When I was given the assignment to write about diabetes for Latina's November issue, I was eager to dive into it and find out more about the disease and any developments in the field. You see, this is one that hits close to home. My grandmother passed away 15 years ago due to complications from diabetes and just a couple years after that, one of my close cousins was also diagnosed with the disease. Since then it's been one health complication after the other, but still she remains the life of the party, smiling and yelling through every obstacle that's come her way.Sometimes when I hear that she's checked into the hospital yet again or that she's going in for her umpteenth eye surgery, I think about how unfair it all is and how arbitrary life can be. For no reason at all, she pulled the short stick and because of it has to fight harder than most of us just to do simple things we take for granted. A part of me dreads waiting on blood test results just because I fear getting the same news, but all I can do is learn as much as I can about it, its risk factors, go in for regular screenings and spread the word to others so they too have a fighting chance. Hopefully a cure to this and many others will be found soon, but in the meantime, educate yourself so you don't have to walk along that path someday.
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