A Day in the Life of "Hope"

You know when you have a baby, and you come home from the hospital, and you start to panic a tiny bit?  You know?  You drive home.  You unload the baby.  The baby is asleep.  You don't want to wake your sweet, new, bundle of joy.  So, you leave your sweet angel in their baby carrier, take them to the nursery, and let them sleep.  You think, "WOW, these last few days were exhausting, and the nurses told me to make sure that I am sleeping while baby is sleeping.  I think I will listen and do that!"  So, you lay down in your bed, you have the baby monitor on the highest possible volume, and right next to your ear.  Then you lay your head on the super soft, non hospital, home sweet home, pillow and you begin to drift away into dreamland.  THEN, all of the sudden it hits!!  YOU are responsible for another life.  A teeny, tiny, fragile, and brand spankin' new life!!  

HOW WILL YOU EVER SLEEP AGAIN??

WHAT IF THE BABY STOPS BREATHING?

WHAT IF BABY SPITS UP AND CHOKES?

IS MY BABY WARM ENOUGH?

WILL MY BABY SUFFER FROM SIDS?

WHAT IF, WHAT IF, WHAT IF????????????????

We all eventually grow out of it though.  Eventually, we lighten up, our babies turn to toddlers, our toddlers turn to pre-schoolers and then one day, one beautiful, sunny day, we are sending our innocent babies off to their first day of kindergarten and bawling our eyes out.  Our worries of choking on spit up, and SIDS have since faded and now our biggest worries are, grades, lunch money, and PTA meetings.  

What if I told you that for some parents, those "not waking up" worries NEVER go away?  What if I told you that a simple test was cause for concern, an adrenaline rush could be the cause of a trip to the ER, a piece of Halloween candy sneaked by a 10 year old under the covers in bed could lead to a seizure, and the chance of your baby NOT waking up from sleep was something you had to consider happening for the rest of your life??  What if I told you that currently there is no cure for it?  What if I told you that this is genetic....that we can unknowingly carry the gene, and it can affect any one of us,or any one of our children at anytime?  How about the fact that every day an average of 80 people are diagnosed with this disease and your child could be next....

Does that scare you?  I'm not trying to make you live in fear BUT, I am trying to bring awareness.  

AWARENESS TO WHAT???????

TYPE 1 DIABETES

What is it?  

"Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and—at present—nothing you can do to get rid of it."

You can read more facts here.

Like I said, there is NO cure, but doctors are getting closer all the time.  Until they can find a cure, they have found a friend.  A dog.  A beautiful, hardworking, sugar sniffing dog!!  

I want to take you on a journey.  One that I experienced in one evening.  One amazing, inspiring, heartwarming, yet gut wrenching, evening.  I spent the evening with a friend and her children.  One of her children was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in July of 2008.  I will never, ever, ever forget that day. 

We were all in shock.  

We all cried.  We were all scared.  We all knew something wasn't right though.  I had met this child 2 years earlier.  She was 5.  She was nuts!  A little drama queen. The first time I met her, she walked in my front door, threw herself onto my floor, and then, with her hand on her forehead she uttered in her most desperate and exhausted voice "It's sooooooooo hoooootttttt out there!!!"  She let out a sigh and collapsed.  

We tell this story to this day.  We mostly tell it to embarrass the now 13 year old girl.  Within two years of that day she had went from a beautiful, healthy, over dramatic child to a smart ass little brat.  She would have these horrible outbursts.  One day in particular, I had taken the kids to the park.  I only had one kid at the time. So I had 3 kids total with me.  I took them all to McDonald's after we had went to the park to get something to drink and to get some cookies.  We started driving home when this young lady had a gigantic outburst.  Telling me I was a horrible driver!  She was yelling and having a fit!  I was ,horrified at her behavior.  I told her to shut her mouth and to not utter another word until we made it to her mother's house.  That may sound harsh BUT her mother and I were best friends, we were all each other had.  We were family.  We treated each others children as though they were our own.  We still do.  

I could not figure out what this child's problem was.  We were all baffled.  She was always the good kid.  Polite, intelligent, and caring. During the month some more changes had occurred.  We later looked back at the day I had spent with her at the park.  We looked at the pictures I had taken and we all wondered how we didn't see it sooner.  This is the picture I had taken that day.  The day I wanted to backhand the child, the child that I loved and cared for, and thought of as my own.  

This picture:

Ashley is in the yellow shirt.  See her bones?  See her knee caps sticking out?  She was sick.  She was sooooooo sick!  We didn't know.  None of us knew.  T1D was not a well known talked about disease.  There weren't PSA's all over.  The Jonas Brothers weren't sing about it.
WE DIDN'T KNOW.

We know now.  An hour long car trip that consisted of 6 bathroom breaks was the breaking point for this family.  It was the key to their diagnosis.  It was they key that opened the door to sleepless nights.  The key that made this family feel like they had an infant back in their home.  It was the key that opened the door to fears they never imagined they could have.  It was the key they wanted to lose down the side of the couch in hopes of never having to open up the door to that fateful day again.  They lived in constant fear, constant stress, constant pain.  Life changed.  It was different.  It was work.  It was painful.  It was scary.  It was hard.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  A beautiful, young teen girl died.  She died in her sleep.  From a complication from the disease.  Disgustingly, and painfully named "Dead in Bed Syndrome"  Like I said, it's like having an infant in the house all over again.  Constant checking.  Making sure there is fog on the mirror.  Making sure blood is pumping and sugars are stable.  (as stable as they can be in a T1D) 

Then we learned that even though there is no cure YET, there is a dog.  A dog who can sense high and low blood sugars.  (Not all of them every time.  We have to be realistic, but he's pretty close.)  A dog who can let you sleep again.  Let you reclaim life.  Let you smile again.  This is what I got to experience last night.  The dog.  "THE DOG".  He was amazing!!  I want you to meet him!!  His name is Perseus!  

This sweet pup detected a blood sugar change from my living room.  The young lady was outside, in the front yard, playing with my kids.

Poor Percy started whining, turning in circles, and just yelping.  He NEEDED to see his girl check her blood sugar.  He NEEDED to make sure she was okay!  Sure enough, he was right!  Her blood sugar levels were high.  She needed an insulin correction.  She needed to be rechecked in 15 minutes to make sure the correction did it's job.  He paced.  He walked my floor and he pawed at the young lady's mommy's leg.  The paw is a warning.  The paw is the "alert".  The paw means "get that kid in here and check her now!!"  The paw is always right!  Well, ALMOST always.  No one person OR animal is perfect.  

The paw looks like this:

This is Perseus letting the family know that something isn't right! 

This paw, is the child's saving grace.  This is her lifeline.  This is her voice when she doesn't realize she even needs a voice.  He speaks for her when she doesn't know she needs him too.  This pup is her peace of mind.  He is the miracle we all prayed for.  He is her gift from God.  He was meant for her and she was meant for him.  This is love, loyalty, and a blessing all rolled into one.

This is Perseus.

He is a D.A.D.  A "Diabetic Alert Dog".  He saves lives one number at a time.  I just wanted you to meet him.  I wanted you to see what Hope looks like.  He is Hope.

Last week I asked that everyone posted Hope Hands, to support keeping hope alive while trying to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.  I had a lot of beautifully decorated hands pop up all over my Facebook page.  It was sooooooo awesome.  It brought tears to my eyes. Perseus isn't a cure but he IS hope.  Life and sanity saving hope!  

He sat this way for 15 minutes.  He watched to make sure she was going to come back through that door to check herself.  He cried until she did.  

This is love.  This is power.  This is amazing.  This was a night I was grateful to experience.  This hurts my heart and fills it with hope all in one.  Thank you all.  Everyone of you who wrote "Hope" on your hand last week and supported the efforts to bring awareness to T1D and the need for a cure.  Thank you for keeping "Hope" alive.  

The Princess and my "Hope Hands"

Thanks to all of you that are helping to keep hope alive!

Info from JDRF:::

(learn it, this could happen to any one of us at any time!!)

Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes

Knowing the warning signs for type 1 diabetes (medically known as diabetes mellitus) could save a life.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes (these may occur suddenly):

• Extreme thirst
• Frequent urination
• Sudden vision changes
• Sugar in urine
• Fruity, sweet, or wine-like odor on breath

• Increased appetite
• Sudden weight loss
• Drowsiness, lethargy
• Heavy, labored breathing
• Stupor, unconsciousness

If you or someone you love exhibits one or more of these symptoms, call a doctor immediately.