Meet Jose: Empowered to Keep Fighting with Type 2 Diabetes

The word “diabetes” has always been thrown around in my family while growing up in a Hispanic household. Being Hispanic has put me at a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Plus, I’ve always struggled with my weight from a young age, which didn't help either. Obesity and T2D run in my family, and I was hoping I would have a chance to avoid them. Unfortunately, that all came crashing down after my 21^st birthday and a fun day at the fair with my family. I decided to prick my finger and check my glucose the next day because I wasn't feeling good. Then came the shock when my blood sugar was over 500 mg/dL; my world felt like it was crashing down. I knew T2D had come into my life. At 21 years old with T2D, I couldn't believe it. I thought my whole life was over, and I just wanted to curl up and disappear because I felt like I had failed in life already. 

As I was working hard, trying to save for college to enter the medical field, I felt I had failed. I felt that I couldn’t help others since I was already chronically ill. Even though at that moment I was grieving the loss of my health. Who knew T2D would make me stronger and healthier than ever by taking action on my health and nutrition? After getting officially diagnosed and starting my treatment plan with oral medication, daily basal insulin, and a CGM, I was ready to fight back! I want to give other younger people like me living with T2D a piece of advice: Don’t feel that your life is over! Everything in life happens for a reason, and it hurts. Pick yourself up and work bit by bit to a healthier you! Don’t feel ashamed, because you have a huge community of people who will fight by your side! 

I have to thank my amazing doctor and his compassionate staff who got me through the first few tough appointments. Getting used to a new routine and new lifestyle changes, they really made me feel better and not feel like an ill person they had to deal with. Finding a support network is important, made from health care providers, friends, family, and community! Talking to my friends helped a lot! I even found out one of my friends was living with type 1 diabetes. We might have a different type of diabetes, but we’re fighting in a similar battle together, and that also helped me feel even less lonely! 

I hope to inspire other Hispanic young adults not to be afraid to be screened and take action for their health! Thanks to the tools provided and the support, I’ve been losing weight and keeping it off! My highest weight earlier last year was 289 lbs., and now I'm around 238 lbs., down over 45 lbs.! Currently, my lightest I’ve been in years after struggling with my weight. My starting A1C was 10% and my latest A1C was at 5.3%—wow! Now I’m feeling better than ever!!! At the beginning, I felt my life was over, but now I feel empowered to keep on fighting and be a voice in the Hispanic community to fight against diabetes! I hope to become a nurse or work in the medical field and hopefully support others with their diabetes care and journey, because it was frightening and I have personal experience that I hope could help others feel more at ease and let them know they have an ally by their side!