Profiles

Oscar: old English origin meaning ‘spear of the gods’

I have had Diabetes for 3 years now and I can’t always tell when I am having a hypo. Mum saw a story about Paws for Diabetics and thought it would help me to have an alert dog. We talked to Lorraine (the Director of Training) and applied for a dog. It has felt like I have been waiting for ages, but I will finally be getting one a few weeks. I am very excited to be getting my dog and he will be my best friend.

Update

I think every Diabetic can tell you the exact details leading up to the day they were diagnosed. I know that I can for my son, it was like yesterday and every 28^th of December will be a reminder that I will never forget. However the few weeks following that were a little more blurry.

 For my 9 year old son that really didn’t understand why his body was feeling the way it was. Was heart breaking and I would have easily changed places with him in a heartbeat.

We had to learn how to test sugar levels and draw up needles and inject them. It was stressful and scary. We had classes in nutrition and diabetic care, and then sent home with a different child. Yes the Doctors and Nurses were great and we got a lot of educating, but they never taught us how to handle family or friends that no longer want to be your friend because they are afraid they may get sick, or your child is too sick to visit any more. When you are out in public having an insulin shot and people think you are shooting up drugs. You learn very quickly that your Childs life will never be the same, that this disease would alter your families’ lives forever. 

From day one my son never really copped very well and had bouts of depression that would explode with moments of anger and violence. Mostly aimed at me. We got little support from the medical fraternity, and at times I understood money and facilities could only go so far. Sometimes I just didn’t want to hear it; I wanted help and didn’t care about the cost. I pleaded just help my son. Help our family.

Within about a year he had pretty much lost all symptoms of his hypo’s (low blood sugar). He would walk around like a zombie, about his only sign that his sugars were dangerously low. It was not long after this his father and I could no longer tell either. We feared every moment of the day and night that we would loss our precious son to this terrible disease. It was about then that I realised that I would have to help my son myself. We started to do research on the internet about other options and read an article about Paws for Diabetics Inc. We thought this is what we need, something that would aid our son, not by just telling him when he was having a hypo but by being a buddy and constant companion.

Within a year we received Oscar a whippet puppy. Within days he started alerting and as he grew and bonded with my son his accuracy at alerting became impeccable. He attends high school with my son and all other activities, just like you would expect a guide dog or other service dog to do.

This has also led me to help others that are like my son and help train and place alert dogs. The positive rewards that my son has gotten out of Oscar could never be achieved by anything else. There is no machine that can do what Oscar does. The relief of knowing that my son can be safe and lead a much more normal life has helped greatly.

Like everyone that diabetes has touched I pray for a cure. But what will happen between now and then, it could be decades away and for some including my son may not come quick enough. It is hard to place down in words the way it affect us on a daily level.

The way I have seen it ravage the bodies of suffers is heart breaking and with Oscar my son may avoid some of these diabetic complication, from loss of sight, kidney failure, losing limbs and death at a young or premature age. We hope he may live long and healthier life with Oscar aiding him to keep his sugars stable. I cannot count the amount of times Oscar has saved my sons life by a gentle whine or lick on the hand to tell him,” come on mate something is wrong go check your sugars”. For my son to test and to discover that Oscar was right his sugars were low and needed attention. Or to hear my son in the middle of the night treating his hypo and finding that Oscar had nuzzled him out of bed because he needs sugar and food. It brings tears of joy and sadness to me. My son should have a normal life, carefree and without worry. But I think he has the next best thing. His mate and life saver Oscar the diabetic alert dog.