Brady is 15 yrs old and was dx in ’99 at age 4. Tammy is his amazing 2 yr old German Shepherd D.A.D.
When Brady was diagnosed with T1, insulin pumps weren’t approved for use in small children so we spent many years learning about diabetes, mixing insulin, giving shots, restricted meal plans, and grand mal seizures. Those were very scary times. After battling the insurance company, he was finally approved for a pump in the 3rd grade. It has been great. However, after so many years of seizures, we were scarred. No one slept through the night. We allowed his blood sugar to stay “a little high” because of our fear of seizures. Tight control (for Brady) means inevitable lows. It’s just the way it is.
We have a rather large family. My 3 sisters & I have 15 children between the ages of 10 and 23. They love to camp, kayak, play every sport, and lots of other things that don’t necessarily involve mom and dad. There has been many nights where we had to hike back to where they were camping & pluck Brady from the tent at 2 a.m. because his blood sugar was too low (for our comfort)…..< 150.
After our oldest son got his license, we just couldn’t imagine how this would all work out for Brady. The idea of him behind the wheel of a car with a blood sugar of 40 or 400 was unthinkable. We needed help. We knew we had to do something. A CGM was out of the question. Brady is very lean & can barely maintain enough (scar free) space for his infusion set. He definitely didn’t have any “spare room” for another site. Plus, all the other issues with the insurance company and expensive supplies (not covered by insurance). We needed some peace of mind & Brady needed some space. So we began our search. We investigated lots of places & I drove everyone crazy with a million questions…just ask Rachel J Like every parent, we want our children to become confident, independent adults but life with diabetes was robbing Brady of both.
Tammy has given Brady so much confidence & us so much peace of mind. No, I don’t get any more sleep. In fact, I get less (…Tammy LOVES to wake me anytime his BS fluctuates more than 50 points during the night & she is unable to wake Brady). Tammy works 24/7. She’s sweet, loyal, and very diligent. We learn from each other every day. She is a true blessing!
*p.s. … I should also mention that after having Tammy for 3 months, Brady’s A1C went down 2 whole points!