For most of my life, I’ve dealt with painful ear infections.  At least once per year, I’d feel the initial tingling that indicated a whopper of an infection was moving in.  I’d see my PCP (Jill), get some antibiotic drops, and muddle through the pain.

A few months ago, I got four ear infections within a month.  Both ears were affected, but the first infection in my left ear almost did me in.  Seriously, it was probably the worst pain I’d ever felt.  The pressure was intense, and I was certain that my eardrum would perforate.  Like always, Jill prescribed ear drops, but she also gave me an oral antibiotic because of the extent of the infection.  After one week, I was feeling much better, but Jill urged me to see a specialist to get to the bottom of the problem.

So, I found an Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor) in my area and made an appointment.  Later that week, I arrived at my appointment (15 minutes early, as requested) and waited for the doctor to see me.  And waited.  And waited some more. 

After 20 minutes of waiting in the “waiting room,” I was led to an exam room and told that the doctor would be “right in.”  So I waited.  And waited.  And (starting to get more annoyed) waited some more.  Since I was feeling more annoyed than usual, I began to think that my BG might be tanking.  Since I was without a CGM at that point, I got my meter out and tested.  Nope, not low.  I was actually pretty high.  So, I dropped my meter back into my purse, and took my pump out of its usual resting place: my bra.  

Just as I was programming the bolus wizard, the door opened, and the doctor finally graced me with her presence. 

Her first words to me were clipped: “Is that a cell phone?” 

“No, it’s an insulin pump,” I replied (probably with more attitude than I should have, but I’d been waiting for FORTY minutes to see her).

“Oh, OK,” she said.

I began wondering what she would have said if it had been a cell phone?!?  What else is a person to do while waiting for her highness to arrive?  Thumb twiddling is only entertaining for so long.

Halfway through the exam, she asks, “So, you still have to tell your pump what to do?  I thought that once you got a pump, it did all the work for you.”

Holy shit!  Was she serious?  I mean, didn’t she go to medical school?  She wasn’t that old, so I’m sure insulin pumps were invented long before she graduated from college.  

I told her that, No, my insulin pump wouldn’t know how much insulin to give me unless I told it what my current BG was and what (if any) carbs I would be ingesting.  

I must have looked at her strangely because she said, “Oh, well, I don’t know much about it.  I’m really good with the ears, nose, and throat, though.”  

WTF?  And more importantly, did she think I’d ever return as a follow-up patient? 

So, if we can’t expect a medical doctor who (allegedly) graduated from medical school, did an internship, worked as a resident in a hospital, and completed a fellowship to be educated about diabetes and how it’s treated, how can we expect anyone to?