NEWSBREAK: Something Great for Kids Who Have T1D!!!!!

Coco ImageMake no mistake about it, I am probably the biggest fan of Coco as she deals with her diabetes.  I just cannot applaud LOUDLY ENOUGH for this Lilly Diabetes/Disney Collection on T1Everyday Magic.

WOW!!!!!!

Today I’m informed that Go, Team Coco! has been made into the newest digital version of Coco’s adventures and is available RIGHT NOW….just click the picture.  Coco a monkey in the Disney World of characters—–and she has diabetes, but do not misunderstand; not only can Coco do what she always could do but she does it with all of her Disney Character Friends who help her along the way, including the one and only Mickey Mouse.

Make sure you make this point very clear when you read to your child, MICKEY MOUSE’S Good Friend, Coco, has diabetes……………….just like your child.  A great book to read together with siblings, relatives, and friends too.

In this world of diabetes, some companies GET IT RIGHT!  BRAVO and BRAVO to all on the creative team at Lilly Diabetes/Disney and please SHARE THIS NEWS EVERYWHERE of the newest Coco/Disney story ready to be read TODAY!!!!!

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Do You Need a Liferaft??????

liferaftOnce upon a time there was a big storm and a man had evacuated to his roof as the waters slowly made their way to surround the house all the way up to the roof level.

He cried out, “God help me.”

As he waited for an answer a man he did not know was in a little row-boat and yelled to him through the driving rain, “Friend, hop in.”

“No he screamed back, my God will be helping me.”

A few minutes later a rescue boat came by and the fireman shouted, “Jump in and we will get you out of here.”  The man yelled back that he was okay because his God was going to send angels to help him.  Realizing the man was steadfast in his belief, the fireman moved on.

A few minutes later, with the water level now at the man’s waist, his neighbor passed by, ‘Neighbor, jump in and we’ll float to safety.”  “Thank you so much but my God will save me with what I am sure will be legions of angels, I am faithful.”

The neighbor moved on.

The waters rose and the man surely drowned.  When he got to the pearly gates he asked God, “Why in my hour of need, did you not send me your angels to help.  I screamed out and you did nothing.   WHY?”

God answered, “I have no idea what you mean my son, I sent you a perfect stranger, a fireman, and your neighbor to save your life and you did not take my help”

As I am in the middle of the week and attending the Friends for Life Conference, I have had a chance to meet many grandparents.  Their stories are incredibly fascinating but more so I have learned how many families kept their grandparents at a distance in the beginning days of diagnosis.

I have had the chance to speak to some in Orlando this week who have shared stories as Aunts and Uncles who help when a child is diagnosed and continued through the years as a ‘help-care” with families where diabetes is now in residence.

Are you like the man on the roof, who has help all around but refuses because you are waiting for some grand savior to come help you so you can find some time to yourself?

Have families offered help and you say, “No, we are okay.”  Do you do that?  Perhaps when a family member, or a friend, says to you next time, “If I can ever do something just ask.”  You should say, “If you really mean it, I would love to have just two hours to be myself, could you come by and watch Susie for just an hour or two, if I don’t find some time for myself I will explode.”

I am sure they will say yes.  I am also sure that there are families who will never get that offer and I am sorry about that fact.

But to the many I say look for that time for yourself, to be with your partner, or whatever two hours will buy you.  Don’t be SOOOO brave and go it alone and tell everyone you are in this all alone.  When it is offered, say yes. People are there, people will help, don’t just stay up on the roof.

I am a diabetes dad.

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

Our Children Need the Sign to Guide Them Home……Will You Give it To Them?

SwanThe picture s a Swan.  It is a cute ‘thing’, Maria and the others in the housekeeping staff, make with a towel here in Disney, where I am for the Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference.    The creation will usually find their way into the window, or it could be a favorite stuffed animal, or even a hand painted sign.

Parents place these in the window to guide their children back home to their room.  Here at Disney’s Coronado Springs, the front desk tells me that there are 2109 rooms at this location and many doors and windows start to look the same very quickly.  Kids who are old enough to roam the place sometimes need a beacon to guide them back….these are an easy way for kids to find their rooms by looking at the windows by the front door.

As soon a I saw the first one on this trip, it took me back to the first time we were here and the kids were not even in their teens, a life time ago it seems.  As I sat in my room reading my emails, those days seem like a long time ago.

Our kids grow up so very quickly, don’t they?

TJ was just starting to grow, Kaitlyn was fairly new wearing that newest of advancements called the insulin pump.  And here we were at Coronado Springs to learn more about diabetes just as over 3000 people will do as they converge here over the next few days.

Their lives, of course, are about to change.  The so many people who come every year share their fears, their feelings, and the way their diabetes world exists.  We, as many of you, continue finding ways to learn and to share these findings to better their worlds with diabetes.

Perhaps it is a camp, or a seminar, or a support group that is chosen to learn more.  In as much as I have already stated how important I think the DIabetes Research Institute’s BioHub is in our wait for a cure, waiting for that cure must be spent on obtaining the most comprehensive education we can to start living……..NOW.  And the ‘now’ is better education of everything out their in management tools and techniques to help our children.

Help our children to obtain the best blood glucose numbers that they possible can.  Not because they will have a lower A1C (and they will), not to please the doctor (which it will), not to feel better about ourselves (which will happen), but for the singularly most important reason there is; THEY WILL FEEL BETTER.  And when they feel better they can accomplish great things.

So no matter where you choose to educate your self about diabetes, congratulations because there is a lot out there and sometimes, like 2109 rooms, it can all almost look the same.  And in the long run education is what we need to guide our children home, just like a symbol in a window.

I am a diabetes dad.

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

NY Post Reports: The Rich Hire Handicapped Tour Guides to Cut Lines at Disney

Mickey wheel chairThe NY Post is reporting that rich people are hiring handicapped tour guides so they, and their rich little kids, can cut the lines at Disney.  Well if this just doesn’t beat all tacky and stupid low down tricks.

This is why people who need them have so much trouble getting the ‘Guest Assistance Passes”……….welcome to the Diabetes Dad Hall of Shame—-all of you. 

More’offs’.

Here is the article.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP

I am a Diabetes Dad

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

Do You Know Mickey Mouse has a Friend with T1 Diabetes?

Upon diagnosis, kids feel all alone.  Now that they have diabetes, and if no one else in the family has it, it becomes a stark reality that they will go it all alone….right? 

Eli Lilly as partnered with Disney to create Coco.  Coco is  a monkey character and she has T1 Diabetes and she is a very good friend of Mickey Mouse and Pluto and the family at Disney. 

Think about that for a second.

Probably the most recognized cartoon character in the universe and he has a friend with diabetes and Mickey wants to help.  You child will not have to ‘go it’ alone.  This book has been out there for a while and there is also a follow-up book with Coco.  It isn’t exactly new–but it may be new to you, and that is important.

Why would Disney do this?  Clearly the amount of money they will make will be minimum at best because of the select niche market.  Not exactly sure of the why but much kudos is due Eli Lilly and Disney for bringing to life a character in one of the best-loved families in the world……Disney.  Eli Lilly did not just do a good job with this—-they knocked it out of the park.  Coco books….a must read for any child with T1 diabetes. Kids will not necessarily have to feel all alone when they see that even the friend of the world’s most famous mouse is just like them.  And that ain’t too shabby. 

 Nice job all.

Your diabetes educator or Doctor should be able to get you a free copy.

I’m a diabetesdad.