Diabetes Management- Consultation Meeting

This morning I had my first consultation at the NYU Diabetes Management Center.  I have to say… it was not very helpful.  The person that I met with was very very nice, and sent me off with a bunch of ‘goodies,’ like a back-up blood sugar monitor, and some of the shorter length needles that I like better than what I got at the pharmacy.  However, a lot of the things she said were just going over information that my doctor already provided, such as 1 carb= 15 grams of carbohydrates- but she would not tell me how many carbohydrates I should be eating in a day.  Since I am on insulin management, I adjust the insulin based on how many carbohydrates I eat.  She stressed to eat ‘healthy,’ and while I know the food pyramid- I am still really struggling with figuring out exactly what I should be eating!  The issue is only exacerbated by the fact that my body was craving carbs and sugars in all forms for the past few months- since the energy I should have been getting from that food was unusable without the insulin.  So when my case manager asked what I typically ate, I thought it was a little bit pointless as I know that’s not how I should eat, nor would it be typical had I not had diabetes.  Duh! She also wanted to know what my blood sugar level routine pattern looked like.  I told her I don’t really have a pattern at this point, as I have only had 4 days of monitoring.  Sheesh.  Honestly, I just want to be told what to do since I am feeling ever so slightly overwhelmed; but that’s not my case manager’s problem and I should not be putting it on her.  

Good news is that I have an appointment with a Dietician on the 20th.  That’s the earliest I could get an appointment, and it is almost 3 weeks away.  So I stopped by Borders on my way into work and picked up Bob Greene’s The Best Life Guide to Managing Diabetes, and You Don't Have to be Diabetic to Love This Cookbook.  A little homework for me!