Reversible?
It screams out at anyone who might encounter the medical record. Forever labeled, regardless of results that may contradict the diagnosis.
Yes, my name is Rachel and the words “type 2 diabetes” will always stay on my medical record, whether the A1C indicates I have successfully managed the condition or not. Whether there are complications or not. Whether there are so-called cures available from shady characters or not. Whether Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D. tells the world that type 2 is reversible or not.
If anyone understands this, it is me. For much of 2009, I truly believed that I would be seeing the lowest A1C of my diabetes career. Fasting blood sugars under 100 mg/dl on a regular basis, post-prandial readings always under 140 mg/dl and usually under 120 mg/dl no matter what I ate. Exercise was integrated into my weekly schedule seamlessly. And then I got sick and it was apparent once again that I had diabetes.
The unfortunate thing was that my most recent A1C was drawn about a month after I began showing symptoms of a major systemic infection. And all those stellar results earlier in the year were negated by errant blood sugars indicating said infection. The aftermath of the infection and subsequent surgery has not been kind on the blood sugar either.
Although I’m beginning to get back on track with exercise, I encountered another reminder that type 2 diabetes is always going to be on my medical record. When scheduling my follow-up CT scan, I was asked if I have diabetes. And because I said yes, another obstacle must be cleared before the procedure. The IV contrast can be hard on the kidneys, so I must have a blood draw for creatinine levels.
Imagine if I believed my type 2 diabetes had been reversed, imagine if a doctor had told me so. Imagine if I could have been a case where that IV contrast did do damage because of an already troublesome creatinine level that hadn’t been checked due to the belief of reversed diabetes.
Controllable and manageable? Yes, type 2 diabetes can be those things. Reversible or curable? I don’t believe it.