It took a car crash for then 18-year-old Freya Su to take notice of the symptoms she didn't know at the time were the early signs of diabetes.
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While driving in Sydney, her vision momentarily blurred and she ran a red light. While unharmed in the crash, a visit to her GP prompted further tests. Days later she was told she had type 2 diabetes.
At the time, Ms Su said it felt like a death sentence.
"I thought I was going to die when I was 40, that's what I thought it meant," she said.
"I hadn't taken notice of the symptoms, because it becomes your everyday. So you start to think it's just you. I'm supposed to feel like this.
"You think 'I am just a person who needs to go to the toilet a lot'. It's not like bang and then one day you feel all the symptoms and realise it's diabetes. It creeps up on you."
In other news:
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition where the body becomes resistant to insulin.
About 25,000 Tasmanians are living with type 2 diabetes, however some health professionals believe the rate of those living undiagnosed could be as high as 50 per cent of the population.
As part of National Diabetes Week from July 14 to 20, the It's About Time campaign aims to encourage early detection and optimal treatment of type 2 diabetes.
It is estimated that up to 58 per cent of cases are preventable, with early intervention.
Ms Su watched her own mother suffer from the condition, after developing gestational diabetes.
It took 14 years for her to be diagnosed and treated, but by then it was too late.
The diabetes had done irreversible damage and Ms Su's mother ended up with severe kidney damage, as well as blindness from retinopathy and cataracts. The last 15 years of her life were spent on dialysis.
Despite having a family history of diabetes, Ms Su said she wasn't aware of her risk for developing the condition.
After her diagnosis, she said it took some time before she came to terms with what life as a diabetic meant.
"I think my 20s were really rough in that I wasn't really what you would call a good diabetic," she said.
"I partied, I travelled. It wasn't until I decided to have my son that I realised I needed to get a good hold of it.
"Knowing what had happened to my mum. It was pretty horrific watching her go downhill and I didn't want that to happen to me."
Now 48 and managing her diabetes with an insulin pump, Ms Su said she spent less time needing to look after the "diabetic part" of her life. However, she would always be a diabetic.
"It's been an evolution of technology as well as me accepting that this is how I live my best life," she said.
"Diabetes is just the way our lives are and we are just treating it as much as we can, as human beings."
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
