No-Shows

Today was a bit of a bust.  We had 3 clients scheduled but one of them only wanted to see the nurse and requested that the RD NOT be present, and the other two were simply no-shows.  Apparently no-shows are very common in December since everyone gets really busy with Holiday stuff.  It's also common for people to be no-shows when 'holiday stuff' entails holiday parties and holiday eating and they feel as though there is no point to coming in because they know their blood sugars are going to be out of whack and that their current laboratory values are not indicative of their typical diabetes management.  I can understand wanting to avoid an appointment if I thought I would be scolded by a nurse and a dietitian for indulging in a some festive treats, and for the fear of seeing huge lab values and blood glucose values when you feel as though they don't represent how you normally eat.  Most of our diabetes clients come in every 3 months to have blood work done and to meet with myself and the nurse, so missing one appointment doesn't seem like a huge deal to them. I also think that the appointments that are being missed are even more important that a typical visit simply because it is so close to the holidays and eating habits are so irregular. As a public health dietitian, it's my job to help people self-manage their diabetes through diet and exercise recommendations.  This is possible for many newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics but sometimes medications and insulin are unavoidable, but regardless diet and exercise always play a key role. We don't tell people they can never eat their favorite foods or splurge every once in a while, but we try to teach them how to eat so that their blood sugars remain within target ranges.  This includes educating clients how to enjoy some not-so-good for you treats every once in a while without it resulting in chronically high blood sugars.  A check-in with us at this time of year would actually be beneficial for clients because it gives them a chance to learn strategies and refresh their knowledge on maintaining control over their diabetes despite indulgences.

Ok enough of my ranting! Instead I'll just cross my fingers that our clients show up tomorrow!  Since I don't have any admin work to do or charting to get caught up on, I spent the day reading and responding to e-mails.  Didn't feel like the most productive day, but I do think I learned a lot in my readings!  I am working towards becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator this year so I have a lot of studying and reading to do for it.  I also have to complete 800 hours of direct patient diabetes education...yet another reason I really like when clients show up, so I can get my hours in!

I also used the hospital gym for the first time today!  I was disappointed to be honest. The machines are ancient and kind of useless and they don't have any possible place to do seated row. I know this sounds like a lame reason to be disappointed in the gym but it's one of my favorite exercises and we used to do it quite a lot when I was training.

The Hospital Gym...note the machine in the back corner...it definitely would have been in a infomercial featuring Chuck Norris if television had been invented when it was.

So anyways, the gym here is a bit of a bust.  You can't really tell in the picture but it's old school.  The saving grace is that it's cheap.  There is apparently a second gym in town that is better but I have yet to find it and I also hear that it gets really busy and it's expensive.  I might go find it to see if it's worth the extra money.  But until then I'll be paying my 10 bucks a month and making this little gem work for me!