Redefining Difficult

I frequently refer to myself as the difficult child not so much in my family setting, because there I am clearly the perfect daughter (just ask my sister!). But professionally, I am sometimes difficult because I have been known to ask a lot of questions, and to think outside of the square. I am a risk taker.But many physicians would consider me to be a difficult patient, a term that I really struggle to understand. When I ask questions or walk into a healthcare providers office asking to try something new, I am not being difficult or questioning their expertise. Quite the opposite. I am there to solicit their expertise, to have a discussion about how I can improve my health, and couple what I know about my life with diabetes with their knowledge of medicine to try to crack the combination that leads to success, longevity, and less fear of eventualities and unknowns. For healthcare providers, I understand how these questions are absolutely time consuming, schedule bending, and exhausting. But the relationship that they have with their patients is as necessary as the relationship that I have with my diabetes, and the questions are required for both to prosper.