I’m still not used to having an endocrinology appointment every 6 months.

For my first two decades with diabetes, I saw an endocrinologist (or diabetes nurse practitioner [NP]) every 3 months. In hindsight, this sounds like a slightly aggressive amount of visits, but it’s what worked for me for a long time. Those appointments often served as motivation for me to do better, as well as learn about new diabetes care options available to me. And I’m fairly certain that they were a good opportunity for my parents and healthcare team to put their heads together, at least when I was younger, and come up with ways to make life with diabetes easier for me.

But as I’ve grown older and become more independent in my diabetes journey, I’ve relied a little less on these four-times-per-year check-ins. I don’t know exactly when, but in the last few years, my diabetes appointments became more of a nuisance than a boon…and I think my provider at the time recognized that. She suggested reducing my appointment frequency to twice a year, and since making that change I’ve greatly benefited from it.

And it’s why, when I attended my first appointment of the year recently, it felt like a nice little status check of where I’m at with my diabetes. In fact, that’s exactly how my NP kicked off the appointment: She asked me, “how are you doing? Is there anything new going on that you’d like to discuss?”

It felt great to be able to tell her: It’s all good.

Nothing new, no major complaints. We did chat a bit about my “diabetes cure” fluke from last month, in which we came up with no definitive answers but I was encouraged to monitor my blood sugars around my cycle a bit more carefully to see if I could come up with any patterns. We also went over my bloodwork and she was pleased to report to me that everything looked good, which is always reassuring to hear. The appointment ended with a check of my feet and thyroid, as they always do, and then I was free to go.

Even though we didn’t make any changes to my diabetes management, it was still worthwhile and comforting to know that my care team agrees with me that everything is all good and to keep up what I’m doing. That, in its own unique way, is enough motivation for me to do the best possible job taking care of my diabetes between now and the next appointment. It really is all good, and I’m grateful for (and proud of) that.