by Amelia Rehrman
Appointments with your endocrinologist can definitely be stressful! However, there are a few things that have really helped me with endo appointments and I want to share them with you.
Remember that your endocrinologist is there to help YOU. You are not going to diabetes appointments to validate to your endocrinologist that you are doing a good job, you are going to diabetes appointments so that they can help you figure out the best way to care for your child’s diabetes.
Some things I try to do to help make appointments less stressful:
Find a doctor that works best for you/your child’s diabetes! It took me a while to realize that there is more than one way to approach diabetes management. My endocrinologist for many years was all about numbers: a1c, blood sugars, insulin ratios. Looking back, I needed more support with other aspects of accepting and understanding my diabetes in addition to being told what insulin ratios needed to be adjusted.
Write down any questions you have. This way, if you have non-urgent questions between appointments, you won’t forget when you get to your appointment. I often have a sticky note with questions on my desk so that I can write down any questions I have in between appointments.
Don’t expect the worst. I will often go into appointments thinking “my a1c is going to be so much worse than my last appointment.” or “I’m having way too many high blood sugars and the doctor is going to be upset about that.” However, a lot of the time, the result actually ends up being better than I expect. If something did get “worse”, one thing that really helps is to remind myself that everyone goes through different seasons in life and diabetes, and you can’t always compare your diabetes now to when you were at a different point in your life and diabetes management. Just like life, diabetes goes through different seasons, and some are better than others. Try going into your endo appointment with a positive outlook, and know you’re doing your best!
While endo appointments can be stressful, they can also really help if you find what works best for you and your child!
Do you do anything special before your endocrinology appointments? Let us know in the comments here or over at @typeonetogether on Instagram or Facebook!