Diabetes Clinic

At one point in the novel I am working on, the protagonist tries to tell a missionary he has befriended that his lover and life partner is another man, but try as he may the missionary has no internal wiring that allows him to receive that message. This is set in Victorian times and the missionary's mind negates any such message with the dismissive ruling: "That's not possible."

I suppose it's human nature to "know" certain facts without examining them. After all, we can't walk around with open minds all the time or we might get something in them. When I visited the Diabetes Clinic in St Paul's Hospital this morning for my semi-annual check up I was reminded of this fact. I mentioned to the doctor that I had a painful allergic reaction to the new medicine I was prescribed in November, a reaction that left me curled up like an armadillo in pain half the night each time I took a pill, and no anti-diarrhea medicines could stop my other symptoms. That is, until my sister gave me a holistic allergy treatment that involved reprogramming my body with a small electric current on certain acupuncture points to reverse my body's magnetic reaction to it. Since that treatment 30 days ago I have taken a pill every day without the slightest side effect.

This should have been astonishing news to the medical professionals. If a simple treatment like that could allow a body to receive a medicine that might eventually save someone's life or at least prevent heart disease, blindness or amputations (the common effects of prolonged high blood sugar levels) they should want to know more. But when I told the nurse and doctor in turn I saw the same blank, non-comprehending expression that I imagined on my missionary's face. I think they only registered that I was not having a negative reaction to the medicine for unknown reason, and that's all they cared about.

I have no fear or disdain of hospitals and I appreciate that trained professionals are trying to help me maintain my health, but visits to the clinic have been less than enlightening or encouraging in the past. The dietitians are the worst, addicted as they are to their useless little food charts and guidelines that do as much harm as good. If I reduce my food intake moderately to help control my blood sugar levels they accuse me of not eating enough. They insist I must have snacks between each meal, which raises my blood sugar to very unacceptable levels. They tell me I am not eating enough carbs (only 40% instead of 55%). One visit they tell me I must not eat eggs or cheese more than a couple times per week to keep my cholesterol levels down (they are at very healthy levels now). The same visit they recommended I switch to soy milk on my cereal to have a balance of protein with the carbs. This visit they criticized me for using soy, which they now say has too many carbs, and tell me I should be eating eggs or cheese with breakfast each day.

The nurses and doctors are just as entertaining. Today the nurse went over my test results and criticized the high level of my triglycerides and said my new medicine was obviously not working to bring down my blood sugar levels. She was unhappy with my normal cholesterol levels, insisting the doctor would need to prescribe something to bring them to a much lower level. When I saw the doctor 15 minutes later, he was impressed with how far my average blood sugar levels had dropped, thought my triglycerides readings were good and felt that average levels of cholesterol were fine as long as my blood sugar levels were under control. Of course, both of them came from a place of "knowing", without doubt, that they were right.

Someone once said that if one isn't his own best doctor by age 40 he is in for a difficult ride in his later years. My diabetes has been my best teacher. It has taught me to manage my diet carefully, to listen to what it communicates to me and to respect its needs instead of caving into the gluttony and bad food choices promoted by modern advertising. I have come to see my body as a 'sacred temple', and I have always had a deep appreciation for historic ruins.

"Re-examine all that you have been told – dismiss what insults your soul." - Walt Whitman