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I have a 16 year old daughter with Type 1. She was dx'd at 10. Her endo Dr. will not sign a medical release for her to get a drivers license because her A1c is an 8.She has never had any hospitalizations or complications. I think they don't understand a teenager living with Type1. Am I being too biased?
Responses
Ginger Vieira says
I can see why you'd be frustrated - with an A1C of 8.0 it's obvious that your daughter is doing the best she can and is really working to take care of her diabetes. From the doctor's perspective, I would wonder if he's using his intuition and trying to use that driver's license as a motivational tool to encourage your daughter to reach further for an A1C of 7.0. While I don't know anything about your daughter, I do know that 16 years old can be an age when teens begin to slip out of their diabetes management habits. Anger and resentment take over, and diabetes becomes something a teen purposefully ignores in an effort to gain control over her life while she can't control that she has the disease in the first place.But maybe this doesn't sound like your daughter at all. Maybe the doctor is making assumptions that don't fit with her. I know a doctor did the same to me when I was in college, before he even got to know me, assumed I was lying about my insulin doses. In defense of your daughter, my feeling about this doctor's method of "motivation" is a negative reinforcement. He's taking something away from her instead of finding methods to encourage and support good diabetes management. I hope his well-meaning actions don't backfire.
At the end of the day, if his decision just seems truly ungrounded and illogical, it's always worth trying to talk to him further to find out where he's coming from.
Gary Scheiner says
I don't think this has anything to do with understanding what it's like to be a teenager with diabetes. It is a serious issue of liability. Any child who is not doing the following should be considered a serious risk behind the wheel:- checking blood sugars frequently
- avoiding extreme highs/lows
- taking insulin in a timely/appropriate manner
- appearing for their scheduled appointments on a regular basis
- generally being responsible for their self-care
If your child is doing all of these things, and your physician does not provide a reasonable explanation for not signing the forms, then you have every reason to complain.
