Racquel*

Type 1 diabetes and WELLfed
Racquel is a 28 year old woman who has been at WELLfed for about seven months. She has Type 1 diabetes, and was referred to WELLfed by her podiatrist. She has graduated from the cooking programme, and also undertaken many of the other courses offered, such as literacy, first aid, the diabetes course, a gardening course and a parenting course. She currently volunteers in the garden, and will start a paid role in the garden next year.
The long road to diagnosis
Other than the “amazing” podiatrist who made the first referral, the health system had failed Racquel. She had had two children when she was aged 14 and 16, but no mention was made of diabetes testing. In the following years, she knew she wasn’t well, was thirsty, and had lost weight. She was finally diagnosed at age 18 following an unrelated hospital admission. She was given information about Type 1 diabetes, but acknowledges that she was young and did not pay much attention to it.
Living with uncontrolled diabetes
Over the subsequent nine years, her diabetes was uncontrolled – the doctors said they had not seen such high blood glucose levels. She had numerous blackouts and seizures, several hospital admissions, and was close to having a foot amputated, although this course of action was averted by the intervention of the podiatrist. Racquel’s brother also had Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed at age 10. At age 28, he was on dialysis, and died of his illness last year. The death of her brother finally prompted her doctors, who admitted failing in his care, to give her an insulin pump, which has markedly improved her ability to manage her illness.
The role of WELLfed: cooking, confidence and more
Prior to coming to WELLfed, she stayed mainly at home, and didn’t often leave the house. Racquel was shy coming to WELLfed, but says coming to WELLfed “has changed me heaps”. She is now socialising with people who she never would have socialised with. She comes to WELLed most days – the only other group that she is part of outside of the home is Mana Wāhine. Since there are several WELLfed people there, she felt comfortable in that group.
One of her favourite learnings was cooking lasagne, seeing how one dish could do two meals. She also adds salad, and grows her own veggies at home. Since her graduation, she continues to follow the WELLfed recipes; she also takes veggie bags home, and makes sure that she utilises everything she is given/grows.
As a teenager, she had been to the young mum’s school, but did not stay long, as she wanted to look after her own child. But she did correspondence school at home, and had the support of her family while the children were little. On joining WELLfed, she wasn’t confident in her level of reading and writing. The literacy course that she has done through WELLfed has increased Racquel's confidence. She realises now that she often does know the answer to a question, but hasn’t had the confidence to try saying it out loud.
Improved health
Racquel has noticed that her physical health has improved markedly since starting at WELLfed. She notes that she almost looked “down and out” before WELLfed; she knows she looked sick and thinks that people assumed she was on drugs rather than having diabetes. She now has much more energy; she works in the WELLfed garden most days, then in her veggie garden at home in the evenings. Her blood sugar levels are the lowest that they have ever been. She has a very supportive partner, who is by her side, supporting her on her journey. She has only had one seizure since she started at WELLfed, but her partner noticed the warning signs and could look after her.
WELLfed: “a place for me-time”
Racquel is very thankful to the entire WELLfed programme, and feels that she has benefited in many ways. She notes that the breadth of courses and support means that there will always be something to support everyone who walks through the door. But her aim is to make sure that no one with Type 1 diabetes goes through the journey that she has, and knows that WELLfed can play a key role in achieving that aim.