Sabrina Weaver is a nurse in Columbia and created the non-profit, Defense Against Diabetes, which helps people manage their Type 2 diabetes and helps prevent the onset of the disease in the first place.
She spoke about some of the challenges people can face when they're working to establish new, healthier habits.
Missouri Health Talks gathers Missourians’ stories of access to healthcare in their own words.
Sabrina Weaver: People of color tend to have higher rates. A lot of that stems from what we have access to.
Kind of a common thing is like, “Oh, well, Grandma had it, Grandpa had it, everybody has it. So, I'm gonna have it.” And it's like, “You don't have to…”
But that goes back into how we prepare food, how we were raised, and learned how to cook all of these different things, and so, it's like an inherent part of who we are and it's kind of hard to break some of those trends.
I like soul food, but I don't eat it all the time, and so, it's just kind of finding that balance.
It's just trying to change the mentality of, “Well, everyone's has it in my family, so I'm gonna have it, so there's no use trying to do something different.”
So, accessibility is an issue. Food is so expensive now. It's ridiculous. And so, if you have to choose between getting a medication, having my lights on or getting some fresh fruits or vegetables… um, that's not on the top of the list.
And then it's just, it's more convenient to have fast food and things that aren't necessarily good for you. So, it's like, “I'm doing 25 things, so I'm just gonna run by McDonalds real quick and grab something.”
"We're not going to be perfect. Every day is not going to be a great day. But it's how to respond to that."Sabrina Weaver
Again, lack of medical care or being able to get there, again – transportation. Can I get to a doctor? Or is it gonna take me five months before I can get a visit for something that I need to be seen with sooner than that? And so, I'm not getting the preventative care that I need.
And I think some of it is just like family, generational things. I think the culture is changing somewhat with more conversations are had, but it's like “Somebody's just up and died.” Well, they didn’t just up and die nine times out of 10, they had something else going on.
But we didn't talk about heart issues, we didn't talk about cancer, we didn't talk about, you know, all the little things that go on in our bodies because one — we didn't go get them checked out and two — this is just our thing that you don't talk about.
We're in a society where we want quick fixes to everything, like the people who are overweight and who are taking the diabetes medications to lose weight – whether or not they have diabetes or not.
We want a quick fix, but the thing is, once you stop taking the medication, you haven't changed your habits, so all that weight is gonna come back.
So it's – I always say, especially with like our prediabetics and Type 2 diabetics: You didn't get here overnight. This is something that has taken years to get to this point. So, it's going to take time to reset and break bad habits and to make the changes that are needed and that are sustainable.
And so, we're not going to be perfect. Every day is not going to be a great day. But it's how to respond to that.
It's like, “Oh, goodness,” you know, “I had two pieces of cake.” That's not the end of the world. Okay, we're moving on to the next move. We're gonna make better choices. Sometimes it's meal by meal.
It's just understanding that it takes time to have lasting results, but you're worth it.
