{"id":18782,"date":"2021-01-19T19:35:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T19:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theoklahomaeagle.net\/?p=18782"},"modified":"2021-01-19T19:35:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T19:35:14","slug":"deidra-dj-spinderella-roper-at-50-turning-the-tables-on-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/2021\/01\/19\/deidra-dj-spinderella-roper-at-50-turning-the-tables-on-diabetes\/","title":{"rendered":"Deidra \u201cDJ Spinderella\u201d Roper At 50: Turning The Tables On Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

www.blackdoctor.org<\/a>
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Born Deidra Muriel Roper, but better known as\u00a0DJ Spinderella<\/strong>\u00a0from the legendary and groundbreaking hip-hop group, Salt-N-Pepa was surrounded by music growing up.
\n\u201cI grew up in a household where music was the atmosphere,\u201d Roper says. \u201cMy father was a collector of vinyl records. \u2026 Growing up in Brooklyn, we lived in the projects, on the seventh floor, and we were the loudest apartment music-wise, because my father was always blaring records after work \u2014 everything from Quincy Jones to Grover Washington Jr. to Hall and Oates.\u201d
\nAs she got older, with help from a DJing high-school sweetheart, Roper began to learn her own way around the turntables. At 16 she landed an audition with a little known group at the time, who were just starting to gain buzz in the New York hip-hop scene. Within two weeks,\u00a0she hit the road with 18-year-old Sandra \u201cPepa\u201d Denton and 22-year-old Cheryl \u201cSalt\u201d James and they formed Salt-n-Pepa.<\/strong> Finishing her senior year on tour, \u201cSpin,\u201d as she\u2019s often called, traveled the world with the influential group.<\/p>\n

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But leaving her family behind, specifically, her mother, was hard for her when the family learned Spin\u2019s mom had diabetes. There was a time when she felt lost and confused about how best to help those around her. Now, as a spokesperson for diabetes, she says helping people with diabetes work through their difficulties means just as much to her, if not more.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cDiabetes wasn\u2019t something I was really aware of until my mother had it,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0explains Spin. \u201cI do remember, though, that both grandmothers had diabetes, and I remember them taking their insulin. My brother has had diabetes for 20 years now, and my nephew, his 15-year-old son, also has diabetes.\u201d
\n\u201cWhen my mother was trying to manage her diabetes, I didn\u2019t know where to turn. I felt helpless in assisting her. In essence, I was really lost.\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe hardest thing was not having the answers when my mother was dealing with her diabetes. I didn\u2019t know what low blood sugars were, and she had a lot of them. Frankly, it was heart-wrenching to watch. I didn\u2019t know where to go and who to turn to.\u201d
\n\u201cAfter my mother passed away from complications of diabetes,<\/strong>\u00a0I undertook a lot of research to make sure I could share the right information with my brother and nephew. What I realized was that even if you have diabetes, you can have a healthy lifestyle, and the quality of your life can be improved.\u201d
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