National Health Blog Post Month, Day 24: My Mascot! Give your condition, community, or self a mascot. Who is it? What do they represent? What is their battle cry?

Dictionary.com defines a mascot as “an animal, person, or thing adopted by a group as its representative symbol and supposed to bring good luck.” I feel like there are a lot of potential candidates for a diabetes mascot.

First, there is this thing that Jacquie and I found at Friends For Life last summer. I’m not even sure what it is. Is it an insulin pump? Is it a BG meter? Is it a calculator? Is it a magic robot with an affinity for sideways exclamation points?

Then there is Lenny the Lion. Granted, he’s already got a full-time gig as the Medtronic mascot, but he does have the advantage of being well-versed with an insulin pump. And think, with those cat claws, you would never have to replace a lancet ever again!

Coco is a great candidate for a mascot as well. She has Type 1 diabetes. She has lots of friends and lots of adventures. She’s a lot like me! Except her primary contribution to conversations is “Eeek!” But I know people that have a lot more to say than just “Eeek!” and I wish they were as limited in their vocabulary as Coco is, so maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. You know what they say (whoever “they” are)…a little “Eeek!” goes a long way.

There is also Phil Southerland, who makes a great representative for the diabetes community. He’s a cyclist and co-founder of professional cycling’s Team Type 1-Sanofi, author of Not Dead Yet, and he’s from where I live, Tallahassee, Florida. He was also recently appointed Director of Healthcare Policy, Planning and Patient Advocacy at the World Health Organization. And he has Type 1 diabetes.

I think any of these candidates would make a fine diabetes mascot. However, I’m glad we don’t have to pick just one. The more characters there are in the world advocating and representing and bringing diabetes to the forefront of people’s attention, the better.

 

This post was written as part of National Health Blog Post Month (NHBPM) – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J