Help train Mason's Diabetic Alert Dog

Hello! My name is Amber. I am trying to raise money to get my youngest a diabetic alert dog (DAD). A little back story.

2 years ago, August 6th 2021, my youngest was sent to the hospital with over 500 blood glucose level and spilling keytones into his urine. I had no clue what that meant but per his Dr, we went too cook's where he was almost immediately admitted. He was in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). His A1C (average of 3 months) was 12.9. My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes...22 days before his 11th birthday. Our lives would forever be different. He spent 4 days in the hospital before he was released.

Once home, he(and I) was having to poke his fingers 4+ times a day and then get insulin injections just so he could eat anything that had carbs. Fruits and veggies even had to be dosed for. He didn't want people to know about it unless they had to. We had to monitor him 24/7 and it made for many sleepless nights. About 3 months in, we finally get a cgm (continuous glucose monitor-dexcom g6) and that helps with the sleepless nights a lot, but we quickly realize how many low BG levels he was getting and just how low they were. Somehow we make it through year one with very little issues. Archery practice and competitions were a little difficult and he would have to step out or miss a lot due to his sugar levels tanking.

Year 2 and the honeymoon phase is over, but now we are facing a lot of high BG numbers and if we correct like we are supposed to, then he tanks. We had to do a lot of insulin adjustments. Competition archery and practice has now been affected by his type 1 as he had to miss a lot due to not feeling well. One time during private training, we were speaking with the coaches afterwards and Mason starts swaying. We quickly get him to sit down and then he almost falls out of his chair but we catch him. He is saying he doesn't feel good and he is really hot and then starts throwing up. As I was going through his bag to find his glucometer to test his sugars, his coaches were getting him things with sugar in them to help him. We eventually get him stable and head home. Nothing else majorly significant happens during this 2nd year. His BG levels are all over the place. One minute they are 300+ next minute they are tanking and fast. We end year 2 with lots of overnight lows and insulin adjustments.

Year 3 we start with those lows, especially overnight, and insulin adjustments but then ...my worst nightmare. The Sunday before labor day, everyone is asleep but we all hear something fall. My daughter and I think it's the cat so neither of us jump up but then almost immediately I hear "help! Babe, help!" I jump up and rush out of the room to find my husband hovering over Mason telling me he was having a seizure. I call 911, EMS arrives and Mason is just worked up and crying about no shots. His heart rate is 180+ and he is just getting more and more worked up. We finally get him to calm down some and they monitor his heart rate for a little bet and check his heart to make sure everything is ok. Mason had a low blood sugar level in the 30's. He woke up not feeling to great, got up to get him something to bring him up and when he made it to the pantry, he seized. EMS clears him and we give him some time to calm down but then he tells me his head hurt. We gave him some meds and shortly after, he asks if he can just go throw up in my bathroom. I tell him yes and convince him to go get checked out at the hospital. We head to cook's again. They admit him overnight for observation and insulin control. They can't get his sugar below 195 the entire time. The Dr keeps asking Mason if he dosed and just forgot but Mason did not. The Dr hints at this low blood sugar that caused the seizure may have been on purpose. He does not believe that Mason has been having these lows for no reason. They send us home. I had to call the diabetes team daily to report sugar levels and insulin intake. His sugars stay high constantly, 200+. I'm so scared/traumatized that I don't sleep much. My husband works out of town so he had to return to work and I was left to tend to Mason and our 2 other kiddos plus work. Luckily, Mason his homeschooled and I work from home, but that still didn't settle my fears. I didn't sleep much at all that first week. The second week, I have off so it made things a little easier on me. But then one night l, right when I close my eyes, his dexcom alerts start going off. Mason is 97 with arrows straight down. I jump up and get a Gatorade for him to drink and sit in his room until his sugar rises above 100. When it finally does start to come up, I had been in there for 20+ minutes. I go back to my room and look at his graph to see if I can tell what is going on, (I can not) but about and hour later I finally get tired again and set my phone down and try to sleep. About 10 minutes later, the alerts again. Only this time, he was 82 with arrows down. I jump up again and grab another Gatorade before heading to his room. He drinks it and I sit with him for about an hour before his sugars are above 100 and I feel comfortable to leave him. This night, I did not sleep at all due to fear/trauma.

This seizure has brought so much medical trauma to our lives. My husband works 2 weeks away and is home 1 week. I basically have been doing this on my own (caring for my son and his diabetes)- the care/management of his diabetes from the beginning. Having a DAD dog will help to get make sure Mason is aware of the drop in sugar before his dexcom even alerts him. The dog will help ease my mind enough to get enough sleep and possibly lower the amount of times I wake up and check on him. Having him his own service dog means he can be left alone again. It will simplify the crazy life we live a little.

We are asking for help to get him a dog as they are not cheap. The 25,000 will include the dog and all the training and exposure needed. We do not have the money ourselves but we are desperate to get him a DAD. Please, if you feel led to donate we appreciate it! Prayers and shares of this are also appreciated. Thank you so much!