As I've mentioned before, my diabetes was diagnosed last summer, during a 3-week vacation in Seattle. I spent the first two days of that vacation in Swedish Hospital recovering from a blood sugar of 740. On the day I was released, the attending doctor gave me a fistful of prescriptions and the admonition "As soon as you get home, find a good endocrinologist." Not being one to question the medical establishment, I located and made an appointment with a highly regarded endocrinologist in New York. Her office was on Park Avenue, and the wait for an appointment was 3 months. During that time, I did the best I could, and read everything I could get my hands on about type 1 diabetes. One of the books I read was by Dr. Richard Bernstein, who advocates a carboydrate-restricted diet as a management tool for diabetes. He is a type 1 diabetic himself, and his story of taking control of his own disease is truly inspiring. His approach made sense to me, and I decided to give it a try, first eliminating bread and pasta, then starchy vegetables, then fruit, and finally milk. Each time I eliminated a high-carb food, my blood sugar became a bit easier to control. I was eating more protein and more (good) fat, and feeling full of energy. I lost weight and was never hungry.
I arrived at the Park Avenue endocrinologist's office full of enthusiasm and excited by the level of control I felt I'd achieved. She was less enthusiastic. "You're not eating bread? You're not eating fruit?" Horrors! "You're a type 1 -- eat anything you want and just cover it with insulin." What about my good blood sugar numbers on the low-carb diet? "You're still in the "honeymoon" phase. Don't worry -- your blood sugar will be much more erratic and hard to control when the honeymoon is over." Is there anything I can do to prolong the honeymoon? "No." Was a a little depressed when I left her office? What do you think?
My second visit went approximately the same way, and it was then that I decided that, insurance or no, I had to spring for a visit to Dr. Bernstein. The fact that he is located only 25 miles from where I live seemed like a sign. My appointment with him is in three days. I feel like I'm about to meet Mick Jagger. The Mick Jagger of diabetes.
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