It started this morning, with a trip to Cumulus Media for a radio interview with our friend Laura and radio show host Sheree Bernardi. Sheree is the host for Carolina Perspective. She was interviewing Kate and Laura about “Kate and Sprinkels.” Don’t worry, Sprinkels was there, too.  If you listen, you’ll hear her restlessing alerting.  Just for the record. Kate’s blood sugar was bouncing between 154 and 143…until we left the studio and were in the car.  That’s when the low of 65 showed up on the meter.

Yep, Sprinkels did it again, way before we could do anything about it, way before the meter would read that it was safe to treat Kate.  We love this dog!

So, if you want to hear the show, you can catch it locally on:

WIWF 96.9 The Wolf @ 11:00 p.m. Sunday

WSSX 95sx @ 6 a.m. Sunday

WTMA 1250 a.m. News Talk @ 7:00 a.m. Sunday

WWWZ Z93 Jamz @ 6:00 a.m. Saturday

We will try to get a link and post it, for you out of towners.

That’s a team I am blessed and humbled to be able to support.

This happens a lot with Kate. One day we realize something, like she doesn’t need a stool to get the glasses out of the cupboard, or she hasn’t asked you to help her tie her shoe. Those were pretty shocking. There is a feeling of celebration that she is becoming independent right along side a feeling of sadness that she no longer needs us for as much as she once did.

The other morning, as I was listening to Sprinkels move herself from her cushy bed in her crate to her cushy bed she shares with Kate that we have hit a milestone. Not to very long ago, if Sprinkels got out of bed and didn’t find her way to our room, one of us was up to find out what she was getting into. Typically is has something to do with sneaking up on a cat or getting into the toys or laundry. Her place was Kate’s bed at night, only Kate’s bed.

Recently we have realized that she tends to wander at night. If Kate is particularly bed hoggy (I realize I just made that word up) or if Sprinkels needs a bit more space, she moves herself to the bed in her crate. If she is feeling snuggly, or there is an issue with Kate, she finds her way into Kate’s bed. We haven’t found her in anything she shouldn’t be in for quite some time. We haven’t found her sneaking down the stairs to cause trouble in a long time.

This was astonishing. I realized that she has finally grown out of the, “Hey, no one is watching so I am going to chew up a prized possession” stage. She can be…..TRUSTED! Not just with the simple matter of indicating a life threatening problem with Kate, but also with…BARBIES! Yes, that’s right, Ariel can now rest easy that she will not lose a fin in the middle of the night. Malificent can rest assured that her evil horns will not fall prey to a black lab looking for mischief.
Now, I can’t guarantee that the laundry won’t be redistributed, but I can feel safe in knowing that when Sprinkels leaves their room it is for one purpose…to get help for her girl. Now THAT is a milestone!

http://www.thehenryford.org/village/index.aspx

While walking to lunch, Sprinkels and I were stopped by a man, “Does that say Diabetic Alert Dog?”

“Yes”

“What does that mean?”

I explained, he listened, then said, “I have never heard of that before!”

“Yes, she is pretty amazing.”

“So, if someone had Diabetes and was out of range…she would know?”

“Yes, likely. She knows now that someone does, but she can’t figure out who. See her nose, she’s trying to figure it out.

Out comes his pump. “Well, she isn’t alerting me. I know I am high, I just had frozen custard.”

“Well, put her to the test. Check yourself.”

He was 146. Well within the range Sprinkels was taught to alert to. The man was astounded. We talked Diabetes, Sprinkels continued to sit calmly. The man continued to be amazed.

Then, Sprinkels gave me the paw. I checked Kate. She was going low.

Shocked, awed, amazed, excited, I don’t know which work might describe him, but he was a believer, and Sprinkels has passed his test….twice.

Great work, Sprinkels!

We are currently on a “girls only” road trip.  With the car packed and lunch in our belly we pulled out of the parking lot at the Hanchon Mansion to the tune of, “Woo Hoo…Road Trip!”  Kate was excited!

Shortly into the trip the tune changed to a slightly annoyed, “Mommy!  Sprinkels is bothering me!”  The reflection in the rear mirror proved that she was, indeed, bothering Kate.  With a silly grin on her face, and her tongue hanging out of her mouth, she was using her back end to sit on Kate’s shoulder, smacking Kate’s face with her tail.

Later in the trip…same tune, same face, Sprinkels was now trying to push Kate out of her seat with her hind end.

Even later in the trip…same tune, same face, Sprinkels is attempting to sit in Kate’s lap.

When we reached North Carolina there was silence.  The rear view mirror showed this:

This is a pretty great view of the present.

It isn’t uncommon to have her nosing around the laundry basket…clean or dirty…just to see what she can steal. She doesn’t actually chew anything, she just relocates it. She wants to help put it away, I think.

So, imagine my surprise when I found a whole new load of dirty laundry in the basket waiting by the washing machine:

Upon reflection, I feel as though I should clarify that I was writing about Sprinkels, however many of these same traits may or may not be seen Kate as well.

Have a super Monday!

The other day I was talking with a friend in the yard. Sprinkels was racing around the yard like a crazy banshee. She should have been tired, after all, she had just walked a very long walk at the First Hanchon Family 5k. Her energy is pretty astonishing.

In an instant she perked up, from mid run, and raced across the parking lot to a fenced in area we call, “The Swing Park.” The swings are actually outside of the fenced in area. The fenced in area is this great space, with a few toys, were parents of children and dogs take their loved ones to romp and play in an enclosed space. Apparently, Sprinkels had noticed action over there and just HAD to see what it was.

Now, it could have been one of the neighborhood children that she loves, it could have been one of her doggy neighbors that she loves to play with…it wasn’t.

Instead, it was a brand new set of dogs that we haven’t met. We haven’t met their owner/handler either. I could tell while I was walking (so that she didn’t decide to run even faster…she likes that game) that the dogs (and their parent) at the Swing Park were not so pleased with this black hellion disrupting their peaceful Sunday afternoon. Apparently, Sprinkels figured it out pretty quickly as well. As a note, she chooses not to come on command when her focus is meeting other dogs.

She ran to the fence. The dogs inside barked like crazy. She paced the fence, sniffing. The dogs barked like crazy, their own (probably cursing me under his breath) tried to calm the situation down. She decided quickly these dogs must not have liked her there, she turned around just as quickly and ran back home, tongue happily hanging out of her mouth, prancing in this, “Nope, I don’t know those dogs, and wouldn’t DREAM of wanting to meet them again” way, and went back to racing around the back yard.

The funny thing is, she has seen those dogs at the park since then, yet makes not a move to get down there. It makes me wonder. Can she smell which dog is down there? Is she able to smell which of her friends is visiting her favorite spot on campus? Is that why she could care less when those two dogs are down there?

Sometimes I wish she could talk.

A really great group of people put together a fantastic 5k on Sunday as a way to support Boston. It had so much energy, vibe, so many smiles, so many people came out, it was great. As I think about it I get chills again.

It was the first family 5K. As you know, Tim and Sprinkels are runners, Kate is a sprinter, and I pretend. So, Tim and Sprinkels wandered the course twice, Kate walked with her friend we met up with, and my friend Kathy and I were the last ones across the finish, but we blame that on the children.

So, there was Sprinkels, loving the runners, loving being out doors, loving the sun, then…alert.

Kate, seemingly fine, with high blood sugar at the start of the morning, grudgingly checked.

She was low, going lower. We treated the low. Sprinkels continued. We checked again. Kate was lower.

A dad we were with was surprised, he knows about Diabetes, his sweet daughter was diagnosed earlier this year. He couldn’t believe she was going lower even after we treated. Yep, that’s why we got Sprinkels, because this disease is so unpredictable.

So, finally, Kate is in range and we get to go home, but Sprinkels isn’t done. She keeps alerting. I check myself- I to, was lower than I should have been.

I am often blown away by the dedication of this dog. I am certain that she would run in front of a train if she knew Kate was in danger. Apparently, she feels as though she needs to protect her whole family. I am grateful for that. We may keep her really, really busy.

The whining started about 30 minutes into the service. You know, that really convenient time when the singing has ended and the worship has begun…yep…when all is quiet.

So, we checked. Kate was just out of range. We gave Sprinkels a treat. She went back to dozing during the service, the normal church routine.

Then church ended.

The woman next to us asked me if we had ever heard about Abby’s Friends. We have, it’s a really great organization that fundraises for Diabetes related causes, sending kids to Diabetes summer camp, JDRF, and other really great things. Abby’s parents and friends have raised a lot of money and done some amazing things for the Diabetes community in Charleston. Here is their website:

http://abbysfriends.org

It turns out the woman sitting next to us is close friends with Abby. She and her daughter notices Sprinkels alert, watched Kate’s check, was amazed that Sprinkels was right, and got to witness the miracle we see more than once a day. It was great, it was really cool to have them know what they were seeing, be awed by it, and to know without us verbalizing it the difference this dog makes in the life of our daughter.

Normally, we get the opportunity to talk about Diabetes, to tell people about what to look for, the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 and the amazing adventures of the Dynamic Duo we know as Kate and Sprinkels. This day we got to talk about the amazing things Abby’s Friends does, with someone closely related to it. This day there were few words. She wanted to tell us how amazing Sprinkels is, I wanted to tell her how amazing her work is…it was a love fest of words.

And it reminds me, that even when you think no is is watching, someone is watching. We, as a Diabetes Community, always have the ability to advocate for Type 1′s, to educate about warning signs, to share a story, to share success, and to inform people. A year ago, Type 1 was a family burden that we carried and talked about only if we had to. Now, thanks to our brave girls, it’s an open dialogue that doesn’t define who we are, but a is small tile in the mosaic that is Kate. Kate is creating a pretty amazing mosaic of herself, if I may be biased.