The next stop after meeting with Mr. and Mrs. G. was a visit with Maharana L., a Guyanese immigrant living in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Richmond Hill has a large immigrant population from Guyana; this population is currently facing an epidemic of Type II Diabetes. Data suggests that adults born in Guyana have a death rate of 58 per 1,000,000 deaths from diabetes compared to 34 for U.S. born – that’s almost 60% higher.^*

Before we arrived at Maharana’s apartment, Jennifer told me that when she met Maharana three years ago, she was non-compliant. She was not taking her insulin at all and her A1C (average blood sugar levels) was high. It took a long time explaining, training and building trust before Maharana started taking her insulin once a day.

Jennifer praises Maharana with every visit, pointing out her successes and encouraging her to be even more in charge of the diabetes. And Jennifer continues to educate not only Maharana but her family, so they can help her manage her disease. On the day we visited, Maharana talked about how some sweet plantains had spiked her blood sugar levels, and Jennifer asked questions to get to the bottom of it: How many pieces did she eat? Did she adjust her insulin? Her answers led Maharana to the conclusion that, while it was OK to eat the six pieces of plantain, next time, she should limit herself to three.

Next stop, visiting a long-time patient and quadriplegic Lenny C.