The Club No One Wanted to Join

M-I-C……..see that your blood sugar is not too low.
K-E-Y…….Why?  No one knows for sure but we’re here now.
M-O-U-S-E…..Mickey Mouse……….

With apologies to Disney, the play on the famous chant to the Mickey Mouse Club is only to prove a point……being part of a club is not always what we would have asked for…..but we are here now.

The afternoon show began in 1955 and through various changes and updates, is still running today.  Each day the show had a specific goal.

• Monday – Fun with Music Day
• Tuesday – Guest Star Day
• Wednesday – Anything Can Happen Day
• Thursday – Circus Day
• Friday – Talent Round-up Day

The Diabetes Community is certainly not a club that anyone wants to be part of…….but we are here.   And there are a lot of us?  We have items that we focus on every day too.  But THAT focus is only to make sure that our kids are on track to…..well……just being a kid.  Have you ever seen when a mom writes; “Newly diagnosed six weeks ago……..”  and all of the comments following mention ‘welcome’ to the club……..that no one wants to be part.

But we are part.  I love this club.  No I don’t want to be here either but I must tell you that there are some really pretty cool people involved in our club.  And there are a lot of people who step-up and are special people in our club; Rock Stars as I like to call them.  People who have done tremendous things and who have ‘stepped-it-up’ to the benefit for …….well all of us.

I just returned from the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific sessions in Boston.  This was like the gathering of the Diabetes Club in one place.  I attend a few of these-type functions throughout the year.  The ADA is about as professional as you will ever see and people come in from all around the world to learn, and to share.  It’s an incredible opportunity.  The AADE’s annual conference allows many opportunities to also learn and speak to the many who work in practices all around the world; it is a great deal of sharing.  And in a month I leave for the Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference.

It is at CWD FFL my batteries become charged, charged-up, and also changed.  Families from around the world come to Orlando and there is truly nothing like it and never will be.  The amount of learning put into this one week for parents, grand parents, kids with diabetes, and also siblings is unmatched.

CWD FFL is the CLUB for which I am most grateful.  As many people know, I am very close to this group and it is for what they have done to our lives—-game changing indeed.  Many people there have become just as the title states, Friends for Life.

To be in a place where just walking down a hallway no explanation is needed.  We all know whey we are there.   It not only changed my life in 2000 when I attended the first one——–it has changed my life every year since.

It’s important for all of us to be more than just ‘in a club’ in the diabetes world; we need to be actively engaged.  The online aspect can only go so far.  Find yourself in a place with others who understand this club we belong.  It can change your life……..but more than that; it can change your child’s life.

I am VERY biased to CWD FFL and I readily admit that fact.  Where you go is up to you.  But being in a club is never productive if it is just a club of one.  Choose somewhere for you to be involved.  No, no one wants to be in this club……but if we have to be in it……..I want to be with the best people possible………..and that’s where you come in.

Let’s get through all of this…….THIS……T-H-I-S……together.  Welcome to the club.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.