On the morning of Sunday, February 15th, we had a big scare. Daddy, Ringo and I woke up like normal. We noticed Mommy was still asleep. Daddy looked at her, she wasn't sleeping in her usual position. He felt her and she was sweating from head to toe. Daddy quickly ran to grab a soda and a meter called a glucometer to test Mommy's blood sugar (glucose). Mommy has always been able to wake up when her glucose gets too low; this time she did not. It was 34! Normal glucose is 70 - 100. This reading was dangerously low. We are so grateful we woke up when we did, otherwise Mommy might not be here today. Daddy was awesome. He got her to drink enough soda to pull her out of it.
Mommy was in a deep dream like state and kept asking strange questions. She tried laying down and drinking her soda at the same time. Daddy stayed focused. After 20 minutes or so, Mommy's glucose was 62. A few minutes later, Mommy woke up completely and asked what was going on. You could tell she was exhausted. I think everyone was. We were scared!
Mommy has T1D, also known as Type 1 Diabetes. In 2003, Mommy had a pancreas transplant that temporarily cured the diabetes, but it started failing about 8 months ago. Now she must take insulin again. People with T1D need to have insulin everyday. They must monitor their glucose frequently, eat throughout the day and pay attention to every thing. The challenge is to lower the blood sugar, but not so low that it gets acutely dangerous.
Exercise, stress, illnesses, metabolism and normal activity can affect glucose levels. This is our new reality. Ringo and I are fairly new to this. We have a lot to learn. Mommy and Daddy remember it from before the pancreas transplant. This was a scary wake up call for all of us. A new adventure. We have done some research on T1D and found some encouraging news. Researchers in Boston are working on a bionic pancreas and hope to have it available in 2017! It would work like a human pancreas, so low blood sugars wouldn't happen!
T1D is a devastating condition. It took Mommy's eyesight and kidneys. It usually happens to children; Mommy was 9 when she got it. It would be great if a cure could be found so the disease never existed.
Someone from the Boston team named David Panzirer said, "It is the only disease I know of where you are making dosing decisions with a medicine that can kill you if you get it wrong. You are doing those decisions 24-7."
This blog is a bit different from the norm. We felt the need to share this information to bring awareness to T1D. We hope a cure is in the near future. Thanks for giving us this outlet, all of you probably know someone with diabetes - you just might not know who yet.
Love,
Boomer, the Mellow Yellow Lab
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Catching Up
When the weather is unpredictable, it is hard to know what toy to play with outside. The wind could blow the Frisbee out of the yard. The rolling wheel doesn't provide enough exercise in the cold. The ball is good for these cold, windy days because it is heavy and Daddy can throw it very far. Sunny, calm days are my favorite because I love to play Frisbee and Ringo is content chasing me.
On January 30, we lit a candle for Rudy. It's hard to believe he went to Heaven two years ago. We miss him so much. He did a great job picking out Ringo to join our family. We can see a lot of Rudyisms in Ringo. It makes us smile.
Mommy and Daddy had an event at the Cannon River Winery on Saturday, February 7. It was for local authors. They had a wine tasting, live music and eight authors. It was a good time, they met some nice people, made a few contacts, tasted some wine and sold some books! Ringo and I went to our friend, Jennifer's house. We saw our friends, both human and canine. Charming little Ringo met a new girl friend named Zoe! They were inseparable and cute. I got tired and took a nap on Jennifer's bed. We like it over there, it's fun!
Link to the Cannon River Winery event pictures.
Our book sales have been steady, which is quite nice. We'll never be millionaires, but everything helps. We had a big order (16 books) from a Children's Hospital in Missouri!
Mommy hopes she can stop using her crutches in a week or so. She'll still need the cast, but she can walk on it. Paws crossed! We're shooting for Spring!
Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab
On January 30, we lit a candle for Rudy. It's hard to believe he went to Heaven two years ago. We miss him so much. He did a great job picking out Ringo to join our family. We can see a lot of Rudyisms in Ringo. It makes us smile.
Mommy and Daddy had an event at the Cannon River Winery on Saturday, February 7. It was for local authors. They had a wine tasting, live music and eight authors. It was a good time, they met some nice people, made a few contacts, tasted some wine and sold some books! Ringo and I went to our friend, Jennifer's house. We saw our friends, both human and canine. Charming little Ringo met a new girl friend named Zoe! They were inseparable and cute. I got tired and took a nap on Jennifer's bed. We like it over there, it's fun!
Link to the Cannon River Winery event pictures.
Our book sales have been steady, which is quite nice. We'll never be millionaires, but everything helps. We had a big order (16 books) from a Children's Hospital in Missouri!
Mommy hopes she can stop using her crutches in a week or so. She'll still need the cast, but she can walk on it. Paws crossed! We're shooting for Spring!
Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab
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