A Weslaco woman is managing diabetes 20 years after her diagnosis with what she describes as a mix of faith, friends, and technology

"I was diagnosed in 2005, and I am still not insulin dependent," Maria del Carmen Lashley said.

Lashley says she had to make changes after her diagnosis.

"It's like starting all over again, like with a child teaching them to eat differently," she said.

She relied on people in her life who also had diabetes.

"They would tell me what things to use, and how they have changed, and I would drink every word they would say because I didn't have another option," Lashley said. "I just kept trusting God every day and asked for wisdom."

Medication has helped her manage her diabetes over the last 20 years. Technology has also helped recently.

Through her medical provider and Medicare, she has access to a glucometer and a remote health monitoring platform for seniors.

"I call it the miracle instrument," she said.

The program also encourages her to exercise.

"They give diet suggestions, exercise suggestions; I cannot even make an excuse for not walking; they say, 'walk in your house,'" Lashley said.

Dr. Bianca Nuñez, a resident at South Texas Health System, says managing diabetes starts with immediately creating healthy habits.

"You have to manage it now. It’s the medications, taking them as prescribed, but it's also those lifestyle changes; it's consistently making these changes with your food, with your weight, with your exercise," Nuñez said. "A person really has to look at their life and see what changes they can make."

Lashley says she wants to be able to see her grandchildren grow up.

"You're not going to be here forever, but I have grandkids, some of them are still little, that I want to see grow up, graduate," she said. "I'm going to do everything I can to be good to myself."

Watch the video above for the full story.

This April, CHANNEL 5 NEWS will educate viewers about diabetes prevention and treatment. KRGV will provide a 360-degree look into the diabetes epidemic in the RGV.

H-E-B and South Texas Health System are offering free diabetes screenings in the month of April. Check out the calendar at this link for times and dates when the screenings will be available.

Heart of the Valley: Diabetes is sponsored by Prime Health and South Texas Health System.