Leah Naidu (Ngāruahine, Te Whānau a Apanui) is a wife, māmā, website and content creator at Te Korimako o Taranaki, avid baker and Iron Māori participant. She also has type 2 diabetes.
She was just 25 years old when she found out.
A few months before her diagnosis she had completed the challenging Iron Māori triathlon and felt the fittest she had ever been. It wasn’t until she required a medical for her life insurance policy application that her diabetes was discovered.
“The nurse seemed surprised my results showed high glucose and said that it could just be a one off because of something I’d eaten, but I picked up on the urgency in her voice when she said I needed to get a blood test that same day,” she said.
The blood test confirmed the life changing and confronting result, but she was left with more questions than answers after the appointment with her GP.
“Nothing was explained to me – the doctor seemed so relaxed about it and the nurse didn’t know how to teach me how to check my blood sugar. It took a couple of weeks before someone properly explained everything to me!” she says, “So there I was at 25, with type 2 diabetes and a declined life insurance policy. I couldn’t believe it!”
Leah admits she knew ‘absolutely nothing’ about diabetes, “I just assumed that you couldn’t have sweet things. I didn’t know that it was other everyday things like bread and rice that can spike your levels too!”
At the time of her diagnosis, she was experiencing symptoms like dizziness and excessive thirst, but the cause being diabetes was the last thing she expected.
“In my whānau my koro was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was older, but no one else, not my parents, not my brothers, so I wondered why me.”
Without others around her knowing much about the condition, and with Leah being so young when she found out, it was hard for her to manage her diabetes at first.
“Because of the way I was delivered the news, for the first few years I didn’t take it very seriously. I stopped taking my medicine because of the side effects, so my diabetes got worse,” she explained.
It wasn’t until she enrolled at Tui Ora and was referred to receive support from the long-term conditions team led by registered nurse Amy Lever, that she started receiving the support she needed to help manage her hauora.
“The nurse at Tui Ora helped me with my medication to find one that worked for me, that was a huge help, and Amy worked with me through preconception, pregnancy and after,” she shared.
In the lead up to Christmas, Leah is also working with Amy to get advice about how to navigate gatherings centred around food and to get some good strategies in place.
“It’s nice to just have someone to talk to, because sometimes it’s hard to talk to people that don’t understand,” she says.
She finds that there is often a misunderstanding that type 2 diabetes will just go away or that it’s something she can ignore for special occasions like Christmas or dinners out, often being told ‘go on have a piece, you’ll be fine’.
She finds talking to Amy about these situations helpful, and recently they’ve had a kōrero about restriction and why sometimes being too restrictive can have the opposite effect.
“I’ve learnt that it’s important not to restrict yourself too much, because then you might end up being like, nah, stuff this, and end up feeling worse. You can find alternatives so you don’t feel like you’re missing out!”
“You have to teach yourself to eat other things instead, so instead of white rice I’ll have brown, also there’s lots of nice things coming out now it’s summer, like berries which don’t spike your levels too much.”
A piece of advice she’s received previously that she’s found helpful, is to walk after eating.
“It’s really interesting how a walk can do a lot, it doesn’t have to be a workout, just a quick walk helps!” she says, “That’s what I do on Christmas Day so I can have a piece of pavlova like everyone else!” she smiles.
When asked if she’d recommend Tui Ora to anyone with diabetes she says “Yes, definitely! I’ve had diabetes for 10 years now and I’m still trying to manage it! I have my times when it’s not the greatest, but that’s why it’s so good to be able to speak with Amy because she helps reset my mindset and get me back on track!”
Tui Ora diabetes nursing and kaitautoko mate huka can provide clinical care and health advice to support Taranaki whānau with type 2 diabetes to independently manage their hauora. If you’d like to find out more, please call 0800 TUI ORA.