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

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.