Bring Home Sarah's Alert Dog
Donation protected
Hey Everyone! If you don’t know my daughter Sarah already, she has been getting different diagnoses for multiple illnesses her whole life. She has asthma, celiac disease, and an atrial septal defect (hole in heart), and a history of epilepsy. One of her most recent diagnoses happened within the last two years. She was experiencing symptoms of fatigue and vision problems after eating a meal. Knowing our family history, I had an idea of what it could possibly be. Using one of my husband’s extra blood glucose meters, Sarah began taking her blood sugar before and after meals. She started noticing that before and after meals, her blood sugars were low, between 70-85 mg/dL. Normal range for blood sugars in a person without any problems is 80-120. She went to an Endocrinologist who diagnosed her with Reactive Hypoglycemia. Basically, her pancreas releases too much insulin when she eats, which cells use for energy, and her blood sugars are low after she eats. Why is this a problem? If your sugars get too low, your body starts to shut down and you can start to have a seizure, can go into a coma, and even die.
One of the most dangerous times the levels can drop is at night when you are sleeping. Alarms are set to make sure at night that she doesn’t go too low, and so she can correct it if necessary.
Within the last few months, there are times when Sarah hasn’t been able to feel her lows, called hypoglycemic unawareness, which can be dangerous. The only way she knew she was in a dangerous place was testing her BGL. The lowest Sarah has been is somewhere in the 50’s.
After looking through some options, as a family we have decided to get an Alert Dog. An alert dog is a service animal that can use its sense of smell to let her know she has a low before it gets too dangerous, and that she can correct it with carbs and protein. These dogs go through extensive training, and that extensive training costs a lot. Right now the going rate for these dogs is anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000.
Through Diabetic Alert Dogs of America, we have found a beautiful female Silver Lab named Maggie. Once trained, she will be with Sarah 24/7. She will sleep in Sarah’s room and wake her up at night if necessary. She will go to work at Sarah’s job at Gillette Stadium, to CrossFit where she works out, and even to the school where I work, as she often comes in to volunteer. When Maggie is fully trained, one of the trainers from DADA will fly from Las Vegas to Massachusetts and stay for a minimum of 2 days to get us acquainted and train Sarah on her commands. She also comes with her service animal vest, leashes, and certificates.
If you’ve gotten to this point, thanks for hanging in. Any donations are greatly appreciated. Any amount helps. If you want more information on Reactive Hypoglycemia or Diabetic Alert Dogs of America, check out the links below.
Thank you,
Eva
http://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/reactive-hypoglycemia.html
One of the most dangerous times the levels can drop is at night when you are sleeping. Alarms are set to make sure at night that she doesn’t go too low, and so she can correct it if necessary.
Within the last few months, there are times when Sarah hasn’t been able to feel her lows, called hypoglycemic unawareness, which can be dangerous. The only way she knew she was in a dangerous place was testing her BGL. The lowest Sarah has been is somewhere in the 50’s.
After looking through some options, as a family we have decided to get an Alert Dog. An alert dog is a service animal that can use its sense of smell to let her know she has a low before it gets too dangerous, and that she can correct it with carbs and protein. These dogs go through extensive training, and that extensive training costs a lot. Right now the going rate for these dogs is anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000.
Through Diabetic Alert Dogs of America, we have found a beautiful female Silver Lab named Maggie. Once trained, she will be with Sarah 24/7. She will sleep in Sarah’s room and wake her up at night if necessary. She will go to work at Sarah’s job at Gillette Stadium, to CrossFit where she works out, and even to the school where I work, as she often comes in to volunteer. When Maggie is fully trained, one of the trainers from DADA will fly from Las Vegas to Massachusetts and stay for a minimum of 2 days to get us acquainted and train Sarah on her commands. She also comes with her service animal vest, leashes, and certificates.
If you’ve gotten to this point, thanks for hanging in. Any donations are greatly appreciated. Any amount helps. If you want more information on Reactive Hypoglycemia or Diabetic Alert Dogs of America, check out the links below.
Thank you,
Eva
http://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/reactive-hypoglycemia.html
Organizer and beneficiary
Eva Dernier Crawford
Organizer
Middleboro, MA
Sarah Crawford
Beneficiary
