CWD News

Did you know that Friends for Life started with one, simple email from a CWD mom? Twenty years ago, Laura Billetdeaux sent out an email with a quick query:  “Our family has a vacation planned the first week in June in Disney World. Would anyone like to come with us?”  And when 550 people showed up, they realized they were on to something. Over the last twenty years, Children with Diabetes has been celebrating and educating through our Friends for Life conferences, and on our 20th anniversary, Laura looks back back at the email that started it all …

Looking to keep up with the latest from our 20th (!) Friends for Life conference next week? Follow the official hashtag #FFLOrlando19 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for as-they-happen stories from FFL.

“In that one moment, I knew this was where I belonged.” Julia shares a story from her first Friends for Life conference, where she found her first “diabetes moms,” and why this moment was such a game-changer for her. So many moments like this happen during the magical week that is Friends for Life. Whether you’re attending for the first time or back for your 20th conference, it’s a week that continues to inspire throughout the year. And we want to hear your stories from FFL!  Visit our new CWD Story Library to read more from your fellow Fiffles, and […]

We are proud to have powerhouse advocate Cherise Shockley as part of our 2019 Orlando faculty.  She’ll be joining a panel of diabetes online community leaders to talk about peer support and how the Internet can make a difference in your diabetes care. Cherise was diagnosed with LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in adults) June 2004. She is the founder of Diabetes Social Media Advocacy (#dsma), creator of the Blue Fridays initiative and WOCDiabetes (Women of Color living with Diabetes). Cherise is a subject matter expert in diabetes social media, online communities, and peer support. She is a wife, mother, and […]

Wondering who is behind some of your favorite Friends for Life sessions and programs?  Your FFL Chats host Sam Billetdeaux, living with type 1 diabetes, sits down with a dozen different Friends for Life personalities to talk diabetes, their experiences at FFL, and how they make diabetes work for them. Check out the full slate of videos and if you’re feeling inspired to share your own story, click the button below!

For seasoned Friends for Lifers, the green and orange bracelets show us that we’re not alone.  Green bracelets are for people living with diabetes, and orange bracelets are worn by people without diabetes who support a friend or family member with diabetes. These groups support one another, and the difference they make is felt in every session, every discussion, and every connection. Sierra Abel and Sarah Lanning, siblings of PWD, work with their fellow siblings of people with diabetes to encourage frank and honest discussions about what it’s like to be an “orange bracelet” amongst the “green bracelets” at Friends […]

Justin Masterson is a strategist and designer heavily rooted in the pursuit of deep human insight. His career began as a news anchor and feature producer for NPR, where he learned that every story is a human story, and that even the most complex problems are, at their core, human problems. He was thrilled to find out that the business world had a place where you could not only tell the stories of complex human issues, but actually innovate to solve them. His decade-long career with Seek has been hallmarked by success after success in leading the research, ideation, strategy and […]

“Fiffles have truly become my family and the experience of finding true friendship at a diabetes conference goes far beyond a diagnosis of diabetes.” Whether you call them “eff-eff-ells” or “fiffles,” the friends you make at Friends for Life will help make living with diabetes easier.  And this week, we’re very proud to host an essay from CWD Mom and Forever Fiffle Leigh Fickling, talking about why the connections made at FFL are lifelong and important.

Sam Billetdeaux sat down with some of our Friends for Life faculty last summer, and the result is our new FFL Chats series on YouTube.  Hear from a duo with orange bracelets, a T1D strongman, a CWD board member, and more talking about their experiences at Friends for Life and why Children with Diabetes is one of the best places in the diabetes online community to call “home.” Check out the series on YouTube and if you’re interested in sharing your FLL stories, we want to feature them!    

“The bracelets? They were a mix of necessity and practicality, sprinkled with some pretty significant magic.” Have you ever wondered why people with diabetes wear green bracelets at Friends for Life?  Laura Billetdeaux tells the story of the green bracelets, and how they’ve come to mean so much to the CWD community.