What a difference a week makes

Up until last week, Time was still randomly alerting. But, last week Amanda spent a couple of days on the couch with a sore throat and low grade fever. Time seemed to kick in for those couple of days. She seemed to know what we wanted from her. Maybe because it was the concentrated time with Amanda on the couch and the swings in blood sugars that made her realize what we were praising her for. So in a 24 hour period she alerted us more than the whole 3 1/2 months put together. I am so encouraged.

My sister-in-law asked just yesterday if Time alerted differently for highs and lows. I told her that she has had so few lows since we have had Time that I'm not sure she has even alerted us to one. But last night at midnight, Time came to our bedroom and jumped up on Tony. Amanda's blood sugar was 47. We just couldn't believe it. I just couldn't help wonder what if Time wasn't in there with her. What would have happened if she went longer. Would she have slipped into a diabetic coma. Praise the Lord she never has and I hope with Time's help never will.

Our JDRF Walk for the Cure on Oct 4 was wonderful! Our team had 24 walkers. It was an encouraging time for us. There were 6 service dogs in our area and we got to meet them. It was good to talk to others with a dog and see what struggles and successes they were having.

Amanda and Time's Debut

Amanda and Time were interviewed this morning by Lauren Johnson of FOX 13. She talked about having diabetes, having a service dog and the JDRF walk this Sat morning. Our walk is at Shelby Farms. Check-in is at 8:30 and the walk will be at 10. There will be an opening ceremony where Amanda, Time and several others with their service dogs will be introduced.

I am so proud that Amanda is learning how to get the word out about Type 1 Diabetes and maybe in her lifetime there will be a cure.

12 Weeks

It has been about 12 weeks. Time is getting more consistent with alerting. Megan at CARES gave us some good ideas to help. She said that Time has outsmarted us and that we were doing her job for her. So, we changed a few things and she is getting better. My best example was at the hair salon. Amanda and I took Time with us to get haircuts. I sat down in a chair and told Time to "Lay down". So, Time is laying down beside me while Amanda is getting her haircut. Time starts to whine. So, I tell her "No" several times. I really thought she was just acting up. It ran through my mind that I should check Amanda, but decided I would wait until after the haircut. Now my hairdresser is ready for me, so I leave Time laying in the same spot while Amanda and I both are getting our hair cuts. Time gets up and goes over to Amanda. Amanda tells her to "lay down", but she comes over to me and jumps up on me. I tell my hairdresser to hold on and I go over to check Amanda and her blood sugar was over 400. Boy, did Time get praised and a treat. My hairdresser is about to cry at what she just witnessed. Customers and hairdressers were so impressed. I think if we try to go back without Time, they will all be upset.

I think at home without the harness, Time is still a puppy and is very distracted by other things. But, when she is out with a harness, she is very alert and obedient. She knows she has a job to do and does it.

7 Weeks

We have had Time home for 7 weeks. This week we have really been concerned that she is not alerting us like she should. We are waiting on a call back from CARES to help answer some questions. She only alerts us sporatically. And, sometimes, we think it is an alert and Amanda will be fine. Asta, our 10 yr old part pomeranian, sleeps with Tony and I and growls every time she hears Time during the night. That is definiately part of the problem. Time must know we are talking about her because last night Amanda and I were playing Pictionary in the floor and she started licking me all over. I checked Amanda and her blood sugar was 316. So I praised her and gave her a treat. During the night, Tony had fallen asleep on the couch and Time came in the den and started licking Tony. Tony asked if Amanda was OK and Time went back to Amanda's room and laid down. Her blood sugar was 370. So, he praise her and gave her a treat and she went back to bed. This morning she came out of Amanda's room and didn't seem anxious or wanting to lick anyone, so I checked on Amanda and her blood sugar was very good, 130. We may put Asta in bed with one of the other kids and see if that will allow Time the freedom to come in our room at night.

Reception

My mom and Lisa Blake gave a really nice reception for Amanda and Time. It was held yesterday at New Hope Christian Church in Bartlett. We had about 40 family and friends in attendance. Time was on her best behavior. Lisa asked Eyewitness News to come. Ryan interviewed us and took lots of footage of Amanda and Time. It was edited down to about a minute. Even though some of the info was wrong, it was great to see Amanda and Time mentioned on the news.

Camp and an alert

Amanda loved camp very much. She said that it didn't last long enough to miss us. She got to ride a zip line, swim, do a skit for the talent show. They had a dance and she made lots of new friends. She learned how to change her own pump site. She said that she did everything to draw the insulin and get the pump ready and got the site ready. She just couldn't push the button to insert the needle. And, she changed the location of her site to her leg, which is a great improvement.

Time was very glad to see her. The very first night home, Amanda was getting out of the shower. Time came over to my bed where I was reading and she put her front paws on the bed and licked me. Then, she started pacing around the house. Amanda said that she was sniffing her first. So, we checked Amanda's blood sugar and it was 260. So, we praised Time for it and gave her a treat. Time seems to get restless when Amanda's blood sugar is high. We still have a lot to figure out. It will take watching Time and Amanda both for a while.

At Grandmother's Pool

Time's herding instincts kicked in on Sunday. There were about 7 kids in the pool and Time thought it was her job to keep them all in. She circled the pool and chased anyone who tried to leave back in until her little paws were bleeding. YIKES! Well, here we are with a new dog on a Sunday and we are calling the vet to see what we need to do. Thank goodness it was not an emergency. The doc said to treat her paws like skint knees with hydrogen peroxide and neosporin. She was walking very gingerly the next day, but she is much better now. I talked to Megan at CARES and this was not the first time she has done this. The boys academy had her at the pool and she tore her paws up there, too.

Well, I think it was worth it to her.

Camp Hopewell

Well, Amanda leaves for camp for the first time on Sunday. Camp Hopewell is located in Oxford, MS and is designed for children with diabetes. The staff are doctors and nurses and each cabin has an adult with Type1 Diabetes. I am so excited for her. Along with all of the fun that goes with camp, she is suppose to learn how to change her own pump site. We have to change this every 3 days. So, this is the summer of new responsibilities as she transitions into middle school. The Diabetes Foundation of MS gave Amanda a scholarship to go to camp.

I called the camp director today to see about having her dog with her. I was really starting to think I would worry more about Time than Amanda at camp. But, the doc said that they wouldn't allow her service dog to come, since the need for one is not there. They will be checking their blood sugars about 10 times a day and through the night. I am actually relieved. Megan at CARES said that it should not be too detrimental to Time.

Walk for the Cure

We will have another team walk this year for JDRF. I have named our team: Take Time to Walk.  We have several service dogs from CARES now in our area alone.  A few of us were at the walk together.

Graduation

Well, after a week of training and the test at the mall, graduation day arrived. We met Time's breeder, Jannette Sanders- Reh and the young man from the academy who trained her, Zach. After a perfect week Time decided to act up on stage. She really wanted to get across that stage for some reason. I took Amanda and Time out to check Amanda's blood sugar. But, she was normal. Blaise, who was next to us, thought that she was trying to alert us of the little boy across the stage. He is autistic and was having a hard time during graduation. He noticed that that is when Time started acting up. Well, I'm not really sure what she was doing, but if she will alert us in the future like that, I will be very happy.

A Week of Training

Amanda, Mimi and I flew into Witchita, Kansas on June 21. It was Amanda's first flight. She loved every 90 minutes of it. We then rented a car and drove north for 2 1/2 hours to Concordia, KS, population approx 5,000.

On Monday morning, Time was handed to Amanda. She is a beautiful, short-haired Border Collie. She was born on Daylight Savings Time, Mar 11, 2007. She has 3 siblings: Quartz, Rolex and Swatch. Time, Rolex and Swatch were put into the rigorous training program for CARES.KS.com (if you would like to link to their website.). They were trained first at a prison facility. We visited one of the facilities while we were there and met 5 men who were in this dog program. It really was an emotional time. One of the men said that out of 900 in that facility only 5 were willing to dedicate their time to this program. They said that it gave them a sense of responsibility and a way to give of themselves. I only talked with 2 of them to thank them for the time they had invested. One was in for life and the other would be there for 20 years. They were able to give the dogs constant training. They worked on all of the commands until they were ready to be socialized. From the prison, Time went to a boys academy. This academy specializes in positive peer counseling to help troubled and defiant teens. They have partnered with CARES to help these boys learn responsibility. We met the young man that trained Time for 3 months. His name is Zach. Zach was able to take Time into public places so that she would obey commands with many distractions.

Amanda and Time hit it off right away. They are both tall and lanky, so they looked so cute together during training. Amanda assumed responsibility right away. She learned how to have Time heel, turn about, sit,down, stay, wait, come, go to, and many more. We went into restaurants, Walmart ( the only store in town), the park, and the mall in a nearby city for the final test. The dogs were asked to sit, down, and stay while their master walked out of sight. They were then put to the test while strollers went by, food was dropped and they were petted by strangers. Time made us very proud and passed the testing with flying colors.

Many Thanks

There are so many people to thank for this whole experience. Family and friends have been so supportive of caring for Amanda with diabetes and now for the journey of getting a dog that will help alert us of highs and lows.

First, I want to thank my mom who immediately thought that we should raise the money to get her a dog. So, she and Amanda began by making honey butter and jellies and selling them during her luncheons. Thank you for all who bought butter for Amanda.

That led to a friend coming to the luncheon with the thought that she would organize a 5K run for Amanda. Thank you, Lisa Blake. Lisa then went to her husband's boss, Mike Peters, who happen to have an alert dog and knew a little about running. However, he had a better solution. His mother, Jan Peters, raised money for their grandson to have a dog and raised much more than they needed and wanted to use that money to help someone else. Isn't God incredible! We contacted them and they paid all expenses for us to go and train with Time. Thank you so much Peters Family and Desert Women's Fund in partnership with Basin Wide Foundation and CARES, Inc. We cannot even express what this means to us.

Our good friend, Bessie Jones, raised money at her husband's workplace for Amanda in memory of her mother, Ida Gregory, who went to be with our sweet Lord, Aug 3, 2007.

My great aunt Norma gave in memory of my late great uncle David on his birthday. He gave presents on his birthday every year.

My mom's Bellevue Sunday School class gave gifts and have always been supportive of every thing we have ever done. I love each and every one of you.

My two sisters in Christ, Donna Sularin and Angela Dobbins, wrote beautiful letters of recommendation to CARES for us. You both made me cry.

I want to thank Sarah Holbert, CEO, and Megan Lewellyn, Canine Assistance Director at CARES, Inc. I am truly amazed at all of the work that goes into getting a dog ready for adoption. Your work is truly a ministry, because you can in no way do it for the money.

And I would like to thank our Bible Study class for all of your support. Without this fellowship of people, life would be just a little bit tougher.