Last night during the weekly #DCDE Twitter Chat (Tuesdays at 9 p.m.) there was a mention of how HCP’s use the diagnosis code of “Uncontrolled Diabetes” and I tweeted that I don’t really care about that and don’t care what you call it.
I understand that language matters and I totally get it. I, personally, am not really effected that much by the language and wording used in the diabetes world. Myths, yes. But specific words and language, I don’t let it bother me, because at the end of the day, it’s just a word or a phrase. It’s sort of like the old saying from elementary school – “Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt.”
There’s a few reasons why I don’t care about the phrase “Uncontrolled Diabetes”.
First, it’s just a phrase, it’s not that big of a deal. “When I go to get blood work and the receptionist sees ‘uncontrolled diabetes’ they think I’m not working hard to control my diabetes and it undermines all of my hard work.’ Well, guess what? I don’t give a fuck what the receptionist thinks. Nor do I give a fuck about what anybody else thinks when they see “uncontrolled diabetes” I know the work and effort I’m putting in, so I don’t care what others think. I know who I am and that’s all that matters.
Second, what would you rather it say? A Diagnosis code that says “Trying very hard, but still needs some work” or “they really do put in a lot of effort, but they just need a bit more tweaking to keep their BG’s in range for a longer period of time.” I’m just curious as to what the better phrase would be.
Third, and let’s be real here. It’s not controlled. I have no problem being a realist and not trying to fluff myself up. My diabetes isn’t under control. I do what I can to manage it and I can be doing a lot better. More exercise, better eating habits, more weight loss, etc. But when you take a look at some of my CGM graphs and you see roller coaster after roller coaster, guess what, that’s not controlled. So, unless your blood sugars are staying perfectly between the top and bottom line limits that you and your HC team put together, to me, that means it’s not in control.
Here’s an example using a different subject.
If you are driving a car and you are in control of the car, then that means you are staying in your lane and not crossing over the lines into someone else’s lane. If you are driving the car and keep crossing over the lines and are almost hitting other cars because you’re in and out of your own lane, you are an out of control driver…. or an uncontrolled driver. Does that mean you’re a horrible driver? No. Maybe you’re just learning or you’re distracted or maybe it was dark and you didn’t really see the lines that well. All things that you could improve on. But, until you do, you’re still an uncontrolled driver.
I don’t want to undermine anybody’s thoughts and feelings on this topic. If you are outraged by the phrase, then that’s fine, this is just simply my view of it. I am just not a person to be effected by words or phrases that are just used to describe something. I know who I am. I have so much self-awareness of what I am and what I’m not, that it doesn’t matter to me that an outsider sees a diagnosis code and makes a judgement on me.