WORLD Diabetes Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about diabetes as a global public health issue.
Kgomotso Ngwandula (28) recalls the day she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 20.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Kgomotso said she has been living with diabetes for eight years now and has adjusted to the lifestyle and the demands that come with it.
She shared the initial signs that led her to seek medical assistance.
"I didn’t know that I had sugar diabetes, but my greatest concern was that I was forever thirsty and would urinate immediately after drinking water. I started losing weight and would constantly crave sweet things and would get hungry every hour," she said.
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She said these concerns led her to visit a clinic in 2015, where tests revealed her diabetes diagnosis.
After she was discharged, Kgomotso faced emotional challenges with how she got the disease when both her parents didn't have it.
"I would always ask myself if I’m going to die tomorrow. I later adjusted to the new life of minding what I eat and what I do. This changed how I see life but I’m grateful to still be alive," she said.
She said she now injects herself twice a day in her thighs or stomach.
“I carry my injections everywhere I go. At first, I had a problem because they (injections) must always be in a freezer, but now I’m open about my situation,” she said.
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She said that many people don't believe that she has been living with diabetes for so many years and yet shows no sign of it.
“What keeps me going is the statement that says, 'Diabetes looks like me',” she said.
Kgomotso’s mother, Onicca Sekhu (61) said she was shocked to learn that her daughter is diabetic.
“I kept on asking myself how this happened because I'm not diabetic. No one in my family has it. It really came as a shock,” she said.
