Diabetic Alert Dog for Elyse
Donation protected
Let us introduce you to our amazing daughter, Elyse. She is a bright, sweet, artistic, imaginative, and loving 9-year old and the best big sister to her brother, Bobby. She loves animals, nature, drawing, board games, and swimming. Most people would consider her a “normal” 3rd grader, however, on Halloween, 2015, two days before her 6th birthday, her life (and ours) was changed forever. Elyse ended up in the ICU with a diagnosis of Type I diabetes.
This means that Elyse’s body cannot produce insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter the cells to produce energy. This is a lifelong disease with no cure. Elyse needs multiple doses of insulin 24 hours a day. She has an insulin pump that delivers it around-the-clock, but she must stick her fingers many times daily to test her blood sugar level, count all of the carbohydrate grams she eats, and this must be programmed into the little computer that controls her insulin pump. In spite of our best efforts, constant vigilance, and her cooperation, there are so many factors that influence her blood sugar (activity, illness, growth, heat), that keeping it an acceptable level is a constant challenge.
The scary part is that if her blood sugar goes too low or too high, this can be life-threatening. We get up in the middle of the night to test her and if she is too low, she has to be awakened to drink juice and eat to get her blood sugar up. In the long-term, the result of these abnormal ups and downs causes many complications that can include kidney failure, blindness, and nerve and circulatory damage to the extremities.
After over three years of treatment, her blood sugar still isn’t under good control. Beyond the medical issues, there are many other difficulties for a young child with this disease. Elyse can’t go to a sleepover at a friend’s house because there is no one that knows how to monitor and treat her blood sugar highs and lows. If she goes on a school field trip, a family member has to accompany her to manage her insulin. If she goes swimming on a hot day, she has to get out of the pool to check her blood sugar several times over the course of the activity. And, of course, no child wants to feel different. As she grows older she’ll need more independence to be a teenager and young adult, and it will be much easier to let her go if she has more support.
What else can we do?? We’ve decided to take the next big step to help Elyse control and cope with her disease. We want to get her a diabetes alert dog. This is an assistance dog trained to detect high or low levels of blood sugar in people with diabetes and alert their owners or caretakers to dangerous changes in blood glucose levels. Then, steps can be taken to return her blood sugar to a healthy range. These incredible dogs can detect these events before they become dangerous. Also, the dog will provide comfort and security to Elyse by constantly being at her side. These service dogs are carefully selected as puppies for their temperament and scent abilities, given intensive training in obedience, socialized in many different situations, and trained to monitor their person’s scents. Further training will occur in our home to teach Elyse how to work with her companion. The whole process takes 6 to 12 months and, needless to say, is very costly because of the work that goes into turning a puppy into a diabetes alert dog.
We are working with Diabetes Alert Dogs of America to get a diabetes alert dog for Elyse. You can read more about them at https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/. We need to raise $15,000 in order to make this happen, with an initial goal of $2,500 to start the process. We are asking for your help by donating to our goal. Any amount you can contribute will be so gratefully appreciated.
This means that Elyse’s body cannot produce insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter the cells to produce energy. This is a lifelong disease with no cure. Elyse needs multiple doses of insulin 24 hours a day. She has an insulin pump that delivers it around-the-clock, but she must stick her fingers many times daily to test her blood sugar level, count all of the carbohydrate grams she eats, and this must be programmed into the little computer that controls her insulin pump. In spite of our best efforts, constant vigilance, and her cooperation, there are so many factors that influence her blood sugar (activity, illness, growth, heat), that keeping it an acceptable level is a constant challenge.
The scary part is that if her blood sugar goes too low or too high, this can be life-threatening. We get up in the middle of the night to test her and if she is too low, she has to be awakened to drink juice and eat to get her blood sugar up. In the long-term, the result of these abnormal ups and downs causes many complications that can include kidney failure, blindness, and nerve and circulatory damage to the extremities.
After over three years of treatment, her blood sugar still isn’t under good control. Beyond the medical issues, there are many other difficulties for a young child with this disease. Elyse can’t go to a sleepover at a friend’s house because there is no one that knows how to monitor and treat her blood sugar highs and lows. If she goes on a school field trip, a family member has to accompany her to manage her insulin. If she goes swimming on a hot day, she has to get out of the pool to check her blood sugar several times over the course of the activity. And, of course, no child wants to feel different. As she grows older she’ll need more independence to be a teenager and young adult, and it will be much easier to let her go if she has more support.
What else can we do?? We’ve decided to take the next big step to help Elyse control and cope with her disease. We want to get her a diabetes alert dog. This is an assistance dog trained to detect high or low levels of blood sugar in people with diabetes and alert their owners or caretakers to dangerous changes in blood glucose levels. Then, steps can be taken to return her blood sugar to a healthy range. These incredible dogs can detect these events before they become dangerous. Also, the dog will provide comfort and security to Elyse by constantly being at her side. These service dogs are carefully selected as puppies for their temperament and scent abilities, given intensive training in obedience, socialized in many different situations, and trained to monitor their person’s scents. Further training will occur in our home to teach Elyse how to work with her companion. The whole process takes 6 to 12 months and, needless to say, is very costly because of the work that goes into turning a puppy into a diabetes alert dog.
We are working with Diabetes Alert Dogs of America to get a diabetes alert dog for Elyse. You can read more about them at https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/. We need to raise $15,000 in order to make this happen, with an initial goal of $2,500 to start the process. We are asking for your help by donating to our goal. Any amount you can contribute will be so gratefully appreciated.
Organizer
Marietta Brenner
Organizer
Shreveport, LA