Today’s post is a guest post from my good friend The Poor Diabetic
. If you haven’t read The Poor Diabetic before, than you are missing out. Ronnie’s posts are fun, educating, and just down right awesome. I met Ronnie for the first time out in San Diego for the Roche Social Media Summit. After speaking with him, I have been wanting a guest post from him since. So here we go, on the subject of diabetes education.
I have been a diabetic for about 14 years and the real life experiences that come with that has to account for something when it comes to diabetes education doesn’t it?
Yet a newly diagnosed diabetic is more apt to listen to a first year medical student or a nurse practitioner than they would me right?
The reason is obvious, they purport themselves to be medical professionals and I do not, In fact I like many other diabetic blogs you read go the further to proclaim this in bold print. The reasoning behind this is obvious as well, someone’s health is of primal importance and giving health advice should be left to said professionals. Woe unto you if you give medical advice with adverse critical results, it is not just a moral issue but a criminal one as well.
But there is something to be said about life experiences when you are living with a chronic disease like diabetes.
It would be an understatement to portray the lack of diabetes education as a mere lacking.
Truth be told most if not many newly diagnosed patients have little if no knowledge of diabetes beyond the passing fancy and I would venture to say that this knowledge one has is fifty percent fact and fifty percent lies, myths, misconceptions, rumors, or any of the many unknowing words you might use to characterize it.
The learning curve after a diagnosis is steep at best and the learn on the job mentality if you may while it might be wrong is the accepted norm.
If I was to share a typical diagnosis it would be as though I was reading from a prepared script.
“ You have diabetes, you need to check your blood sugar using this machine, watch your carb intake, exercise and good luck to you” make an appointment with a nutritionist for your diet adjustments and a nurse will show you how to use your life saving gadgets other than that you are on your own and If you have any questions then I will be happy to answer them on your next visit six months from now. goodbye and good luck” This was my diagnosis story and am sure it was yours as well with a few minor variations.
I was left with very little in alternatives and back then the web was at its infancy, there was no diabetes websites or education resource or the DOC to say the least.
I learned diabetes management the hard way and even with all the online resources available today diabetes education still has a long way to go just to be proficient.
It would be naïve for me to say that a solution to this problem would be one broad stroke of the brush, the problem is a bit complicated than that. But I have one tangible and easily attainable solution.
The Medical profession is overworked this we know to be a fact, it is for this reason and many others that most newly diagnosed are left to fed for themselves as it may.
These new diabetics are inevitably going to get online to find information on diabetes so why not steer them to the DOC and real diabetes information online.
The benefits for this process will go along way in laying the ground work for a real diabetes education