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Juan Rodriquez: Health Fair Saved My Life

Juan Rodriguez had lost more than 35 pounds in a few months, he always felt thirsty, no matter how much water he drank, he urinated frequently and felt exhausted even after a full night’s sleep.

That was 10 years ago and the Ellington man, now 35, suspected he might have diabetes — a disease that ran rampant in his family. But he had no insurance to pay for a doctor’s visit or necessary blood tests.

His mother suggested that Rodriguez attend a health fair sponsored by the Hispanic Health Council. 

“He didn’t have health insurance,’’ said Virginia Ruiz, Juan’s mother and now associate director of the Center for Risk Reduction at the Hispanic Health Council. “We figured this was the best way to at least find out.”

When a doctor at the fair tested a drop of blood from Juan Rodriguez’s finger, he found that the young man’s blood sugar level was dangerously high. Rodriguez was sent straight to a hospital emergency room and later received help to apply for state medical benefits and find the ongoing care he needed. In addition to getting prescriptions for insulin, Rodriguez attended a class where he learned how to better control his blood sugar by exercising and changing his diet.

Now the father of two young children who works as a computer technician, Rodriguez said he feels lucky that his diabetes was diagnosed at the health fair.

“It was free,’’ Rodriguez said of his decision to seek testing at the health fair. “I didn’t have the money to go to a doctor.’