Claremont resident featured
in diabetes documentary fi lm
COMBO PRICE
+ 4 FREE BURGERS
They count on you,
So count on us to
keep you going.
Niurka Rodriguez,who is featured in a documetary
about diabetes.
Photo Courtesy/ Merck/ Jazzmine Beaulieu
Medicare Advantage with
Prescription Drug Plans
$0 or Low Cost Plan Premiums
Health plan options for those with Medicare
and those with both Medicare and Medicaid
$6999
AgeWell New York, LLC is a HMO plan with a Medicare and Medicaid contract. Enrollment in AgeWell New York, LLC depends on contract renewal. ATTENTION:
If you do not speak English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-866-237-3210 (TTY/TDD: 1-800-662-1220). Hours
are 7 days a week from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Note: From April 1 to September 30, we may use alternate technologies on Weekends and Federal holidays.
Assistance services for other languages are also available free of charge at the number above. AgeWell New York complies with applicable Federal civil
rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of races, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. AgeWell New York cumple con las leyes federales de
derechos civiles aplicables y no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o sexo. AgeWell New York
H4922_Count4002_M Accepted 09082019
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 18 OVEMBER 17-28, 2019 BTR
Call for eligibility and enrollment
agewellnewyork.com
718-696-0206
TTY/TDD 800-662-1220
BY JASON COHEN
More than 30 million Americans
have diabetes – that’s about 1 in 10
adults – and 90 to 95 percent of them
have Type 2 diabetes.
This past Sunday, November 17,
A&E debuted a fi lm, ‘Touch of Sugar,’
about diabetes and one of the four people
featured in it is a woman from Claremont.
The documentary dives into the
diabetes healthcare epidemic that affects
every community in the United
States, told through the voices of peo-
ple in their struggle with this chronic
disease.
Interviews with patients and their
loved ones, as well as doctors and advocates,
explored diabetes and helped to
reinforce Type 2 diabetes as an urgent
public health issue that cannot be ignored,
especially among underserved
populations.
Niurka Rodriguez, 55, was diagnosed
with pre-diabetes at age 29 while
pregnant with her son Max. While her
mother, Nidia Cuevas, 73, and a few
aunts and uncles have diabetes; it has
not been easy for her.
“It has changed my life because you
cannot eat things that you like,” she
said.
She explained in the Dominican
culture, one eats a lot of rice and beans,
but due to diabetes she has had to eat
less of the ethnic staples.
Life as a diabetic is no cakewalk,
she stressed. She has to carefully
watch what she eats and the disease
has caused her to have two operations
on her right eye.
Today, she eats healthier, doesn’t
eat after 8 p.m., never skips a meal,
portions her food and eats lots of fruits
and veggies. In fact, over the years, she
has lost 30 or 40 pounds.
Furthermore, she learned how important
it is to check labels on everything
at the supermarket to make sure
it is okay to eat.
Buying food in an impoverished
community was a challenge at fi rst,
but now she knows where to get the
right stuff. She noted healthy foods are
quite expensive.
When she was fi rst diagnosed she
was scared, but today, she takes care
of herself, and her children, Illys, 25,
ORDER NOW! 1.866.749.2741
THE FAVORITE GIFT
Max, 24 and Juliana, 17, support her.
Illys is pre-diabetic.
She told the Bronx Times that sharing
her story in the fi lm meant a lot.
“I think that doing the documentary
has been helping many people,”
Rodriguez commented. “For the people
that are diagnosed with diabetes, they
have to take care of themselves. There
is no cure, but you can live with it.”
/agewellnewyork.com