About
Nevaeh
Nevaeh is a
beautiful, happy, smart 6 year old who loves to learn, pretend, and play with
friends! She has always been very
outgoing and extremely caring! All of
these things are traits you might hear about other 6 year old girls, but there
is one that you won't hear about as often. That is she has an autoimmune
disease, called Type 1 Diabetes.
Nevaeh was
diagnosed at the age of 4 with Type 1 Diabetes.
The story is like others with this disease in that she had symptoms of
being thirsty, tired, she was losing weight, and just not herself. But, on October 23, 2011 thanks to a close
friend and the feeling in the pit of our stomach as parents that warned us that
Nevaeh was just not herself anymore we took Nevaeh to the ER. There we found out what would soon change our
lives forever, Nevaeh has Type 1 Diabetes.
Her body was so worn down and depleted by this disease they had to move
us to the ICU. This is a night we will
never forget! It is a disease that no
child or family should have to endure!
Since then
we have learned much and when I say much I mean a whole, whole lot about Type 1
Diabetes. We have went through lows and
highs with Nevaeh with blood sugars, as well as, with emotions and are proud to
say we stand strong as a family!
Although, we cannot take this disease away from our precious little girl,
we can do whatever it takes to make her life SAFE and AMAZING!
To read more
about Nevaeh's diagnosis go here:
http://godssweetprincess.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-story-of-diagnosis-of-type-1.html
About Type
1 Diabetes
Type 1
Diabetes (AKA Juvenile Diabetes) is an autoimmune disease. With Type 1 Diabetes the body begins to
attack its own pancreas causing it to no longer function. This means that Nevaeh's body and other Type
1's no longer produce insulin and are from that point on dependent on insulin
from another source to LIVE!
Insulin is a
chemical which provides a way for sugar to enter the cells to be converted into
energy. When insulin is not present it
begins to break down the fat in a person's body to produce the energy it is
lacking. That is why Type 1 Diabetics
have to regulate their blood sugar levels throughout the day with artificial
insulin through injections or through a pump.
Type 1
Diabetics are continuously having to check their blood glucose throughout the
day, because they can have a high blood sugar or a low blood glucose at any
time because of their bodies inability to regulate this on its own. There are many things that can happen from
the blood glucose being too high or too low.
Side effects range from dizziness, sweating, disorientation, and
irritability (not to mention just feeling horrible) to something worse like seizures, diabetic
coma, or even death!
Believe me I
am not trying to scare you or make you feel sorry for us it's just that this is
reality and we want people to be educated.
Because of this disease Nevaeh wears an insulin pump and if she eats
anything, healthy or unhealthy, she MUST be given the correct amount of insulin
through her pump for each thing she eats.
So if she eats an apple we give her the correct amount of insulin
through her pump for it, or if she eats a piece of cake we give her the correct
amount of insulin for it.
About
Diabetic Alert Dogs (AKA. DADs)
Diabetic
Alert Dogs are highly trained to alert when they smell the scent of their
companion experiencing a high or low blood sugar. We are more concerned about being alerted when
there is a low blood glucose. These dogs
are able to detect the scent and alert the person so that they can do what they
need to do to protect their self from what could potentially be a life
threatening low! There are numerous life
saving stories of Type 1 Diabetics and their DADs.
Once these
DADs are bonded with their lifelong companion, they have a 99% detection
rate!
The cost of
these dogs is usually very high, around $20,000. It all depends on the company you are working
with, the amount of time and training put into the dog, and the continued
support you receive once the DAD is placed in the home.
We as a
family have wanted one for Nevaeh since we heard of DADs shortly after Nevaeh
was diagnosed in October 2011. Although
we have wanted that for Nevaeh, we simply could not see putting that much money
towards a DAD that would be coming from a different state, from someone we did
not know, or have any connection with!
Recently, a
change of events took place. We found
out through a support group we are a part of that there is a family locally who
is starting to train these dogs! You can
imagine our shock and delight when we found this news out! I immediately sent out an e-mail to them to
find out more. A few weeks later, and and
we believe not by coincidence, we met another family with a DAD. This makes us feel even more ready to pursue
this adventure, we are now ready to start raising money for Nevaeh's DAD!
We will be getting Maggie from Zakk
Wrabiutza, a type 1 diabetic who has a love for training DADs. To see more info on him and his DADs go to
Facebook at: Sweetwater Diabetic Alert Dogs. He is backed by his mom and dad, Donna and Billy Wrabiutza,
and they make an AWESOME family team!
Zakk got his DAD, Annie, just a little over a year ago and has been
through intensive training. Annie and
Zakk are lifelong companions now. Annie
came to Zakk as a puppy, only 16 weeks old, and is now alerting him of lows 98%
of the time!!! Annie has also already
saved Zakk's life more than once since she has been with him.
So how much
will Nevaeh's DAD cost? I'm sure you
want to know more about her! Nevaeh's
DAD will cost $10,000 and will come to us with tons of obedience training and
will be alerting to Nevaeh's low blood sugars!
We will have until July to raise the money!
Her name is
Maggie and she will be 8-9 months old when she comes to stay with us
permanently. She is an adorable
labradoodle that is extremely smart and ready to work! Nevaeh and Maggie LOVED each other at first
sight and can't wait to get to bond!
When Nevaeh is finally united with her life-saving companion she will
have more freedom to run and play and do the things kids love to do without the
anxiety of her having a low! Eventually,
she will be able to even alert us at night when Nevaeh is experiencing a low
blood glucose! Maggie will not only be a
life-saver and guard while Nevaeh sleeps, eats, plays, learns, and grows, she
will be a companion to Nevaeh!
To learn
more about Zakk and his DADs go here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Water-Diabetic-Alert-Dogs-AKA-DADs/238933432838899?fref=ts
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