Bradley is my medical alert dog for my Type 1 diabetes. I often refer to him as my furry CGM. It is a lot easier to listen to him tell me I need to check my blood sugar than a friend or family member. Today, I thought that I would take you through a typical weekday with Bradley. He sleeps on the floor next to me on a comfy dog bed. At 5:45 am my i-phone alarm wakes me up to the Coconutz, from the movie ”Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” singing in Hawaiian, “Nothing Compares to You.” This song is our song, mine and Darren’s (not mine and Bradley’s), and reminds me of him and of our trips to Hawaii together. It is a good way to start the day. I usually hit the snooze, and use the additional nine minutes to motivate myself to get up. I drowsily wake up and Bradley stretches and follows me to the back sliding door off of our bedroom. He goes out and does his “business.” I let him back in and he watches as I get ready for work. This includes figuring out what I’m going to wear, hair and make-up, and grabbing a couple cans of TaB and a snack to take to work. By this time he has usually alerted me to check my blood sugar, it is usually dropping a little bit in the morning. I check, reward Bradley, and if my blood sugar is more than a 100, I set my alarm for 15-20 minutes so that I remember to check my blood sugar again. It is a confirmation that Bradley is alerting on the drop. He previously has alerted me on the rise too, but I have been trying to phase this out. I want him to just focus on the drops now, as it is more of an emergency. Bradley has been patiently waiting for his breakfast, which consists of 1 1/4 cups of Duck and Potato kibble. Before I leave for work, I check on my blog and make sure that my post for the day is up and that it is also posted to Facebook and Twitter. (continued at http://www.bradleyandme.net/?p=1792)
Thanks for reading!