Janet's Diabetic Alert Dog Fund

Hi, my name is Janet Scoggins and I am a Type I brittle diabetic that goes into ICU every couple of months with DKA and dehydration. DKA is a life threatening complication of diabetes. To help me avoid this complication, I need a diabetic alert dog to help alert me of my low/high blood sugars while I am alone. As a type 1 diabetic.   I often can't recognize when I have low blood sugar or high blood sugar.  It is important to detect low blood sugar early as well as highs because my ability to recognize and act on those blood sugar degrades quickly. My blood sugars can easily go unrecognized until it is too late for me to recover from them.  A diabetic alert dog (DAD) would recognize my low blood sugars and highs to alert me while I am still able to act. A Diabetic Alert Dog — will begin training as a puppy. The puppy will learn how to be a good Service Dog who can alert me to high and low blood sugars.  Like the other puppies in its litter, it will become imprinted from birth with the scent of low and high blood sugars.  It will go everywhere with me to help save my life.  We will hopefully be able to pick my alert puppy up this March if I raise all 17,000 dollars by then.  My alert dog also sleeps by my side and will wake me up at night during any highs and lows. It will watch over me when my husband is away by keeping me safe.
 
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease.  With diabetes, the pancreas stops producing insulin, the chemical that is responsible for processing the body’s blood sugar.  Without insulin, blood sugars will spike out of control, ultimately causing coma and death.  Blood sugars that are not well controlled can cause many serious long term health problems such as kidney disease, heart disease, blindness, limb amputations, and a myriad of other health problems.  I currently have diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy because of this horrible disease. The body cannot process oxygen and calories safely while sugars are high, so it would be nearly impossible for an athlete to achieve success with sugars in a high range.  Short–term symptoms of high blood sugar include head-aches, nausea, blurred vision and extreme fatigue.   
Type 1 Diabetes is treated several ways, mine is treated with a pump with insulin that is five times stronger than normal insulin.  It is very difficult to calculate exactly the right dose of insulin at any given time, and giving too much insulin is extremely dangerous — it can quickly cause life-threatening bouts of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that can lead to confusion, seizures and death.  Low blood sugars can come on very rapidly with little warning, and are particularly dangerous if the diabetic is sleeping or driving. Life with Type 1 Diabetes is difficult, and demands a non-stop rhythm of medical intervention.  Days consist of a continuous blur of finger pricks (to test the blood sugar with a glucose meter), insulin injections sometimes in addition to my pump injection, carbohydrate calculations, and snacks and juice boxes to correct lows.  It is not unusual for me to test 10-12 times in 1 day.  Most diabetics experience unexpected bouts of high or low blood sugar, and some people cannot feel warning symptoms until it is too late.  I often need to be woken up in the middle of the night to check my blood sugar.
 
A Diabetic Alert Dogs, or DAD’s as they are called, can change a diabetic’s life and reduce their risk and I truly believe a Diabetic Alert Dog can save my life.  While they are relatively new in the world of Service Dogs, they have proven time and again that they can and will save their master’s life by alerting them to blood sugar changes sooner and more accurately than the glucose meter.  These dogs can sniff out subtle changes in their person’s blood chemistry, even at a great distance, that are undetectable to humans.  Please help me bring home a Diabetic Alert dog today to help improve my daily struggles with diabetes. I need help raising 17, 000 dollars which will go toward the cost of training my alert dog, additional costs for equipment, my trips to Texas to bring my puppy home, vet bills, and other expenses related to the care and maintenance of a Service Dog.  I know this may seem like a lot of money, but the protection a diabetic alert dog could provide for ME is priceless! Please show your support and make a tax deductible contribution today for Me and to find out more about a DAD, go to dreysalertdogs.com. You can also send donations in Janet Scoggins name to:

  Drey's Alert Dogs at 
1569 E. Gibson
, Jasper, TX 75951

Above is a picture of my future DIabetic Alert Dog. His name is KETO and he is training hard to become my life saving Angel!