Sometimes I feel like I’m taking time off work every week for some sort of diabetes related appointment. It’s not really that frequent, but it just feels that way.
In many ways I’m very fortunate in my work to have a little flexibility. I usually don’t have a problem with being able to leave work for a couple of hours for whatever appointment I have. I know that not everyone is as fortunate.
What I do get a little angry about sometimes is that it seems like I burn up a large amount of my vacation time just for these appointments. I usually don’t have much (any?) left at the end of the year, and usually don’t take any time as real “vacation” (my family outing to Grand Rios Waterpark (aka “The Toilet Bowl Trip”) in January was an unusual exception).
And even though people say it doesn’t matter, or doesn’t affect people’s opinion, being gone from work a lot does have an impact on the way your peers and management perceive your “dedication” to your work.
I finally got my appointment scheduled for the dietician (thanks Theresa!). I’m not exactly sure why the hell it took me so long – maybe I’m afraid to face my terrible eating habits or something.
The woman that booked the appointment said it would be a 75 minute appointment. I thought that sounded like a very long appointment, but I guess that is good. Plenty of time to talk about my issues and wrangle up some suggestions. I just hope that it really is 75 minutes with the dietician, and not 60 minutes in the waiting room filling out papers, 10 minutes in the “exam room” waiting for the dietician, and 5 minutes actually with the dietician…
As I sent an e-mail out to my boss and co-workers, I felt a strange feeling of guilt for having to leave for yet another appointment. It’s not any “bad vibes” that I’m getting back, and I’m sure it’s all in my head, but it just started me thinking. I mean, what if I didn’t have any time to take off, or was self-employed where time off means lost income, or had a job where it was very difficult to leave work at all, or had a boss who was not understanding? It would add a ton of stress to the situation.
I think that it just sucks to think that there are people out there who have to make a choice between their work and their diabetes. No one should ever be put into that situation. There is no need to add another layer of complexity to things.
I’m thankful that I have it pretty good, but on the same note I recognize the frustrations of others out there who may not.
On a completely different note, the 100 Days streak is alive and well at 6 days, with the next three being pretty much automatic basketball days, so that will take me to 9 in a row.
