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“Exercise with proper eating is good for the sugar levels, exercise is also very good, that is why I exercise… it helps a lot with the sugar” (Tracey).
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“My husband encouraged me not to stop, he would boil vegetables for me every night and make sure that I eat them, “it‟s for your own good” he would say” (Carly).
Her children also helped her a lot with medication compliance. They would remind her about her medication. If she was working outside they would take her medication to her. They made sure that she took her medication as recommended by the clinic. Her oldest child was very knowledgeable about her mother‟s medication, because she went with her to the clinic whenever she was free to do so. At times if her mother was unable to go fetch her medication her daughter would go for her. Carly and her husband were not employed and depended on grant money allocated to her three children. She collected R840 altogether per month. She had a large family and sometimes this money was not enough to sustain the family for a whole month. At these times she would need to go to the clinic, but not have the money to go; her neighbour would assist by lending her money to go to the clinic.
“A good relationship with the neighbours is needed; my neighbour helps me so much. When I don‟t have money to go to the clinic she borrows me the money and I pay it back when I can”. (Carly)
Her neighbour also helped by buying her vegetables if they were on sale. The neighbour was a nurse who worked in one of the clinics around UMlazi, and she would bring Carly medication and pamphlets from the clinic.
“She works at a different clinic to the one I attend, she brings me new things whenever they get them, sometimes she also brings me needles and
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strips for my glucometer because I do not always have money to buy more… I know God put her here to help me with this illness” (Carly).
Carly also had church friends that helped her with emotional support. Carly believed fervently in God and the power of prayer. In her house there were crosses and pictures of Jesus. The Holy Bible remained on top of the table with a pen and old-looking highlighter. She believed that God had a plan for everything and that the diabetes that was troubling her was part of God‟s plan.
“With God‟s plan and guidance I will get through this” (Carly).
“The church people give me hope. Walking with them and God makes my life much easier to bear” (Carly).
Clair is a 46-year-old, single, diabetic female and mother of four. Diagnosed with diabetes in 2008, she lives with her mother, four children, her sister and her sister‟s three children. Her network system consisted of her family and it is her mother and children that help her the most to manage her diabetes. She also has church networks.
Both Clair and her mother were diabetic. They helped each other by reminding each other of the different types of coping strategies that they were taught at the clinic. Clair‟s children helped them by cooking and cleaning the house and encouraged them to eat healthy foods and exercise.
Clair‟s oldest child had a part-time job. She would buy them some of the recommended food that they were told to eat. This helped them to change bad foods for food that were healthier. Other family members that were not diabetic ate their own food. The interviews that took place at Clair‟s house showed the type of life that they lead. Some of the groceries were separated, Clair and her mother had their own Flora margarine, while the other people ate Rondo margarine.
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They ate brown sugar, while the rest of the family ate white, no-name brand sugar. They had their own Flora cooking oil, while the rest of the family had a huge, five litre container filled with no-name cooking oil.
“We try to cook how the nurses say, the foods are expensive but we put money together and buy them” (Clair).
Church members were also helpful with regards to emotional support. They helped with encouragement and prayers in times of need. Clair was a prayerful person; they would always be playing gospel music when I went to her for our interview session.
“I think it is better for one to have religious connections, a spiritual support, especially when he or she is troubled by illness. No matter what the problems are guided by God I can find the answers and the inner peace that I so long for” (Clair).
Sophie, a 48-year-old diabetic black female, was a widowed who had three children. Her children do not stay with her due to family conflicts. Sophie lives in a two room house with her grandchildren; she did not have any friends or close family members. She had to manage her diabetes alone, which sometimes proved to be difficult. It was a challenge for her to cope, because she had no one that helped her and she had no one to talk to.
Sophie told me about her life: She stays with her grandchild because all her children have died. She looks after herself because her grandchild is never at home. She had her foot amputated six months ago because she had a diabetic foot and it would not heal. She basically runs the household herself
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because there is no one to look after her or cook and clean the house. If it happens that she gets hypoglycaemic, which she explained to be a state where the body is running on very low glucose, this affects the brain, resulting in impairment of function. She further explained that she has to deal with it herself. She explained that her biggest fear is that one day she will be found dead because the attacks do not warn when they are about to start. I found that this participant was well-informed about her condition, as she was able to explain to me a lot about diabetes and how to manage it (Sophie).
“The sugar is a very serious illness; it needs to be controlled properly.
When you have no one it becomes harder to handle it” (Sophie).
“I have no one to turn to; even when I feel sick there is no one to help me I am just alone” (Sophie).