Happy New Year!

Whew! The holidays are over. We had a wonderful Christmas reflecting on Christ's birth, death and resurrection. His sacrifice for our sin is the best gift of all.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Our Alarm Clock

This morning Tony and I realized how much we take Time for granted. No pun intended. She woke us up at 1 am. Amanda's blood sugar was 59. So Tony gave her a juice and a snack. He got in bed and told me that it will probably be high later, since he gave her a little more than usual to get it up. Sure enough, Time woke us up at 4 am and it was 272. So I gave her a bolus of insulin. We almost did it routinely. Time gets us up, we check her, treat Amanda with insulin or food and then give Time a treat, go back to bed.

Time has been a treasure. Before we would set an alarm for 2 am to go in and check her. Never knowing what her blood sugars are doing before that. Hoping you are catching it at the right time.

She still doesn't alert well during the day. But, we really don't mind. Amanda is awake and knows how she feels. We have Time check her often during the day and that seems to keep her sensitive to Amanda at night.

Grateful for our dog and the pump!

Etiquette and Service Dogs

Copied from a website. Good information.

Remember: A disability is not who a person is, or who they can become. It may take a little longer, but you'll find the goals and dreams of the disabled are similar to your own.

• Service dogs are chosen for appropriate temperament. They have been, or are being, trained to have excellent manners.
• If you fear dogs, try to (quietly) avoid them.
• Please don't touch the dog without asking permission first! It’s distracting, and may prevent the dog from doing its job. Avoid distracting the dog in any way.
• Never feed the dog. It may be on a special diet or feeding schedule.
• Speak to the person, not the dog! Most handlers don't mind talking about service dogs and their dog specifically if they have the time.
• Please do not be offended if the person doesn't want to talk. Like you, the person may be busy, and have many things to think about. Also, it can be stressful feeling like a walking "show and tell."
• Don’t whistle or make sounds to the dog as this, again, may be a distraction.
• If the dog approaches you, sniffs, or interferes with what you need to do, politely inform the handler. Try not to respond to the dog, no matter how tempting. A responsible handler will respect your rights.
• Don’t make assumptions about the individual's intelligence, feelings or capabilities.
• Please be patent. Life with a service dog can be both rewarding and frustrating at times.

JDRF Walk 2009

JDRF raised over $395,000 for research today. We had the most beautiful weather and a great turnout. Thank you to those who walked with us and supported us.

The JDRF Walk

We've been so busy lately that I haven't done anything to get ready for the walk at Shelby Farms. No money raised or t-shirts made, but we are going to go and enjoy the walk and the fun. We look forward to it every year. If you want to join us it will be Oct 3 at Shelby Farms.

Just thought I would add a picture of Time on the swing.

Kick off at Marshall's for the Walk for the Cure

Amanda, Time and I were invited to the staff meeting at the Marshall's store this morning. They are a huge supporter of our Walk to Cure Diabetes campaign. Autumn, JDRF Event Co-ordinator, talked to them about how to ask customers if they would like to donate. She also did a great job talking to them about Type 1 Diabetes. She asked me if I would share with them how diabetes impacts our lives everyday.

Amanda was diagnosed when she was six years old. She has had diabetes now for half of her life. The day that she was diagnosed, Tony and I left the endocrinologist's office knowing how to give her shots of insulin. She needed 3-5 a day. After a year of injections, she received an insulin pump. This pump gives her a dose of insulin constantly and when she eats she can give an extra bolus to cover her intake of food. This injection site has to be changed every 3-4 days. Much better than 3-5 times a day.

And, now, we have had Time for a year. She alerts us when blood sugars are out of range. She is priceless at night. We can usually rest knowing that she will come to get us if Amanda needs attention.

With all of these wonderful helps, it is still not a cure for diabetes. I hope with the research dollars raised, there will be a cure in Amanda's lifetime. And Time can be a pet.

University of Memphis

Time is sporting a new collar. Adrienne will start at the University of Memphis soon and she brought home a collar from the Tiger Bookstore today. Go Tigers!

I may be muddy, but I can still sit pretty

Always Learning Something New

Amanda had a great time at camp.  But, we've had to increase her basal rates since.  Yesterday after swimming all day.  Her blood sugar reached the 400's and decided to camp there for the evening.  I changed her site and increased her insulin again.  My sweet friends posted suggestions for me.  I always forget about increasing her water intake.  Next pool day, I will make sure she is drinking a lot of water.  Also, my friend who recently moved from Alaska to Arizona said that the heat and insulin do not mix well.  She was told to change the site every two days when temperatures are above 93.  I've not heard that before.  I'm guessing with her pump in the heat all day, it could have made the insulin go bad.  Anymore feed back is welcome! By 1:30 she was at 101.  Time alerted us.  We have set her parameters to be 100-200.  Yes, we've tightened it up a bit.  But her A1-c has come down from 8.3 to 7. 3 in 3 months. 

Agility Training

Amanda is away to Camp Hopewell this week.  She does not take Time with her since they are well staffed with nurses and a doctor.  It is an awesome camp for kids with Type 1 Diabetes.

Aaron and Austin, our twin boys, love working with Time.  So they have started some agility training with her.  Time is such a smart dog.  They are rewarding her with a toy they throw and play with her for a minute after she performs.  We have to save the treats for her real job, alerting for Amanda.  This has been a good week to start this since Time is without Amanda.  I think she is missing her.  I wonder if Amanda is missing Time.  I bet she is.

Poem by Tony

I am amazed by her

The pain she endures 

The blood she sheds

The weakness she pushes through

The shakiness she handles with poise 

The attacks on her endless good mood 

Yet… she still whistles

The Doctor’s visits

The feelings of being different

The dangling tubes

The always watching what you eat

The highs, the lows

The feeling bad even more than you can explain

Yet… she still whistles

The finger pricks 

The infusion sites

Being woken up to eat 

Not being able to eat a snack

The smell of insulin

Needles, lots of needles

Yet… she still whistles

Day in and day out with no relief

A life that is different 

Not always being able to do what others do

Having to go when she just wants to stay

Gallons of blood, one drop at a time

Yet… she still whistles

The sweetest sound I think have ever heard,

She whistles all the time,

You never have to guess when she feels good

She whistles all the time

You crawl in bed and let her stay up late

You fall to sleep; not to silence because 

Yet… she still whistles

Tony Mask

Update

Just an update. Medtronic now allows us to download the Minimed pump to their website and I can watch her blood sugar trends and see how many carbs she is eating. This has helped so much. We have much better control right now of her blood sugars. I actually think Time is a little bored. Not as many treats. So, I am going to tighten the range a little bit and give her treats when she is not between 80 and 200. I'm so glad that this is where we are. For so long she was always 200 or more. So that would have been constant alerting. Praise the Lord for better control. This is good news in the long run for a diabetic, since constant high blood sugars are hard on all of your organs and can cause serious health issues later.

Amanda turns 12 Monday, April 20. She was diagnosed when she was 6- so half of her life she has had diabetes. She is getting so tall- sometimes I think there is Miracle Grow in the insulin.

Our great dog

Time has been such a good alert dog. She is almost perfect at night with alerting us. She comes to our room and puts her paws up on our bed on Tony's side (I give her extra treats for that) and gives him a kiss. Tony takes the first part of the night and I take the early morning shift. It worked well for us when our twins were babies. Time follows us back to Amanda's room where we check her blood sugar and give Time a treat. When I start to see a pattern at night of highs, I can adjust her basal rate of insulin on her pump. We seem to get a few nights of no alerts and then it starts over again. At the age of 11, I think hormones are starting to kick in and her need for more insulin increases.

Tony was napping today and Time passed right by me and went to alert Tony in the bed. So, we are still trying to figure out how to get her to alert us during the day. I'll let you know.

Informational Meeting on Medic Alert dogs coming here

I am so excited that Sarah Holbert s coming to our area to talk about these wonderful dogs. If you are interested or know of someone who is, here is the information.

WHERE: 4745 Poplar Ave. (former Décor Furniture showroom)

WHEN: Saturday January 31, 2009

TIME: 2:00 PM

WHAT: Informational meeting and demonstration of highly trained service dogs.
For everyone who would like to learn more about service dogs for diabetes and other disabilities.

WHO: Sarah Holbert from Concordia Kansas, founder and CEO of Cares, Inc. Sarah has placed 9 diabetic detection dogs in the Memphis area. She has placed over 1,000 service dogs since 1994 across 36 states and in 3 foreign countries: Peru, Puerto Rico and Belgium.

Sarah is a wealth of information about both dogs and how they can help mitigate ones disabilities. She is both caring and funny and has an amazing outlook on life and the issues it presents to all of us. She will be available to answer questions and give guidance.

QUESTIONS: Rene Graber (901) 461-9590
West Tennessee JDRF Office (901) 861-6550