I think I did more alerting today than I have ever done.  Seriously.   This Type one diabetes is no joke.

The day started with a “No Delivery” error from the girl’s insulin pump.    Oh god.  I know what “No Delivery” means to me…..”Darwin better be ready to alert his cute black butt off all day”.  Whatever.  Thanks Medtronic for my job security I suppose.  Ugh.

So the mom was on the phone with Medtronic for like an hour while I just got to chill.  Well, by chill I mean freak out because I smelled the girl’s BG starting to rise so I was kinda on edge.  Medtronic at first told her they were going to have to send a replacement pump, so while she was on hold she decided to get a jump start on the MDI (multiple daily injections) and gave the girl a shot of Lantus. (long lasting insulin)

I will tell you, the girl is a rock.  She didn’t even flinch!  But then after another half hour on the phone, Medtronic decided the girl didn’t need a new pump.  ACK!  The girl had a shot for nothing!  Then mom had to change the basal settings, set up a new infusion set…..all while rushing to get out the door so we wouldn’t be late to talk to 107 first graders.  And she didn’t want to give the girl any extra insulin since she didn’t know how much she had gotten prior to the error.  Ugh…..

So yeah, it was a rough morning.  I alerted the mom on the way to the school and sure enough the girl was sky high.  Like 400+ high.  Like drool inducing high.   Uh, that’s what happens when a type one diabetic doesn’t have insulin with a meal!  So the mom was able to give a correction of insulin…and then I knew it was really game on.   The girl had a lot of insulin, and we were about to talk to 107 first graders.  

So last week one of the mom’s friends asked her if we could visit  an elementary school to educate a bunch of first graders on how awesome I am. Well, and I suppose type one diabetes too I supposed but seriously. Medical terms or a fuzzy black dog? Umm yeah the kids were more interested in me.

Anyways, we got there a bit early (even with all the pump craziness….god this mom is uptight) and got all set up. The mom put together a whole fancy presentation. With my face on it. It was beautiful.  I am beautiful.

The kids came in. One by one. All 107 of them. Whoa. As they were getting settled one little girl threw me a cookie. I was like “YEAAAAAH!!” But the mom was like “Darwin leave it!” Ugh. I swear this woman is too uptight. Whatever. She even got more abrupt with the kid than she did with me. It’s not the kids fault I’m so good looking. And skinny. The kid was removed from the front row. Bummer. I know she had more cookies.  She just looked like she had more cookies.

Anyways. The principal introduced us. Me mostly. Then the mom started to talk. Blah blah blah type one diabetes blah. Blah blah glucose levels.  Blah blah insulin.  She should have looked at the faces of all those kids.  They were giving her the same look I was giving her:  “Just talk about the darn dog already!”  Plus I was already alerting her non-stop.  The girl was dropping…and dropping fast.  And I don’t like that.  I really showed them what an alert dog does even before the mom could explain what I do.  Whatever.  Of course I could do a better job, without words, explaining to the kids what I do than the mom could do with words.  I am that good.  And expressive.

So then the mom FINALLY started talking about me.  And then the kids started to pay attention.   She told them all about how I know to alert, how I was trained, and she even bragged about some of the alerts I’ve done.  Bragging is fine if it’s true, right?   The kids loved it.  They even asked a lot of good questions and admitted that their dogs weren’t as awesome as I am.  Pssh.  Of course I’m better.  I’m educated.

By the time we were done at the school the girl was back in range and I was able to relax.  For about 15 minutes before she had lunch and then I was back at it.

Whatever. It’s my job to try to keep her in range.  No one else is going to do it.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is more quiet.  However with this family I doubt it.  They keep talking about mouse ears for some reason.  And for some reason I am having a premonition that some other adventure is on the horizon……….

For the time being I am done. The girl is too. Night.