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10 sANTA CrUZ WoMAN | sUMMer 2016 armed with the hard facts about sugar, fat and the benefit of regular exercise, Watsonville nurse and diabetes educator Martha Quintana is on the front lines of the diabetes epidemic that threatens one in three people and about half the Hispanic population in the u.s. on a table near her office in the diabetes Health center near Watsonville Hospital, she sets out the tools of her trade: a five-pound glob of fake fat, replicas of artery plaque build-up, vials of oil, a plate depicting normal serving sizes and a bowl of cheery plastic vegetables—the not-so-enticing fare of moderation. Perhaps the veteran educator's biggest arsenal is her ability to encourage patients to renew their commitment to try another day. "a lot of them feel frustrated," says Quintana who helped develop the diabetes program in 1998. When she's not with patients, she takes her "traveling show" to schools, local employers and health fairs and works to improve education countywide. Previously she worked 15 years as a nurse at Watsonville Hospital where she routinely saw the impact of diabetes firsthand such as open sores, heart disease, kidney failure and eye damage. the most common type of diabetes, known as type ii, has been linked to excessive body weight and too little exercise. Battling Diabetes Martha Quintana coaches people to see beyond diabetes "A lot of them feel hopeless or scared… They feel that I'm going to take everything away and they're going to have to eat grass and twigs." By Jennifer pittman Martha Quintana Nurse/Diabetes educator Photo by Jennifer Pittman Martha Quintana is a nurse and diabetes educator for the Diabetes Health Center in Watsonville. Photo by Jennifer Pittman continued on page11