Episode 24: Sigal Matasaro and taking back her power with type 1 diabetes.

Sigal Matasaro has been living with type 1 diabetes for over 17 years and for a lot of that time, she felt very much like a victim of it.

She experienced gestational diabetes when pregnant with her son while she and her husband were living in Israel. Soon after his birth they made the decision to move to Ontario, Canada and Sigal was kept busy as a new Mother in a new country  where she didn’t even know the language.

Sigal had experienced three years of fertility treatment to conceive her son, and began the long process of the treatments once again to try for another baby.

One night, her husband had to rush her to the emergency department with severe abdominal pain. They thought that it must be an issue with the fertility treatment but it turned out to be a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

For Sigal, it was like a bomb dropping onto her life. She had no idea what it was, no idea how to manage it and got so little support or advice from the doctors. She was left to manage it herself and for a long time, she lived in denial.

The high blood sugars wreaked havoc on her emotions and created suicidal thoughts and feelings. Eight years ago, Sigal went into a diabetic coma and was in the hospital, fighting for her life. She felt so ill, exhausted and beaten down by the disease that she was ready to die and asked God to take her, to let this suffering be over but that experience ended up changing her life.

Sigal became determined to fight for her life, to be here for her son and to find a way to manage the disease and experiment to find out what worked best for her.

Sigal is now feeling in the best shape of her life. She gave up her insulin pump, now has a device in her arm that together with technology, gives her an accurate reading of her blood sugar levels without the endless finger pricks and injects her insulin the “old school” way.

In the process, Sigal moved from victim to taking back her power and living her life, her way which includes, exercise, experimenting with diets and supplementation and taking full responsibility for her own life and health.

I loved talking with Sigal. We had such a great conversation about personal power, becoming your own expert and the lessons we have both learned.

Sigal works tirelessly in the type 1 diabetes community, helping and inspiring others to take their power back. I  hope you love Sigal as much as I do.

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Sigal Matasaro lives with her husband and son in Ontario, Canada, giving her time to others in type 1 diabetes support groups, to give them some hope, encouragement and inspiration and help them improve their lives and health.

She loves gardening, mediation and walking daily with her beloved dogs.