Donate to Secure Bluey's Place in Kai's Life

On April 16, 2022, life as we knew it was over. Our then 8-year-old son, Kai, was experiencing symptoms of type 1 diabetes for a few months, but the symptoms were "explainable." He was just thirsty, he had the stomach flu, etc. Things did not add up the week of his diagnosis, and we ended up in the ER with our son in diabetic ketoacidosis, a blood sugar nearing 800, and an A1C of 16. Nobody is prepared for chronic illness and life having to change drastically, especially when it is your own child who is sick. Type 1 diabetes is a very stressful illness to manage and comes with an emotional toll for the whole family. Mike and I, Roxana, had to make a huge shift in parenting our child. We have had many sleepless nights because of high or low blood sugars. The scariest are the lows!

We have had Kai on a Dexcom since he left the hospital three years ago. This is a continuous glucose monitor that sends a reading via Bluetooth to Kai's phone and then to our phones. We have had mostly accurate readings, but there are times that the Dexcom will read high when Kai is actually low. Being on an automated insulin pump, that would mean getting insulin from a false reading. Our biggest fear is that Kai would have a dangerous low blood sugar that could cause seizures, or worst-case scenario, his life. Being the mother to a type 1 diabetic is not easy. I try not to let my mind go into the space of thinking "What if"... What if the technology we are using fails us? What if we are all sleeping and something dangerous happens? What if I lose my son to this?

When I saw an opportunity to apply for a medical alert dog for Kai, I shared about it with Kai and Mike, and we all decided we would try. The dog we applied for came with a full scholarship. We were chosen to be interviewed to receive that dog, but were not the family they chose for him. Little did we know, our story touched the hearts of the Medi-Dogs team, and they had a hunch that a different dog they were training would be a great match with our family. And they contacted us about Bluey.

Bluey is a started service dog for diabetic alerts. We drove to Madison, Wisconsin, and met her in early June. We loved her and agreed to move forward with a trial. We picked Bluey up on June 13th, and after about 5 days, we all completely fell in love with her. The first time I saw her practice alerts on Kai, I broke down in tears. Once she perfects her alert training, she's amazing at it, she will be 20 minutes ahead of the Dexcom. Being able to alert blood sugars for us, without technology, gives us a sense of comfort that we have not had since the diagnosis.

We are seeking support in funding Bluey's placement. She did come with a $4,000 scholarship, which offsets her total cost. With her 6-month training program included in her cost, we have a fundraising goal of $13,000. Please consider donating and helping us pay for Bluey by January of 2026.

Bluey is trained by Medi-Dogs, an amazing group of people that trains medical alert and mobility assist service dogs to aid people with disabilities, including diabetes.

As a side note, we have had Bluey for 2 weeks now, and Kai has been smiling a whole lot more and hugging her, brushing her, and petting her. In addition to type 1 diabetes, Kai lives with Level 1 autism and ADHD. Because he processes the world differently, he has high levels of anxiety. What we see in him from having Bluey in this short time is simply beautiful. Bluey, by just being the amazing dog she is, puts a smile on Kai's face. For Mike and I, Bluey is joining our family not only as a dog but as another member of Kai's care team.

Thank you to our circle of support for all of your interest, curiosity, excitement, and generosity. We are so grateful and will post regular updates.

Lastly, we want to be as creative as possible for this fundraiser! We will post events and other things we have up our sleeves as they happen!