Talan's Top Dog

Dear Friends old and new!

Hi there!! We are writing to you to introduce you to our little boy in hopes that our friends and community might be able to support us in our fundraising efforts. Our son, Talan, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes about 6 months ago. Life has been a whirlwind ever since. At 6 years old, Talan is smart, funny, sweet, loves to dance, play his ukulele and drums, AND he is relatively unaware of his blood sugar levels. While sleeping he has some dangerously low blood sugars that can cause seizures and even death. We have caught these lows by getting up every 2 hours throughout the night to test his blood sugar levels. It is exhausting for everyone. Recently, we decided to start Talan on an insulin pump and Continuous Glucose Monitor. The GCM is a sensor inserted into the in the fatty tissue in our body and measures the amount of glucose in the tissue that surrounds it. In Talan's case it goes into the only spot that has enough fat, his booty. This sensor is connected to an alarm siren that goes off whenever Talan's blood sugar is out of safe range. It alarms constantly, which is great as it is doing its job, but it is horrible at the same time. I have not been able to work because someone who is trained in diabetes management has to be with Talan ALL THE TIME to answer to his alarms. So we have started "helping out" in his kindergarten class and put everything else in life on the back burner. Talan was able to wear the sensor for 4 days before he started telling us that it hurt. The sensor's metal wire that sits under the skin causes it to be very painful and his allergies to tape make it difficult to keep it attached to his body. Inserting the sensor is torture as it is inserted with a harpoon looking device that uses a huge needle. This much needed sensor just IS NOT going to work. It has become more than any little boy (or his parents) should have to endure. We are talking about 10-15 finger pokes a day, plus sensor and insulin infusion site changes every three days. TORTURE. This is where a D.A.D. (AND YOU!) come in. D.A.D. stands for Diabetic Alert Dog. A D.A.D can smell the changes in your body odor when your glucose levels change rapidly or become too high or too low. The specially bred puppies are trained just like a bomb squad dog- only to the scent of diabetic lows and highs. They are trained to your specific scent from just a few weeks old. These amazing service dogs are the answer to our prayers! A way to monitor Talan's blood sugar without horribly painful sticks, painful tape rashes, wearing a metal wire in his booty and NO more scary siren waking us up all night long. Gentle and organic puppy kisses and nudges sound SO much more comforting. Not to mention the peace of mind that Talan will always have a guardian, companionship, feel safe and secure:. The list goes on and on:With all of that said, there comes a time when we must raise the white flag and reach out for help. So that is what we are doing today. The lifesaving Diabetic Alert Dog that Talan needs is $20,000. It's overwhelming. We have begun the fundraising for Talan's future D.A.D but the process is a long one and we need all the support we can get! This is ultimately why we are writing to you. We need help getting our son a D.A.D so that we won't have to worry about whether Talan will be alive in the morning or not.
Your help on any level would be so deeply appreciated.

Thank you so much for taking the time to consider our cause,
Kelle Carthey