Experto crede

So today I had an improvement, slight but real. My sleep continues to be good, and I'm very pleased with that. Annoyingly, though, I'm still a bit gassy and bloated, and my tummy is a bit unhappy. I met with my doctor today and he has made a slight change to my meds. He thinks, and I agree, that my specialists are doing very well managing my condition, so he doesn't want to confuse anything, so he's not making changes. 

Don did a grocery run today. Usually when he does that, he comes home with bags filled with cookies, pies, cakes, sweets and other items that are on the "very limited consumption" list; so I was a little concerned especially since he went alone and unaccompanied. When he returned, though, the bags were filled with grapes, peaches, end-of-the-season Onrawo strawberries, bananas, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon- lots and lots of fruit! One lemon meringue pie, some brownies, lemon squares and butter tarts-but only one each!! I am in shock, and awe! I've already had a couple handsfull of (blue) grapes and strawberries and I'm eyeing the muffins... but they are safe, because I'm full.

My sugar reading will be high tomorrow because of all the fruit. I'll have to call the clinic tomorrow to adjust my insulin. I do like my endocrinologist. From the first time we met, I decided that I liked him. He looks extremely young. Partly because he's Vietnamese, he looks like he's barely into his teens! He's got a good sense of humour, too. We had discussed my love of mangoes in one of my early visits. I told him that I would limit my mango consumption to 1 small one on alternate days. He said that there was no reason for that; if I liked them, and I ate them, I would have to compensate in other ways. We agreed that I would not try to lie or mislead him, because he would not know how to interpret my results. Instead, I let him and the nurse know when I'm indulging in fruit, chocolates, cookies or other treats, and we adjust my insuln accordingly.

It makes a difference having an open and honest conversation with my medical team. Because I let them know my plans, they can adjust my treatment so ther I have a good quality of life and that means that I do not need to go in too often. Best of both worlds!

I see so many doctors, and there's a high level of overlap that there's a real risk of either overlooking something or else double- counting It. Even though the hospital has its new system that's supposed to keep track of everything, I've noticed that it's not all that reliable, it sometimes double-and triple-counts meds: if a dose is changed, it just adds it as a new medication. Then some meds come  from the family doctor, and aren't counted by the hospital system.The patient (or patient advocate or their caregiver) needs to be aware and alert to these things. It's an almost full-time job!.. 

My dear friend gets quite upset that he has a co-pay for meds, which he calls BS, because drugs are expensive, and worse if you don't have insurance. I agree that drug coverage would be ideal! But who will pay for it? I have definite socialist leanings, because I think that corporate profits should be capped, and that priority should be given to human needs-housing; food, water, health-care, education, etc. ahead of profits. In my version of the world, life-saving drugs would be provided free or at low cost; with a sliding scale for payment based on ability to pay.  We’ll discuss another time in more detail.

I fell asleep early and stayed like that for 9 hours. So this is a little late.  I don’t apologize because my sleep is just too lovely 😊 Have a great day!