Award-winning SA songstress Holly Rey, has opened up about her struggles of living with Type 1 diabetes, especially during this difficult period where the corona-virus pandemic gripping the country.
"This period of the Covid pandemic has been an incredibly scary time for people living with pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes. Every day I wake up and think about all the people across SA who are living with diabetes and aren’t able to isolate or protect themselves" she wrote.
The singer took to Instagram to reveal that opening up about her diagnosis was very difficult for her, and said her world has changed forever since she was diagnosed with it, at the age of 11, "The decision to open up about this part of my life has been a very scary one for me because of how personal and difficult this particular journey has been for me. When I was 11 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and my world changed forever."
Holy Rey pleaded with people to stop with the stereotypes and misconception that makes people living with the disease to feel uncomfortable and sometimes ashamed of their condition.
"I often hear people say things like, “only old people have diabetes”, “only overweight people have diabetes” “did you get diabetes from eating too much sugar” - and the answer to all of these questions is no. When I was younger I would avoid telling people about my condition until it was absolutely necessary to avoid judgment which often meant putting my own health at risk."
She also spoke about having her continuous glucose monitoring system, attached to her abdomen and said it has changed her life completely, "I want to show kids and anyone living with Type 1 diabetes that you can achieve your greatest dreams. Having to constantly monitor your glucose and depending on insulin is not a limitation and you do not have to hide it."
"I recently went on to a CGM system and although I was nervous to have a foreign object attached to me at first, I honestly don’t even notice it and it has changed my life completely. It has become my best friend."
