Story

Many years ago, Mrs. Reta Desmarais suspected she had Type 2 Diabetes. A test ordered by her family doctor confirmed that she had diabetes—it was then she realized she had become one of two million Canadians living with diabetes.

Reta was not too surprised given her family history. “Both my mother, father and two siblings had been diagnosed with blood sugar problems and I had also given birth to babies that weighed more than 9 lb. These are key factors that put people at a greater risk,” says Mrs. Desmarais. As a Registered Nurse she understood the disease but still chose to attend the Diabetes Education program offered in the community.

“I knew that I had to take ownership over the disease and that if I didn’t, I could suffer severe complications as some of my family had. The key to managing diabetes is being able to control four factors—exercise, nutrition, medication and stress. Once these factors are balanced properly—you feel healthy again.”

For the past four years Reta has been educating community groups and organizations through the Canadian Diabetes Association’s Speakers Bureau— teaching them about the importance of understanding diabetes and taking care of themselves. Prevention is also one of Mrs. Desmarais’s key messages as a Speakers’ Bureau volunteer. The program is funded in part by Healthpartners.

When Reta is not volunteering as a speaker, she is also volunteers internationally as part of a medical team teaching others how to better understand and manage diabetes.

According to Mrs. Desmarais, donations to the Canadian Diabetes Association and Healthpartners are key to supporting outreach programs which help to educate Canadians about diabetes.

“I believe the volunteer work I do is an opportunity for me to teach people to learn more about their illnesses. Senior citizens, health care providers, community volunteers and different culture groups all need knowledge about their illness—the more they know, the healthier they will be,” says Mrs. Desmarais.