Some symptoms of a not so good endo, in my experience.....

So after being a Type 1 Diabetic for pretty much 13 years I have a few endos under my belt. The first one who diagnosed me was pretty good but I had nothing to compare him to because he only saw me a few times mostly because it was a 2 hr drive to see him. The second endo was ok I guess but her nurse practitioner drove me nuts. The third one was horrible, plain and simple. I shouldve figured it out sooner but sadly I did not. He would come into the room, talk to me in his nearly impossible to understand accent and ask me how things were going. He never once asked for my meter, any charting, nor offered any training or help managing my diabetes. He was near retirement and pretty much just didnt give a rats banana anymore. He never yelled at me for my a1c's that were most obviously too high or asked what my carb ratios were, or my correction factors or bg targets...nothing, none of it. After a few years of seeing the other patients in the waiting room's health deteriorate I decided to start looking into better treatments. I also met my husband and my bro was on a pump, so I decided I wanted a pump. So the six month battle with my insurance began and my three times cell phone bill overage was included in that battle, no extra charge, except to my wallet! So I finally got my pump after going on a trial one with my local cde, and as previously stated, life saving awesome person! So we had all the settings figured out anf well guess what? My idiots endos cde decided to change a bunch of them, so the following week was of course, full of lows. Barf, not fun. Then I decided I needed a new endo. The fourth endo was great, she was awesome. Of course she moved away. The fifth one that replaced her, ok-ish then not ok. I decided in December 2011 that I wanted a cgm. So I tried the MM CGM and it was terrible!! The pain was insanity! Then I heard of Dexcom on a facebook diabetic support group. So I called then, got my area rep to come out and he put a sensor on me. The first one failed. I cried, a lot.  I thought for sure this wasnt going to work either and I was screwed. Keeping in mind I needed a Dexcom because of three very scary night time lows in the 20's! Si he came back out and did a new sensor on me and it worked! I was sold. Again, another 5 month long battle with my health insurance ensued. Five months, jeesh....just give me my sensor. In my approval paperwork I wrote my ins a 7 page letter as to why I needed them to approve my request. I WON! I cried again to the case manager at my previous health insurance. I didnt think I would win, as they didnt approve many cgms then still. All of this of course did not happen because of this endo. This endos office said "they dont do dexcom" my reply in my brain said wt*@#%%&*&%$@@ do you mean, you dont do dexcom?! Flabbergasted didnt begin to explain how I felt!  They claimed they didnt do it because they didnt have anyone trained and Dexcom has since told me they offered to train them numerous times.  So in other words if the mm cgm hurts you, you have to deal with it and get it anyway.w So I had to go to yet another new endo to get the RX and all the medical necessity paperwork done. Jeesh what a racket, right? Just to get the care I felt I deserved!? So then after all the dexcom stuff was done my endo tells me I have to have an a1c of 5.0% for six months before trying to have a baby?! Seriously, for real, those words came out of his newly graduated from medical school's mouth! Ugh I wanted to puke. I asked him when he could move into my house to help me achieve that stupid 5.0% number! I said that it would be impossible for me to do that without crazy lows and dropping all carbs out of my diet. He didnt care. He said I had to do that to avoid all complication that diabetes can cause on pregnancy. Frustration didnt even describe my feeling of being let down again, by another endo. So I switched endos again. My current endo is a god send. He is amazing. Best endo ever and the pump reps even tell me that as well, that he is more up to date and willing to learn than most endos. He has a genuine concern for his pstients and wants the best for them. All Endos should be this way, really, why arent they?!
So ask yourself, does your endo really care about you, if your current treatment plan isnt working are they trying to find one that does, do they offer to look st your meter or upload your pump or meter for you, its 2013 they sure as hell should!  Are the patients in the waiting room all starting to fall apart and is it because the endo stinks? Does your endo lose your paperwork when you request to get a medical necessity letter because you need more test strips, is your endo hesitant to put you on a glucose sensor or pump if you really want one and have done your research or even a trial pump?.... All questions I just didnt ask myself for many years, years I cannot unwind or undo, dont wait...keep searching for that endo that makes your life with a chronic disease just a tad bit better!  Good Endos are amazing, mine even calls me HIMSELF! OMG. Number one way to let a patient know you actually care about them, call them yourself.