Aiding Independence with a Service Dog

***UPDATE***

I have an exciting update! This is Buddy and he is 7 months old and has been selected as my service dog. He will continue service dog training and begin scent training shortly. He is a sweet, mellow boy and eager to get to work. He will be placed with me in April or May. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for all of you who made this possible and wanted to be sure you saw the results. I will continue to post updates as they become available.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5. I can't call it hard or easy because it's the only life I know. I was blessed to have parents who never made me feel as though I had a disability or told me there was anything I couldn't do. Over the years there have been scary times with my diabetes, but I have stayed in relatively good control and through my own efforts, advances in treatment for diabetes, and some lucky genetics, I have managed to live with this disease for over 50 years with few complications to show for it. Recently, I have begun having lows I don't notice or feel until they are too low to treat without significant impact. This has left me scared for the first time in my life to do simple things like take a walk alone, or drive alone to run errands. I have fainted in a public setting and had to have emergency services called, and I have scared my kids and family members by worrying them something bad will happen when I am alone. Living alone, I have come to recognize this is a real risk. In order to remain in tight control and keep complications at bay, I have made the decision to get a medical alert dog. This will allow me to continue to live independently without becoming a burden on my children. This means my diabetes can no longer be an invisible disability. While my parents never raised me to feel as though I have a disability, the truth is, I do. I live on life support. Without my pump, insulin, and glucose monitoring, I would not survive. Insulin is not a cure - it is a very risky medication that allows me to stay alive. This service dog will be another aid in keeping me alive and safe. The cost of the dog includes the purchase of a puppy from a service dog provider, who lives at the facility and with a trainer or foster family, spends a year or more learning service dog requirements, and being trained to detect low and high blood glucose from my own samples. Diabetic Alert Dogs of America then guarantees the training for the life of the dog. I will end up with a brave hero dog, proudly representing those of us living with insulin-dependent diabetes.