My consultant encourages and enables. His mantra is, it is your diabetes and you know it better than anyone.
Advice would be make a list of everything you want to ask. Question everything and make suggestions of your own.
Unless they are diabetic themselves, their knowledge will only be medical and experience. Not day to day reality!
Hello and welcome to the forum. Is your survey (very unusual as a first post) limited to those members who have Type 1 Diabetes or is it open to all?
It is open to all
As I pay my GP anything between $60.00 and $120.00 per visit depending on length of time, I have my say about treatment as well.Hello Everyone,
How do I get the best of out of my consultation? and what do you think about being involved in your treatment decisions?
Does your doctor allow you to bring up topics and are you involved actually involved in decision about your treatment?
I have heard a lot of different opinions about this topic and would like to know if you have any tips, that might help me get more out of my visits at the clinic.
Best, Thomas
I make it my business to be involved. They are my appointments, for me, so I owe it to myself, and the tax payer that I get the best out of them.
I always do my prep beforehand and have my agenda. Before I leave the consultation room, I check my notes to ensure I have covered my agenda. My GP now usually asks what's on the agenda when I see her. She's getting the hang of it.
Some Doctors are a bit intimidated by patients who want to be at the hub of their care, but I find they respond well if we're polite and explain clearly what we want, and/or need.
I always, always ensure I have any test results before and meeting to discuss them. What I want to know can differ from what the medics want to tell me. For face-to-face meetings I always dress well; not because I want to show off, but so that they realise that I want to look after myself, make the effort and value them. It's amazing the difference that can make.
Good luck with it all
My DN and the NHS advice on diet is outdated and appalling.
My GP only cares about signing my prescription....get on with it / goodbye sort of attitude.
At the end of the day, thank God for the internet, I found Dr Jason Fung, the Low-Carb Program and this forum and I had learnt so much from so many kind people here how to best manage diabetes.
Thanks you, what do you do to initiate this conversation? is there any good way to open such a conversation?
I think much depends why you are there; whether to discuss a problem or for a review.
If I'm there for a problem/new consultation, say, the HCP will usually open asking something like, "How can I help today?"
In that case, I'd normally just go into the reason I'm there - not feeling great. or leg hurts or whatever, and describe my symptoms/the problem and let them resopnd. If all that seems to go pretty well, I just let the consultation take its course, then as it's winding uo just take a moment to ask myself if all my concerns have been addressed, and if not, I'll ask if we can touch on x,y or z.
If I've gone for a review, or I want something, like a referal for something, I will likely have done much more thinking and planning than for something acute. I'll always have a few bulletpoints written down (with sub-bullets if necessary), and at a review I bring those notes into view, so that the HCP knows I have an agenda, or points I want covered.
Sometimes the HCP will ask if we can share the notes and work through them together, and others just let them be, but they know they're there.
Sometimes those notes will almost be like a decision tree - if this response, what do I want then, and if that response, what do I want. Those notes show the HCP you've been thinking about this appointment and that you think it's serious, rather than being there just because you feel obliged.
In my experience, Medics don't mind this, and if fact, my GP will now sometimes start winding up the discussion by asking how we've done on the list today, or if there's anything else on my list. I sort of find those notes engage the HCP mor ein what I want, rather than wholly focusing on ticking their own boxes.
It's quite dynamic, and develops over time, both for yourself, and for those you consult with, if they're consistent. I've been doing meetings of all sorts like this for years - partly because it makes me think about the meeting, and if I can't think of a reason for the meeting, I'll challenge the need, so I know when I get there there will be an outcome.
There's nothing worse than coming out of a meeting thinking, "well, that's x minutes or hours I'll never get back".
Good luck with it all. My suggested starting point for you would be to write down what you want from the meeting, then prioritise those points, then decide if your wish list is credible. If it isn't credible, then have another look at it.
Just don't forget it's your appointment, and the HCPs are there to faciltate the best outcomes for you. That's their job, even if you might have to help them to understand what that best outcome might be (carb counting/change of insulin, or a pump,.... whatever).
Good luck with it all.
My GP always says that he has to spend a fair bit of time preparing for his encounters with me. As he knows we are going to have some amicable but deep and meaningful discussions.
He's great but my previous GP was the opposite and didn't even agree that a HbA1c of 64 put me in the diabetic range.
So prior to my present GP the only person treating me for diabetes was me. And I must admit I was pretty good.
After doing DAFNE and realty getting in to it, it was me who coming in to appointments and telling them what was going on and how I planned to tackle it.....
So there wasn't anything for them to do........they obviously keep on aye on my BP meds and look for cholesterol issues etc...but apart from that its me who brings in the data and stories behind it...
So education is the best road to go down alongside the assistance of fellow diabetics on forums like this......this is where the true learning and trial and error takes place...
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