November 04, 2024 Spill the Diabetea with Lubna Aslam

Lubna Aslam is no stranger to diabetes. 

“I’m the third generation that I know myself that is living with diabetes,” she says. Both of her grandmothers lived with type 2. “Some of my early memories are of my maternal grandmother boiling her glass syringes and metal needles and taking little shots of insulin in the morning,” says Lubna, who is Diabetes Canada’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility) senior manager.

Despite knowing a lot about diabetes, including the increased risk for certain ethnic groups (she is South Asian) and having multiple family members with diabetes, her diagnosis of prediabetes at the age of 37 still took her by surprise. After managing the condition for a year, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 38.

“The symptom that really bothered me was chronic fatigue. I’d wake up feeling like a truck had run over my body,” she says. With two children to care for—a nine-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter—Lubna initially dismissed her fatigue as part of the challenges of busy parenting. “But it was significant enough that I decided to see a doctor.”

What does she want people to take away from her experience?

When we don't talk about things that we live with, we kind of feed into the stigma...we kind of feed into the exact same stereotypes.

[For example] ‘I was not irresponsible. I was not someone with misplaced priorities. I was not the one to be blamed.’ This is something I say 11 years [after] my diagnosis. I could have been here much earlier if I had seen more people talk about their diagnosis and talk about living a very fulfilling and a happy life. I think it is important that we don't feed into stigma, but we actually feed into knowledge.”


Today, Lubna making time to Spill the Diabetea and share what it’s like to live with diabetes as part of Diabetes Canada’s campaign to raise awareness, educate others on the daily realities of managing diabetes, and inspire change. 

Did you know? 

Every three minutes, someone in Canada is diagnosed with diabetes. This Diabetes Awareness Month, we want to hear from you whether, like Lubna, you live with diabetes or you care for someone who does. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or X and share what life with the condition really looks like. Visit Let’s Make Time to Spill the Diabetea to get started.