Diabetes Can't Stop Me!

Ally's thoughts on Friends For Life:

If you know anyone with diabetes, you should go to FFL!

It's so much fun!

If you don't have diabetes, you can learn more about it and how to take care of people with diabetes.

You get to meet other people who understand everything you do. Everybody is checking their blood sugar at the same time. I didn't have to be the only one.

Sugar, Ally and Brianna doing a group BG check.

If you do have diabetes, you can have more sleepovers because people understand how to take care of kids like me with D! 

(There may have been a FFL sleepover in our hotel room :)  Stay tuned for the scoop on that!)

It is one of the only places you can go where people don't ask you what is that on your arm?  Or ask why you go to the nurse all the time.  Or say things like, 'Ummm...you have a phone in school.  I'm gonna tell!'

Friends for Life is awesome!!  It makes you feel like diabetes isn't that bad after all.  Now I know that I can still do anything that I want even though I have diabetes.

As soon as we got back home from our trip to Orlando, Ally made this sign for her bedroom. 

I want to say thank you to all of the People With Diabetes (PWDs) for being an inspiration to my daughter.  You taught her that...

"Diabetes Can't Stop Me!  You can do anything even with diabetes."

So thank you to Ironman Triathlete Jay Hewitt, NFL Player Kendall Simmons, and Indy Car Driver Charlie Kimball and thank you to Novo Nordisk for sponsoring their participation.  Thank you to Snow-boarding World Cup competitor Mike Fisher and to LifeScan, Inc. for sponsoring his participation at FFL.  Thank you to Phil Southerland and other members of Team Type 1 (and to Sanofi-Aventis for their sponsorship).  It was a bonus for us to pass members of Team Type 1 on the road as we traveled home from the conference.

Thank you to Crystal Bowersox! My kids are walking around singing "Live Life First!" 

Thank you to Kim for showing our kids that You Can Do This!

Thank you to Lee Ann for encouraging our kids creativity through Diabetes Art!

Thank you to Kelly for helping the kids feel the meaning of SAME! 

And thanks for just plain having fun with us!  We  you!

More than anything else, this is why we went to FFL!  I agree with Ally, it was awesome!