Episode 77: Just Get Me The Juicebox with Neo

Neo (Nayo) comes to us all the way from The Freestate, South Africa.

Neo was diagnosed with T1D 6 years ago at 15. When she was diagnosed, it was the first time she had ever heard of Type One Diabetes.

Now Neo is an advocate for T1D. During our conversation she speaks heavily about how difficult it is for people to understand what living with diabetes is because they can't resonate with it unless they are actually living with it. And when people say things such as, if they had to use insulin they would die. Neo tells them, you will need to learn how to survive!

When she was first diagnosed it was near impossible to explain it to her peers because she didn't understand it. Many people said it was because of witchcraft or someone hating her family that she was diagnosed with diabetes. She had to constantly explain to people that believed in those things that it wasn't like that. Her peers thought she was making up stories because they had never heard of the intricacies of T1D and this made Neo hide it then. Some classmates thought she was taking drugs.

Neo wishes that medical systems share that it is a norm and not taboo to be diagnosed with Type One Diabetes.

Now that she is knowledgeable, she asks, "How did we miss this?" At the time of diagnosis, she was drinking a lot of water and staying inside when she hated water and would normally spend all her time outside with friends.

Now that she owns her diagnosis and shares it some people complain about her talking about diabetes too much, even though she has already explained, it is something we cannot turn off.

Neo says how for some people they have their own perceived understanding of what diabetes is and when we try to explain it, they still will be argumentized.

For Neo it's almost like her diagnosis was her parents' diagnosis. She remembers how involved they were in her care and looking out for her well-being.

Neo lives by the saying, "God doesn't give us hurdles that we cannot conquer and God chooses his best and greatest soldiers to fight his battles."

Follow Neo on Instagram and learn more about living with T1D in Freestate, South Africa @pabii_moffat