“You want to die?”: El Paso diabetic remembers wake-up call following medical evaluation

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Veronica Prieto was diagnosed with diabetes years ago, but only recently did she begin to take control of her health.
 
"She just told me flat out, 'You want to die?' And I said, 'No'. 'This is you; you got to do something about your health. You got to do something.'" 

Prieto said she had been in denial and had struggled with her diagnosis.

"I didn't want to come. I didn't want to admit I have diabetes. Okay? And a lot of people are in denial because, you know, we're human. We're young. We want to stay young. We want to, you know, not think that we're sick."

Prieto told ABC-7 that diabetes runs in her family. She said her siblings live with the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Type 2 diabetes is commonly caused by being overweight, being physically inactive and having a parent or sibling with it.

According to the El Paso Center for Diabetes, 15% of all El Paso adults have diabetes, exceeding the national average of 11.6%.

Dietician and the Programs Director for El Paso Center for Diabetes, Araceli Treviño, explained there are many reasons for this staggering statistic locally.

"So there might be a larger number than that because yeah, there's going to be people that, have don't go to the doctor or, or they're in denial, that, you know, they just rather not do anything about it."

Treviño said there are many misconceptions about diabetes.

"We always say, you know, I know what caused it. There was this one day where I ate a box of cookies, and I know that that's what caused my diabetes or eating excessive carbohydrates. And typically that's not what causes it," the dietician said.

She teaches others how to live with diabetes, providing them with necessary information about diabetes, meal planning and medication.

"Change your way of eating, you know? Change your healthier lifestyle options. And what happens is we want to have consistency. We want to eat healthier. We want to have more fruits and vegetables. We want to drink more fluids. We want to be hydrated. We want to stay physically active," Treviño said.

Prieto was able to learn more about managing her diabetes thanks to the El Paso Center for Diabetes.

"You've got to come to the classes. I mean, they're here for the city, for the community. You. I mean, they're educational. They help you. They really, really do. And ever since then, I mean, I'm a changed person, as far as you know, making sure that I'm eating correctly. I'm eating right and all of that. So I'm very, you know, aware of that, that I have to change the way that I eat," Prieto said.

If you would like to learn more about diabetes, click here.