Please meet our sweet little baby girl. Her name is Rose and she is a fun loving 5 year old little girl. On September 24th, 2018 we brought Rose to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama where our world was completely turned upside down when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She is the first in our family to be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. In that moment a parent’s heart sinks, their mind is overwhelmed with fear, and thoughts like, “how will she ever have a normal life?” or “what did she do to deserve this?”. Then you are brought back to reality and know that your life will be different forever as well as your child’s.  We sat through four excruciating days in the hospital while waiting for her sugars and ketones to regulate. We then all sat through many classes to begin learning how to take care of her when released, and had to follow up with additional classes to learn our new lifestyle. 

 Type 1 diabetics do not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose (used for energy). Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. Scientists aren’t sure what causes type 1 diabetes. It is not contagious and it is not caused by eating sugar. Research is under way to find the exact causes of type 1 diabetes and how it might be prevented.  Rose must take insulin several times a day to keep her blood glucose under control. We check Rose’s blood glucose  several times a day and throughout the night(sleep is a luxury in our house)to monitor what her body is doing. If her blood glucose levels get too high, she could experience ketoacidocis or diabetic coma. If too low, Rose is at higher risk of experiencing complications such as coma or death. One out of every 20 children, toddlers and babies with diabetes die in their sleep because their levels become so low while sleeping. They fall into a coma and never wake up. Rose also suffers from hypoglycemia unawareness which means she doesn’t feel any signs or show any signs of hypoglycemia. This can be especially deadly at night.

 The wonderful doctors and nurses down at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama told us about “Service dogs” for children with diabetes.  They are trained to alert the child, parent/caregiver if the child’s levels are either high or low and needs insulin or in distress. This guardian dog would be at that child’s side everywhere he/she goes (i.e. school, activities, bedtime). Unfortunately, medical insurance does not cover this very needed and added security and peace of mind for the families.  This is especially true for nighttime.  If you know anything about Type 1, you'll know that the idea your child can have hypoglycemia and go into a diabetic coma while you are sleeping is enough to make you never want to sleep again.  Her diabetic dog would sleep with her in her bed and be trained to not only wake her up in the event of a low, but also wake us up!

A diabetic alert dog uses its sense of smell to detect when the blood sugar is going "out of range". The chemicals in our bodies are full of different scents, and when your blood sugar is rising or lowering, a specific chemical is released and the diabetic alert dog senses it and then does its job and alerts. A diabetic alert dog can do several things to alert, but will typically bark until you take appropriate action and correct the issue. 

We have done the research and know that a Diabetic Alert Dog is pricey but it can also save our baby Rose’s life. Anything that you can donate will be greatly appreciated by our entire family but especially by Rose. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please share this link.