People with diabetes understand the significance of a hemoglobin A1c test well. It provides information about an individual’s average levels of blood glucose over three months. While diabetes is about much more than numbers, an A1c reading is still important because it is one of the main points of discussion between an endocrinologist and a patient. It helps an endo determine how a patient is managing diabetes and can help direct course of treatment.

This test is a big deal, but the actual process of having it done is one of the simpler aspects of diabetes care and management. Historically, all I’ve had to do is show up to my endo’s lab the week of an appointment, write my name/date of birth/insurance provider/whether I’m fasting on a sheet of paper, and walk into the lab to have a small needle inserted into a vein located in my upper forearm. I have zero aversion to needles or blood, so it doesn’t hurt and takes less than five minutes. And it’s always mildly entertaining that every phlebotomist I’ve encountered feels the need to comment on how nice and visible my veins are – one even went so far as to call one of them beautiful! (My response: um, thanks?!)

Since my A1c blood work has been so quick, easy, and (relatively) painless in the past, I was anticipating it to go smoothly once again when I recently went into the lab one Sunday morning. But I didn’t have such luck. Moments after signing in, the receptionist informed me that they could not perform the blood draw. Nonplussed, I politely asked why not. She told me that the lab hadn’t received the orders from my endo. I explained that I would be seeing my doctor in just a few days and that this was a routine part of the process. She did her best to help me by making a couple phone calls to other suites in the medical facility, but it was to no avail. I was frustrated but walked out, accepting that I would need to call my endo’s office first thing the following Monday to figure out why my orders had not been sent to the lab.

Early that Monday morning, I received a message from a nurse who works in my endo’s office. She apologized for my inconvenience over the weekend, and let me know that she submitted orders for lab work for all future appointments for the rest of the year. That was great and all, but I still had to find time to get lab work completed for my upcoming appointment. I couldn’t go on Monday, but I carved out some time in my schedule at work to go back on Tuesday morning.

I was flustered when I walked into the lab for the second time in three days, because it had taken me twice as long to get there due to local road work. I told myself to relax, it would be done in a couple minutes and then I could head back to work with this task checked off from my to-do list. But…of course it wasn’t, because upon entering the lab, the receptionist told me that the power was down and they would be unable to complete my blood work.

For a couple seconds, I just stood there while I let that sink in. I explained how I was rejected on Sunday and practically begged her, please, isn’t there anything you can do? Despite having access to both my medical history AND the orders on her computer, she said no, but I could try one of the two other “near” lab locations. Completely exasperated, I told her no, that I guess I’d have to try again tomorrow, and walked away with tears stinging my eyes. I was mad that I wasted another trip, confused as to why this was so difficult, and defeated by the lack of understanding from the receptionists.

The bottom line is that I have a few questions after experiencing all this:

1. How come my lab orders weren’t submitted?
2. Why did I let this affect me emotionally?
3. Why does everything about diabetes management have to be so complicated?

While I don’t have an answer right now to the first question, I intend on finding out how the slip-up occurred. And my answer to the second question, I think, is tied to my response to the third one: Diabetes management is hard. I try my best every single day and deal with the curveballs that are thrown my way. But lately, diabetes is like a pesky gnat, flying around my head so it’s always in my line of sight and incessantly buzzing to keep my attention. It’s annoying as hell and gets in the way of living my life. So to have something that’s normally easy, something that barely even requires me to think about my diabetes, become so complicated is just ANNOYING.

The one positive result from this whole ordeal? My A1c was better than I expected. Thank goodness.