Pre-diabetic: What I Wish My Doctor Told Me

It was an ordinary day with a life-changing diagnosis: pre-diabetic. The doctor mentioned it during our visit, slipping it in without any sense of urgency or concern, as he listened to my heart with his stethoscope and then looked into my ears. “Just cut back on the rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes,” he said with a smile, as casually as he might have encouraged me to get more exercise or drink more water and eat more vegetables. I took my cue from him. His demeanor showed me that there was no cause for alarm, no need to be vigilant, and that I didn’t need to worry. I was young and felt healthy, so, I didn’t. Flash forward to another doctor who read my pre-diabetic diagnosis in my chart and said, “I guess they are monitoring this?”, again with the same casual attitude mixed with little to no concern, not waiting for my response or hearing me say “no”. No advice and no referrals from him. No power for me after he minimized the importance of this diagnosis. None of what I expected from a good doctor, but not unusual for most. After all, they had places to go and patients...