Diabetic Association's recommendation for people with Type 2 Diabetes but my doctor seems to be okay with it, I am feeling fine with that. My blood pressure is in normal range with help of a blood pressure medication, however this morning when the nurse took my reading. It was high and I felt like "Oh no, my doctor will increase my medication" but he didn't because he said he thinks I have white coat anxiety which contributes to the higher reading.
With all this good news, he told me he wants to do lab work to check the hemoglobin (A1C) where they check the percentage of glucose attached to the protein in the blood cell. The protein in the blood cell lives for about 12 weeks, that is about 3 months so with A1C, we can find out what is the average glucose. I had one last Jan, so he wants one in June, he also wants a lipid panel. The panel tests for cholesterol and other fats in the blood. I am hoping for a lower reading on my lipid panel, but we will see how that goes.
After all, we do know I am working towards a healthier ME and my doctor is willing to work with me on that so I should be willing to be prodded with needles to be tested so we can see how it is going.
posted by Tomas at
9:09 PM
