The Elbow Bump Challenge
Logan is almost 10 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 at 17 months old in 2008. I remember someone giving me the website Children with Diabetes at the hospital and I found it a few weeks later at home. At the time I wasn’t involved in any social media sites and was skeptical but I was starved for information about how to help my child. The parents on the forums could not have been friendlier or more welcoming. Slowly I started reading everything I could absorb and asking questions. The site saved me more times than I would like to admit in those early days, both emotionally and by answering questions on day-to-day issues. I had a lot of questions. To this day I’m eternally grateful for that early support I received.
When he was 3, he was diagnosed with food allergies and asthma. He learned to advocate for himself on the playground and school at a young age. We always showed him and explained what we were doing when we were giving him insulin, a nebulizer dose or treating a low blood sugar. He confidently showed off his equipment to anyone who asked, tested his blood when he was able on his own and then went on to play. He invented an “elbow bump” when people asked him to shake hands, so he didn’t run the risk of a contact reaction if they ate nuts earlier.
Logan always asked a lot of questions once he knew what to ask. We were careful to never tell him there will be a cure, and instead, we explained that people are working to help make his life easier and they hope there will be a cure someday. His doctor’s appointments are usually pretty long as he has his own list and I have mine! Through the years, he hardly ever complained and started taking care of himself in stages.
I’m not sure what exactly led to our seven year itch. It happened late 2014. We had never celebrated or acknowledged his diagnosis date but he started asking questions about it during a pediatrician appointment, and the nurse who was there the day of his diagnosis looked it up for him. The enormity of it hit both of us. All of a sudden, our world shifted. This is forever. 6.5 years of forever.
It was a long couple of weeks after that appointment. I hadn’t visited the CWD forums in a while; I randomly checked Facebook groups but had been on autopilot with diabetes management. We have a small group of parents locally that we meet up with a few times a year, so I hadn’t felt the need for additional support. I remembered that there was a popular conference every year and thought maybe it would help rejuvenate both of us, so I googled to find it and talked to Logan about attending it to celebrate his “diaversary.”
He agreed and we attended the Friends for Life Orlando conference July 2015. The sea of green bracelets and free hugs was exactly what we needed. We met an amazing family that sang to him on his diaversary. He went off on his own without a parent for the first time outside of school. The goodbyes were tearful but I was so happy we went. It was supposed to be a one-time trip for us but in the fall of 2015 Logan insisted I take him again that summer. He presented his case and I agreed. It’s a unique experience to be able to be around hundreds of people who “get it,” my kid who hates camp called it his “family camp.” I booked yet another trip to Florida in July and joined the Friends for Life Facebook group.
In the spring we heard that fundraising was needed for the event. Logan loves money and fundraising; he raised a lot of money for JDRF the year prior and decided he could use some of those methods to raise money for the event. He put jars in local stores to ask people to donate their change, sold water bottles at a tag sale and asked me to run some fundraisers similar to the ones at his school. That’s when he came up with his grand idea.
At the banquet during the conference, he addressed the audience of 1500+ people and asked everyone to consider a National Hat or Pajama Day at their school on World Diabetes Day, November 14, to raise money for CWD. His goal is to have all kids with type 1 approach their school and ask permission, distribute flyers and hold a fundraiser that day. This will both raise awareness for type 1 at a national level on an important day and raise money for the nonprofit that runs the Friends for Life conference we have grown to love.
He has worked with me, his mom, to create some simple flyers you can use in school, or more elaborate flyers to distribute more broadly to companies. His banquet video is on his Youtube channel and we created a Facebook page, blog and gmail account for any questions you have and to cheer on all the awesome kids that will be fundraising. He’s naming it the “Elbow Bump Challenge,” because he never bumped as many elbows as he does at the FFL conference and everyone loves the story he tells of how he invented the elbow bump. The name seems appropriate.
We ask you to share the flyers for the challenge and tell your own story to your family and friends about why 11/14 is important to you. Have a hat or pajama day at your office or school, take pictures and share that day. Every penny raised goes towards supporting the kids program for the 2017 event. Thank you in advance for helping us with this important fundraiser and creating awareness for type 1 in November!
If for some reason you haven’t been touched by the CWD forums or the Friends for Life event isn’t important to you, we ask you to please still have the fundraiser and raise money for Beyond Type 1. They had a huge presence at the conference and we would love for that to continue next year.
Here are instructions for how to send the donation money to CWD.
Read The Power of One by Jonathan Berman.
