Friday, April 8, 2011

A budding advocate?

Did you change your site?
No, its still good.
When are you planning on changing the site?
Mom, this is a really good site. I like this site. I even named this site. His name is Timmy.
You named the site?
Yeah,  and what is it with diabetes?
What do you mean?
Well you never see good diabetes ads. We don't have cool names.
Like Timmy?
Yeah! But seriously, what's with that tv commercial for the old meter?
You mean the meter that you use?
Oh... (slight pause while he thinks) Well its still a stupid commercial and why don't we have more? There is every kind of cancer commercial.  They even have Kleenex!
I guess you have your work cut out for you.  You will have to go out there and make Diabetes a household name.  You will have to advertise!
I don't have that kind of money.
No, you get companies to display diabetes stuff for you.
Yeah, I could get the Kleenex people.

I really have no idea as to why my son is obsessed with Kleenex.  I have no idea where his sudden sense of diabetes social consciousness came from either but I was rather impressed. For the first time, he was expressing his own need for diabetes to be understood by the larger public.  His mom has been into raising awareness for the past ten years.  He has simply been the child who wishes it would all go away.

We (the diabetes community) have often discussed how important it is for us to increase awareness. We have discussed how diabetes is not as sexy as some other diseases. My son has not had any interest in those conversations. He has not worried about having a diabetes roll of toilet paper or a pen that promotes diabetes awareness. He will take a new meter and other diabetes gadgets but the need to get out there and let the public know more about diabetes has not been his thing.

If you know my son, you are most likely saying that awareness probably still isn't his thing...changing the topic off of a site change and onto something that interest Mom was his motivation.  You are probably right, but a Mom can dream can't she?

1 comment:

  1. Ha! Joe isn't really an "advocacy boy" yet...He likes doing the Walk, but that is about it. Otherwise, he prefers I do most of the "D" educating and "business" for presentations and instruction.

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