In 2006 I had a bad gal bladder and it got gangreine. It damaged my pancrease and my intestines. I had 60% of my intestines removed because of it. I also walked out of the hospital as an insulin shooting diabetic. The problem is, my blood sugar or pancreas is not predictable, in that I often hit extremes of high and low for no reason. It's like my pancreas decides when it wants to work and when it don't.
I have measured my BS at 2pm and it was 230. By 5pm I was in a coma and taken to the hospital. Blood work showed my Blood Sugar at 1408. I've also measured my blood sugar at 11am (prior to lunch) and was at 160. (I was in the hospital at the time). Before lunch arrived at noon, I was in trouble and they measured my Blood Sugar at 37.
A couple years ago, I had the opportunity to rescue a dog. She's half blue healer, half border collie, and all smart. She strives to learn and constantly wanting direction. She was very easy to train and I went to the extreme of training her to silent commands. She is a very exceptional dog.
While working in the shop on wagons, surrey's and such, my blood sugar has dropped and I've had to quick grab a snack. I notice it when it's about 50-60 range. At night, while sleeping, it will wake me up at about 30-40 range. While working in the shop, a friend noticed something and pointed out to me that my dog, Timber, acts funny when my blood sugar drops. So I started paying attention to the dog. She can reliably let me know when my blood sugar is in the 60's. Several times, I've woke up in the middle of the night because Timber was licking my face and pawing at my chest. I always thought she had to go out, so I'll get up, let her out and while waiting, I'll grab a hand full of chips or something. Never thought anything of it. She comes back in, I go back to bed. Once I realized that she was acting funny when my blood sugar dropped, I got to thinking about it. So when she'd wake me up in the middle of the night, I started getting up and immediately check my blood sugar. Again, I would be 60-70 range. So I started fine tuning her training and I rewarded her for waking me up. Mind you, I didn't want to give her too much of reward in the middle of the night because it would be too easy to get her used to the idea that she could get a snack anytime she wanted.
About a month ago, I contacted an organization and set up a test for her. Because of my disabilities they came to my town a couple weeks ago and tested Timber. We took her to restaurants, senior citizen center, dog park, grocery store, etc. I'm very proud of her. My dog Timber is now a Registered Service Dog.
They say that a service dog is not a pet. In this case, she is a service dog, a pet, and a very loved Companion. I spoil her.
When I go out and plow snow on my 4 wheeler, she rides on the tool box. In 2 years, she's never fallen off. But I was concerned with her being cold. I dress warmly, so I made sure she is comfortable too. Here's a picture of her on the back of my 4 wheeler:
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What a great story. Thanks.
