After dealing with Dr. Kassar- we left with instructions to call on stuff and to come back on Friday for the more in depth appointment. We also were told we would be going for diabetes education. (Which our regular doc- Doc Opalka had already referred us out for).
I canNOT stress enough being organized when you go in for your appointments. My first appointment I had put together a symptom timeline for them so they could see how we figured out it was diabetes before the doctors did. I also included weights in that. Then I took copies so they had a set and I had a set. I also put together a list of questions (If anyone wants to know that list- just ask me- I'll email you a copy). My questions though were quickly separated in my mind in the NEED TO KNOW and NEED TO KNOW NOW categories.
Dr. K really appreciated that we were so organized and that I had done all that. In addition to that I had copied the test results that Dr. O gave me and Dr O also accessed the hospital database to get me any sugars or tests Katie had in the past year. They were able to add all of that to the file. When Dr. K came in, I mentioned it was in there but didn't focus on it. While it's interesting reading- we already KNEW she had diabetes...the why or how we got there wasn't important at THAT moment.
So we head to our appointment on friday and in the meantime C called us the next day and someone else checked in the day after. This is truly a hands-on office. On Friday we were told that Katie can really eat whatever she wants in moderation. But in moderation. Seriously- you can't just eat a ton of sugar- you can insulin fix (add in more to cover it) but they aren't sure what it does in the long run and it's just not super healthy. Esp since right now she's running sugars when eating in the 500s.
Friday's appointment focused on carb counting. OMG- talk about a lot of information. And Colleen also went over ALL the sheets again- which I actually appreciated. Carb counting was going ok because Katie had downloaded an app when she first found out she was diabetic before our first Dr. K appointment and went in with it already filled in! She said that since we did that- Katie obviously was ready to talk pumps. That it depended on our insurance but she could be in a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and an Insulin Pump. They really didn't sway us on any one brand. IP only have seven? brands on the market and only one is tubeless - the OmniPod by Insulet. These are nifty devices- I'll post about them separately later this week. But they are NOT cheap.
In the meantime we were told to make the appointment for education- 10 hours of it. When she called to see how Katie's numbers were - and found out we already had an appointment she was surprised...I'm off school right now other than research and Katie starts junior college locally this fall. (this was her grand plan because she's wanting to be a doctor and knows school is $$$) - we are so happy this was the decision as it gives her time to get acclimated to this illness and ability to manage it before leaving.
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