I see a lot of Karen Bruce this days, because of the Hippa laws she can’t discuss her patients, but she says her husband thinks she is having an affair with somebody. He’s right in a couple of ways, we are seeing a lot of each and having about as  much fun as you can have managing diabetes. Karen is a seasoned Nurse-Practitioner at the Hoosick Falls Family Health Center in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. It was her misfortune to draw me when I came down with Lyme Disease and when I got my blood tested she called me in and said my blood was no good and I had to do something about it. We are.

I trusted her right away she sliced right through my dithering and told me my situation was not acceptable, we had to fix it. I have been very wedded to holistic care – still am – but slow to grasp it wasn’t working for me in this context. The results have been swift and dramatic, and there are somethings modern – they call it Western – medicine knows how to do well.

Tuesday, Karen and I agreed that I would take four shots of insulin a day, one in the morning, one before each meal. My numbers are coming down, but they need to come down further. I’m on it. Diabetes is a lot like playing chess with your internal organs, you make a move, it makes a move. I am proficient with my needle. Diabetes is confusing at first, until you figure out what works for you and I am learning what works for me, and have filled a kitchen cabinet up with prescriptions, meters, strips, alcohol wipes, lancets and notebooks. The medical people and pharmacists navigate a swamp of insurance restrictions and government requirements and regulations. At the pharmacy, I see diabetes sufferers who are poor with little or no health insurance and they do not have access to some of the medicines and equipment I get. It is not right, it will never be right, we are becoming a hard country in so many ways.

Karen and I are very comfortable with one another. She is direct and she listens, she and I talked for nearly an hour today about what the next step was in my diabetes treatment, she threw out a couple of medications, we went back and forth about whether I should do more insulin or another kind of medication and injection. We each convinced each other, then took the other side and then I said it’s up to you, you’re the nurse. No, she said, we are partners, we do it together. We went with more insulin. Back to the pharmacy for more stuff.

Karen is funny, and she gave me a Winnie-The-Pooh sticker today for being a fairly good patient. If I have any questions or problems – I have had several – I can e-mail her and she responds quickly. We seem to be suffering few of the plagues that afflect modern medicine, and I’m getting a grip on the disease that afflicted my grandfather and was headed straight for me. The nurse-practitioner option is a very good one for me, Karen is usually available on relatively short notice, she is patient and clear and I never feel rushed or pushed along. She is savvy and experienced and she has a great sense of humor. This round of my diabetes care is a challenge, there are a lot of things to remember and my body, which has been free of medications for years, is adjusting to a lot of it. I feel stronger and better since I started taking insulin, I feel it’s the right direction for me. I feel it will help me become healthier. Karen is a big part of that, I am so fortunate to have a partner helping me figure this out.

Today four different injections, let’s take care of it, I said. Good for you, she said. I love my life and have much to live for and I will do what is necessary for me to stay healthy. Karen is helping me get there, and you can’t ask for much more than that. I have to say I much appreciate Bridget, my pharmacist at O’Hearn’s, she has helped me navigate all of this new stuff with patience and warmth. Diabetes is a gift for me, a way to get healthier.