Good Morning Texas

This post is part of a series called Where's Wuby? Wednesdays where I'll post a new story about Ruby, or diabetic alert dogs in general.  Ruby is a service dog trained to detect high and low blood sugars in Faith and notify me.  She has changed our lives and dramatically improved Faith's blood sugar control.  

If there was ever anything you wanted to know about these dogs, or how they work, ask away and I'll try to answer the best I can; or if you are just as amazed as me at how God created these animals, I hope you'll enjoy reading about the incredible experiences we've had so far with our Ruby.

In the meantime, you can follow Faith and Wuby on Facebook by clicking Here.

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Faith, Ruby and I had the opportunity to be on Good Morning Texas this morning.  Faith was in rare form and refused to look at the camera.  For most of the interview she was turned around backwards.  Little stinker.  When they tried to mic her up she told them "no" and that they couldn't take her picture.  She's SO over this superstar stuff. ;)

After our GMT interview, we drove to a Lions Club meeting where I'd been asked to share our story by a mom whose daughter heard our story when I spoke at a school a few weeks ago.  When she introduced me, she shared that her daughter was changed after hearing our story and that she couldn't stop talking about it.  That totally had me crying, and was so sweet and encouraging to hear.  (I always wonder if the kids ever give our story another thought.)  After the meeting I had more than one person come up and thank us for sharing, a man tearfully shared that his grandson was diagnosed at age 5 and was a senior in college and doing well, and a sweet lady walked up, thanked me for coming, and said that she thought the whole thing was very enlightening for those that knew nothing about diabetes before today.  


I'm gonna call that a good start to National Diabetes Awareness Month.  


There are some great campaigns this month to raise awareness about Type 1 Diabetes, but I fear that the only one that knows about them are those of us living with type 1 diabetes.  Get out there and live out loud.  People care about our stories.  Share them.  I believe that's going to be the best way to truly make people more aware about what's it's like to live with this disease, and why it's so important to seek a cure.  

Love y'all.

Faith and Ruby Make The News! (Again)

This post is part of a series called Where's Wuby? Wednesdays where I'll post a new story about Ruby, or diabetic alert dogs in general.  Ruby is a service dog trained to detect high and low blood sugars in Faith and notify me.  She has changed our lives and dramatically improved Faith's blood sugar control.  

If there was ever anything you wanted to know about these dogs, or how they work, ask away and I'll try to answer the best I can; or if you are just as amazed as me at how God created these animals, I hope you'll enjoy reading about the incredible experiences we've had so far with our Ruby.

In the meantime, you can follow Faith and Wuby on Facebook by clicking Here.

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This past week, Faith, Ruby and I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Shelly Slater of WFAA Channel 8 News.  The interviewed us as part of an effort to raise awareness about Diabetes Friendly's K9s for Kids event.  We were honored to be a part of this, as DFF was one of the groups that helped pay for Ruby.

Here's the news story:

There are a few little details that they didn't get quite right, (such as Faith is two and not three, and Faith does not get her bg checked 30 times a day, but Ruby does often alert 30 times a day - as she will alert every 15 mins or so until Faith's bg comes back into range), but for the most part I thought they did a pretty good job with the story.  What do you think?

The First Save

This post is part of a series called Where's Wuby? Wednesdays where I'll post a new story about Ruby, or diabetic alert dogs in general.  Ruby is a service dog trained to detect high and low blood sugars in Faith and notify me.  She has changed our lives and dramatically improved Faith's blood sugar control.  

If there was ever anything you wanted to know about these dogs, or how they work, ask away and I'll try to answer the best I can; or if you are just as amazed as me at how God created these animals, I hope you'll enjoy reading about the incredible experiences we've had so far with our Ruby.

In the meantime, you can follow Faith and Wuby on Facebook by clicking Here.

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We traveled to Wildrose on a Sunday afternoon.  We wanted to get there, get settled, and then we would meet Ruby the next morning.  Wildrose had been more than generous, letting us spend the week in their gorgeous cabin on-site.  Chuck and I felt like we were on vacation!  The view was incredible.

We LOVED being able to sit on the porch and drink coffee.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  We sat in those chairs and waited anxiously for Ruby to arrive.

Faith LOVED playing in those pebbles in the walkway.  We had a hard time keeping her from throwing them everywhere.

She was so little. How did I not notice how little she was at the time?  I think it's by the grace of God, because if you let yourself dwell on how absurd a situation is (like needing a service animal for your 18 month old diabetic baby) then you'll lose your mind.  We were just in the middle of the storm doing what we had to do.  But, now when I look back it almost takes my breath away to see how little she was at diagnosis...and when she got her service dog, Ruby.

 Here's she's waving to Ruby and the trainer who are walking up.

This was the first time we saw Ruby.  I was so nervous I couldn't stand it.

 These next pictures were snapped the moment Faith and Ruby met. :')

We spent that first day just going over basic service dog handling, and practicing some public access.  Going out in public with a dog at your side is harder than you think.

Faith loved Ruby from day one.  In this pic she's holding the "weash" getting ready to go bye-bye for lunch.

The whole first day Faith's blood sugar was unusually steady.  Ruby didn't get an opportunity to alert for a high or low at all while the trainer was with us.  So, I still didn't KNOW what an alert looked like.  I'd heard it described of course, and had learned how to respond when Ruby alerted, but I hadn't experienced it for myself.  After a very active and exciting day, it was decided that Ruby would spend the night with us in the cabin, so we could get to know each other without the pressure of the trainer watching.

That evening I was getting Faith ready for bed, and Ruby was napping peacefully on her cot.

The next moment, I noticed Ruby stand up.

Chuck and I both froze immediately and waited for what would happen next.

Ruby calmly stepped off her cot, walked across the room, grabbed the bringsel (the stick Ruby retrieves to alert), and brought it to me.

My heart was racing.

It was actually happening!

I quickly checked Faith's blood sugar.  It was 160.  Not a bad number and not a high or a low.  Ruby alerts a high for anything over 180 and a low as anything under 100.

I was disappointed, but figured Ruby was allowed to make a mistake.  This was the first day, and Faith, as a toddler, did come with a lot of unusual smells.

I put Ruby back on her cot, put Faith to bed, and started clearing the table and washing the dishes from supper.

A few minutes later, Ruby alerts again.  I think to myself that I know Faith is fine, but for the sake of Ruby's training I'll humor her and check again.

In the less than 15 minutes Faith's blood sugar had dropped to 80!  The active, exciting day we'd had was catching up with us!

Chuck and I were overjoyed and completely in awe!  Ruby had warned us that a low was coming!

Because Faith was dropping so quickly, I gave her enough fast acting sugar to boost her blood sugar about 100 points.  (Which, by the way, was only about 3-5 grams of carbs.)

I put Ruby back on her cot, and left Faith in her bed.  (She was asleep - yes she can both eat and drink in her sleep.  Part of the type 1 gig.)

I went back to the dishes with a plan to recheck Faith in a few minutes, but sure that she would be fine.

15 minutes later, Ruby alerts again.  We recheck Faith.  Her blood sugar was 65!

Chuck and I can't believe it!  We are so grateful.

I give Faith another round of fast acting sugar that would normally boost her at least 100 points in blood sugar.

I put Ruby back on her cot, and I go back to what I was doing.  Paying very close attention to Faith and Ruby, but again sure that I'd given Faith enough to correct the low.

15 minutes later, Ruby alerts again!  We recheck Faith and her blood sugar is 55!

Another 15 minutes, another alert, blood sugar down to 50.  Another round of sugar.

I am completely in awe at this point.  I put Ruby back on her cot, and this time I just sit there crying and watching my two girls sleep.  Just waiting for whatever was coming next.

15 minutes comes and goes and Ruby doesn't alert.

I half-jokingly tell Chuck that I think I already broke the dog.

I ask Ruby if we need to check and she just sits there.

I check Faith anyway and her blood sugar was 110.  Ruby didn't alert because Faith was above 100!  How amazing is this dog?

Chuck and I sat there overwhelmingly grateful to God for this incredible gift.

On a normal night at home I wouldn't have checked Faith's blood sugar again for at least 2 hours after that blood sugar of 160.

Thank God for Ruby.

As fast as Faith's blood sugar was dropping and as resistant as it was to correction, it's terrified us to think of what we'd found in Faith's bed at that next blood sugar check.

Ruby started saving Faith's life that first night and she hasn't let us down since.  What a blessing she is to us.

This is a picture of Ruby watching over Faith that night.  These girls have slept next to each other every single night since that first amazing night when Ruby saved our precious baby girl.

The Call That Changed Everything

This post is part of a series called Where's Wuby? Wednesdays where I'll post a new story about Ruby, or diabetic alert dogs in general.  Ruby is a service dog trained to detect high and low blood sugars in Faith and notify me.  She has changed our lives and dramatically improved Faith's blood sugar control.  

If there was ever anything you wanted to know about these dogs, or how they work, ask away and I'll try to answer the best I can; or if you are just as amazed as me at how God created these animals, I hope you'll enjoy reading about the incredible experiences we've had so far with our Ruby.


In the meantime, you can follow Faith and Wuby on Facebook by clicking Here.

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You can read the first part of this story here.

Ok, so back to how Ruby came to be our "angel with fur".

The trainer called to tell me the most incredible news!  She began with so, you remember that I told you not to get your hopes up about a DAD? And remember how I told you that it can take years to be matched up with the right DAD, and how it would be a long hard wait?  And remember how I told you that because of Faith's unique situation (being a baby at the time, not even 18 months old), it would take a very special dog?


I wanted to scream, "Yes! I remember all that, you're killing me!  Get to the point!" :)  I could tell she was getting to something big.

Let me back up a minute and say that Wildrose had a group of trained DADs that were already matched up with diabetics and set to go home with them.  These dogs had to be placed and a new batch of puppies started before we could even begin to dream about a DAD of our own.  Among that batch of trained DADs was a one-in-a-million dog named Ruby.  Ruby had been matched up with someone who at the last minute had decided against getting a DAD.  Service dogs are a LOT of responsibility and alter every aspect of your life, and thus aren't a decision to take lightly.

Anyway, when Wildrose began looking at Ruby's specific gifts, and looking at their list of diabetics waiting to be matched up with the right DAD, they noticed right away that Faith and Ruby were a perfect match!

The trainer still wanted to proceed with caution.  A DAD had not been successfully matched up with a diabetic as young as Faith and no one could say for sure how it would work.  Among the many complex things a DAD must learn, Ruby would have to possess a few special attributes.  (This is not an exhaustive list.)

• A DAD for Faith would have to be able to look to me at all times as her handler, but watch Faith at all times as her responsibility.  (Talk about multitasking!)
• They would have to be VERY calm and low energy, so as not to overwhelm or scare Faith.  (Or hurt her by being too rough)
• They would have to be VERY obedient at ALL times, so that I could handle having a service dog, a diabetic toddler, and 3 other children under the age of 7...Every.where.I.go.  You want to feel a pressure cooker environment?  Try checking out at WalMart while a crowd gathers, your diabetic baby's blood sugar plummets while she screams bloody murder, your other 3 are asking for every snack they see in line, your DAD is getting hyper and excited because they are alerting, the customer behind you grows impatient, and the cashier wants to ask a hundred questions about your "precious dawg".  Throw in a few "Oh. My. Gawd.  There's a dog in here!" and "Oh my, is that woman blind?" comments and you've got a good time on your hands.  It was IMPERATIVE that our DAD be calm and quiet in ALL situations, because with a very young diabetic it would be up to me to handle every single aspect of that *super fun* situation.
• The DAD would have to be steady in ALL situations.  It's one thing to accompany a diabetic everywhere.  It's another entirely to accompany a diabetic that screams and cries ALOT, wreaks of drool and dirty diapers (drool that may smell of a previous high or low blood sugar - talk about complicating things), pulls your tail and ears...  (God bless Ruby...)

There was no way to know if or how this match up would work, without just giving it a go.  

The trainer asked us if we could come to Mississippi to meet Ruby.

Uh.  Yeah!

Oh.  Wait.

We only really started fundraising the day before.

And only had $100.

Not the deposit, not the money needed to buy all the DAD supplies, not the money to spend a week in Mississippi - not even close to the nearly $10K needed.

It was discussed that if I could come up with the deposit, and the money to get to Mississippi, then there were two possible funders for the remainder.  One of which had already heard Faith's story and wanted to help.  

But HOW would I come up with the deposit and travel expenses so quickly?

I got off the phone with my mind spinning!  I immediately called Chuck, and prayed, but quickly got busy with the kids and dinner.  All evening I kept thinking about how in the world I was going to come up with the money for Ruby.

After dinner I got a phone call from the friend that had felt God telling her that Faith would have a DAD.  She was calling to tell me that ...

SHE HAD THE DEPOSIT FOR THE DAD!

She had no idea that I had gotten a call earlier that day about a possible match up for Faith.  She still thought we had AT LEAST a year to fundraise!  I hadn't had a chance to call her yet and give her the news!

I immediately started screaming and crying.  My kids started crying and fell to their knees thanking God. It was the most incredible experience.

I'll never forget what my friend told me when I explained to her why I was so excited about having the deposit.  She said, "Honey, my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and if He wants Faith to have one little ole' dog then she'll have it!"

I was OVERJOYED and SO GRATEFUL to have the deposit and be one step closer - but how would we swing a week long trip to Mississippi?  

I texted my other friend that had offered to help with fundraising to share the news.  She was in the middle of a party, so I didn't call her.  Almost immediately my phone rang.  I answered and it was my friend.  She'd excused herself from her party to call and tell me that she'd heard from her church, and they wanted to pay for the expenses to travel to Mississippi!

I couldn't believe it!  God has done some amazing things in our lives, so I don't know why I was so blown away, but I was!

So, in one day I went from planning to fundraise and wait at LEAST a year for the right DAD, to potentially being matched with the perfect DAD and having the money needed to go get her!

To say I was over the moon would be an understatement.  

But, the trainer kept cautioning me that it might not work out, that Ruby might not be right for our family.

Two weeks later we were in Mississippi meeting Ruby and we've never looked back!

Next week I'll tell you about that first meeting and how Ruby very literally saved Faith's life on their very first night together.  I also have a picture of the moment they met.  :)

Diabetic Alert Dogs...what a blessing!!

Oh, I've wanted to write this blog for several weeks.  It's going to be long, but there's SO much to catch you up on!
We have been experiencing a time of INCREDIBLE blessings!  Gosh, I don't know where to start...so how 'bout the beginning?
One day I was at a friends house and we were all sitting around the table chatting over coffee while our kids (we have 11 collectively...) played outside.  On the table laid a Focus On The Family Clubhouse Jr. magazine.  I absentmindedly picked it up and started flipping through it.  Why?  WHY was I looking through a children's magazine when I was sitting there enjoying the first grown up conversation I'd had in weeks??  (I now know it's because God put it in front of me.)  A picture of a German Shepherd dog caught my eye so I read a bit to see what it was about...only to discover that it was a diabetic alert dog!  I exclaimed, "WHAT!!??" to my friends.  (Who thought I'd lost my mind...or had tourette's or something..lol) I read on to find out that this dog alerted his boy to high or low blood sugar and even woke his mom up during the night to let her know the boy was low.
I HAD to find out more about this!
What a blessing this could be to Faith and I!
As soon as I got home, I got online and started researching and reading everything I could get my hands on.  I didn't even know if it would be possible to train a dog to alert for a child as little as Faith, but I was determined to find out!  I started telling everyone I talked to about it and posting links about alert dogs on my facebook page.  Some people thought I was crazy, others were supportive.
The first day I posted something online about it a friend of mine called me and said, "Sarah, I've been praying for you all morning.  Praying that God would send you some kind of help in taking care of Faith!  Something to help shoulder the load...and I got on Facebook and saw your post about the diabetic alert dog (or DAD).  Sarah, I feel it in my spirit that this is how God is answering that prayer!"  She said, "Research it and pray about it and let me know if I can help you get a DAD for Faith." I prayed (ALOT) about it and sent out emails to every email address I could find online telling them our story and asking them if they could point me in the right direction to find more information.  I got some pretty crazy responses and some very helpful ones.  One (unscrupulous) place responded with "I have a labradoodle for $15,000.  Call me."  That was it!  No questions about Faith's condition, our lifestyle, personality, NOTHING.  I immediately hit DELETE on that one!
Over the next few weeks I kept praying and kept researching and just felt God leading me to a kennel in Mississippi called Wildrose Kennels.  What I didn't know is that the dog that I had found in my first few days of research that I had been so impressed with was a Wildrose dog...
and one of the sites that I had found that had been very helpful was created by a Wildrose trainer...
and a sweet lady that I spoke to online about DADs was a trainer for Wildrose!
When all these pieces came into focus I knew that God was leading me to Wildrose.  There are many places training DADs (some better than others) and out of all those places I just kept coming back (unbeknownst to me) to Wildrose.  Chuck and I decided we'd pray about it one more day and if we still felt God leading us there then we would apply for a dog from Wildrose.
The next morning I sent in the application.  A short while later I got word from the trainer at Wildrose that they would be going through the applications the next day and selecting people that they would train a DAD for.  I immediately sent out a prayer request asking my friends to join me in praying that Faith's story would stand out.  That those reading it would be touched by it and wouldn't be able to get away from it.  A few hours later I got an email from the trainer at Wildrose saying that she was re-reading Faith's story and reliving her own daughter's diagnosis with every word!  I felt like this was just a little bit of confirmation from the Lord that we were on the right track!
Later that night I got another email from her...the one I'd been praying and waiting for! She said that WR was willing to train a dog for Faith, but that it would be a long process because we had to find just the right dog with just the right temperament.  One with the ability to focus on and listen to me as it's handler and focus on Faith as it's girl.  She painted this bleak picture so I would understand and be prepared for the LOOOOONG wait ahead of us.  She warned me that if there wasn't the right dog in the next batch of puppies then we would have to wait even longer.  There are families that have been waiting YEARS for the right DAD.  She wasn't being negative, just realistic.  I believed fully that God had a dog for Faith at this point so I wasn't discouraged a bit...only hopeful.
It was late so I sent emails to my two friends that had offered to head up fundraisers letting them know that we were accepted and that we officially needed to be FUND-raising!  We needed to come up with a deposit asap.  Then we had the rest of the year (at least) to come up with the remaining roughly $10K we thought it would take to purchase the dog and allow us to travel for Mississippi for a week for training when the dog was ready!  I couldn't imagine how, but I just knew God was going to provide the money.  I went to bed that night OVERJOYED!
The next morning by 9am I had heard from one of my friends that we had $100 in our fundraising account!  I was thrilled! Wow!, I thought, just a couple hours into the day and we're already at $100!!  That afternoon I got all the kiddos down for a nap and curled up in bed to catch a nap myself.  I don't get much sleep during the night from checking Faith's bg at least every 2 hours so I try to nap when the kids do as much as possible.  I fell asleep praying.  I was just talking to God about how every aspect of Faith's diabetes had stretched me out of my comfort zone and how I knew I could trust him and I knew his timing was perfect..but I really felt like I needed help NOW...but that I wanted his perfect will so I was trusting that his timing would be perfect.  I fell asleep praying that and was woke up by the phone ringing and it was the trainer from Wildrose. She said she needed to talk to me and asked if I had a minute...of course I did.
Ok, this is getting long, so I'll type more soon....To be continued...