MYRTLE BEACH, SC – WBTW – Diabetes used to be a disease that affected people over the age of 45. And many times diabetes is associated with obesity, but that’s not always the case. Ainsley Jordan of Myrtle Beach doesn’t fit either category.
Ainsley is an active 7 year old. She was diagnosed at the age of 5 with Juvenile Diabetes. Her family never expected the diagnosis. They noticed she was using the bathroom more frequently and losing weight. A trip to McLeod Children’s Hospital in Florence pinned down the diagnosis, which was Type One Diabetes.
Ainsley’s mother, Christina, said it was a lot to take in all at once. “All this information at one time of giving her shots and all the food she needed to eat, and just so much can happen in such a short amount of time.”
Ainsley took it in stride and she already liked fruits veggies so it didn’t alter her diet that much. But being so young, she can’t always tell when her blood sugar gets out of whack. So they enlisted some help of Daisy. Daisy is Ainsley’s diabetic alert dog.
“A diabetic alert dog can help to sense that and alert to the mom or dad or the child when they’re older, so that they can check their blood sugar and then have sugar if they need it or glucose.”
Daisy is a beagle. She was chosen because she has a great sense of smell. “They smell the changes in the body chemistry and then you just have to train them to alert when they smell that smell.”
Daisy became a member of their family when she was eight weeks old and underwent obedience training, which is an ongoing process. “She follows Ainsley everywhere and she’s always on the job.”
Christina says Daisy is a blessing. “It’s very scary to know that your child can have a low blood sugar and not be aware of it and they can have seizures, they could go into a coma, and possibly even die.”
Christina is actually teaching daisy her diabetic alert dog skills. Daisy has already proven to be a fast learner. “We came in the house, she came up to say hello, smelled Ainsley and went into the kitchen and grabbed the Bringsel which is a little alert stick and she brought it to us.”
A simple gesture to alert theJordan’s to a very serious situation.
Ainsley and her family are participating in this year’s Walk to Cure Diabetes which will be held at the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Stadium on Saturday, September 29, 2012.
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans will host a give-back night for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Monday, August 20, 2012. Half of all the ticket sales purchased through JDRF will go towards the Myrtle Beach Walk to Cure Diabetes. For more information on the walk and The Palmetto Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, visit www.jdrfpalmetto.org.
For more information on diabetic alert dogs visit www.diabeticalertdog.com.
For more information on Juvenile Diabetes visit the American Diabetes Association’s website at www.diabetes.org.
