My cute Diabetic Service Dog

Oh, the humiliation of wearing Minnie Mouse ears.  I'm a tough sheep dog, don't you know!!

DIABETIC ALERT DOG TRAINING AND ROTI PARATHA

 I am having trouble training Maya for high and low scents, as my son's blood glucose levels are so stable, that he rarely goes out of range. So, there are not many opportunities for training. For the moment, I have decided to train Maya to perform service tasks, when she is not lazing around that is.

 Yep, that is how she sleeps.

 So 2 days ago, I taught her to retrieve my son's glucose meter, which he uses every few hours to test his blood. I just used the case for the training. She learnt the behavior in about 5 minutes! We placed the meter on the floor which stirred her curiosity and she of course picked it up.  The main problem is she likes to play tug of war with everything. To teach her to bring the meter and drop it, I waved a treat in front of her and said "drop it". The lure of the treat made her drop the meter. I then clicked and gave her the treat. The clicker is a small device which makes an audible "click", and the sound is a positive reinforcement for the behavior. I continued on making it a game of fetch, whilst saying "bring me the meter" and she received a click and treat for each retrieval and drop of the meter.  She could do this easily after about 5  minutes. The following day, I placed the meter on a low shelf which will be its living place so she knows consistently where to retrieve it from.

 You can see in these pics Maya bringing the meter to my son.  The other task she needed to know was to "bring me juice".  If a diabetic has low blood sugar, they need a drink of juice fast to bring their levels up again.  So I put some juice in a plastic bottle on the shelf next to the meter. When I asked her to bring me some juice, she knew it was a different command to the "meter". She tried to pick up the juice bottle with her mouth, but her mouth wasn't wide enough, so she tipped the bottle over on its side, and pushed it over to my son with her nose!  She is so smart! That was her first attempt as well. I could almost see the new neural connections happening in her brain. Sorry for bragging.

Now onto food.  There are certain foods I miss now we cannot eat wheat.  In Singapore, my favourite dish would have to be roti paratha with curry.. I could eat it everyday it is so delicious. Luckily, I found a recipe for gluten free flat bread, which tastes surprisingly similar to roti.  It's not exactly low carb, as it contains tapioca starch, but for a treat every now and then I approve.  Recipe here:

http://www.healthstartsinthekitchen.com/2013/12/17/grain-free-flat-bread/

Delicious with chicken curry. I don't have a proper recipe for this. I just use Mussaman curry paste as the base, throw in some meat and low carb vegetable (whatever is in the fridge) and mix in coconut cream before serving.

RASPBERRY FRANGIPANE TARTS - LOW CARB & GLUTEN FREE

This diabetic blogger creates the most delicious recipes.

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2014/01/raspberry-frangipane-tarts-and-a-calphalon-giveaway.html

 

And this one was no exception...here's my version.

Instead of raspberry jam, I just cooked some frozen raspberries in the microwave with a little xylitol.

 Me likes it a lot!

This was so delectable, especially with my homemade vanilla bean ice cream. I love that with a little imagination, diabetics can still eat decadent foods - just tweak the ingredients a little. I laugh when people ask me, "what do you eat if you can't eat carbs?" I eat really yummy food with only small amounts of carbs, and I absolutely do not miss my old eating style, in fact I cringe when I think of what I used to feed my family, thinking it was healthy.

Having some hiccups with diabetic alert dog training - I am running out of hypo samples because my son's blood glucose levels are so stable. A good problem to have I guess! Next hypo he will have to give me lots of samples. My new jogging trampoline also doubles as a doggy day bed. We have a little home gym now: weights, kettle weights, rowing machine and exercise bike. So no excuses at all for not exercising. Plus having to take the puppy for walks now.

 Maya loves soft toys. She always has one of the kid's old plushies with her. Here she is sleeping with a teddy my husband gave me for Valentines Day before we got married -a LONG time ago. She snoops around the house searching for soft toys, and when you look away for a second, she strikes and snatches it and takes off at the speed of lightening. She especially likes to sneak into my daughter's room looking for the hidden stash of Hello Kitty softies.

It's just like having a toddler in the house again.

Low Carb New Years

 We stayed in on New Year's Eve with our puppy Maya. I used some leftover Christmas ham to make a low carb pizza. I also made a chicken avocado one.  The recipe for the pizza base comes from my favourite cooking website at the moment; All day I dream about food. The author is a mum with diabetes, and she creates some absolutely delicious low carb recipes.

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2012/08/almond-flour-pizza-crust-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html

 

 Beef satay sticks. I am half Malaysian, so I LOVE satay. I won't say mine is as authentic as Malaysian hawker food, but it is still delicious. The only thing we couldn't eat with it is the rice cakes, but cucumber dipped in the sauce is just as yummy, yet without the carbs. Cucumber is a traditional accompaniment.

Chicken wings.

 

Maya has learnt the high and low alert signal - now it's time to pair it up with the scent training.

HOW TO OBTAIN PERFECT BLOOD WORK WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES (I don't wish to gloat, but...)

My son has now had type 1 diabetes for 12 months. He recently had a full blood work performed for his 1 year doctor's review. I still have not revealed my son's low carb diet to his healthcare team, so they assume he eats the standard (unhealthy) Australian diet.

So, here are his astounding blood test results. Note that the units we use in Australia are mmol/L. The figures in brackets are what is deemed to be normal range.

TYROID FUNCTION TESTS
Free T4       13.5pmol/L  (9-19)
TSH             0.9mIU/L     (0.3-5.3)


ROUTINE CHEMISTRY
Sodium           137 mmol/L        (132-145)
Potasium         4 mmol/L            (3.5-5.5)
Chloride          104 mmol/L        (95-110)

Total Protein       69 g/L             (65-80)
Albumin           43 g/L                (39-49)
Globulin                26 g/L            (20-38)

HbA1c  5.6%  (non diabetic range is 4-6)

HDL CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol               4.6mmol/L (3.9-5.5)
Triglycerides             0.5 mmol/L  (0.6-2.0)
HDL                          1.54 mmol/L   (0.9-1.50)
Total cholesterol/HDL     3.0   (0-4.5)

I have some comments to make on these readings.

Total protein is within normal parameter, in fact on the low end of normal. And this is whilst eating protein with every meal. So eating more protein than the average Australian (who usually eats toast and cereal for breakfast) does not lead to a rise in blood protein. Yep, bacon and eggs for breakfast every day.

HbA1c - this measures how much advanced glycation end products (AGES) is stuck to the haemoglobin cells in the blood. This one is so simple to explain; the more carbohydrate you eat, the faster the rate you will produce AGES. AGES are the cause of: atherosclerosis, cataracts, dementia, kidney disease, wrinkle, cancer, peripheral neuropathy. This explains why diabetics develop complications. But, non diabetics can still develop these complications on a high carb diet. In essence;  A LOW CARB/HIGH FAT DIET=SLOW RATE OF AGING.

The comment on his pathology results said that it may be a good idea to aim for a HIGHER HbA1c in children or elderly, due to the risk of hypoglycemia.  Sorry, but this is completely wrong. You do not want to raise your HbA1c. Moreover, the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) is dramatically lowered when you eat a low carb diet, mainly due to the decreased risk of error in injecting insulin. When you eat high carb, you need to inject high amounts of insulin. If you over inject, it can result in hypoglycemia. but, if you eat low carb, you only need a small amount of insulin, and even if you make an error in the amount injected, it will only be a tiny error, with not much consequence on your blood glucose. It follows the principle of low input=low error risk. Sometimes my son only injects 0.1 units of insulin for his food, which is tiny. And even if he made a 50% error and doubled the amount of insulin, it would still be just a tiny amount injected of 0.2 units. However, if he required a large dose of insulin and made a 50% error, it could be disastrous.

Now for the most dramatic results; the lipid panel. Let me explain what the abbreviations mean.
HDL stands for high density lipoprotein. It is actually a PARTICLE , NOT A TYPE OF CHOLESTEROL. There is only ONE type of cholesterol, but different types of particles containing the cholesterol.  There is no such thing as "good" and "bad" cholesterol, as doctors usually describe it.
HDL particles transport used cholesterol from tissue back to the liver to recycle it and put it in other lipoprotein particles. Your body is trying to CONSERVE cholesterol because it is so important - especially in the brain. HDLs can remove LDLs lodged in the artery endothelium.

LDL stands for low density lipoprotein. There are two types of LDL particles: big and small, however you need a special test to measure the two types - by nuclear magnetic resonance lipoprotein analysis. But, I don't think this is ever done, as doctors generally only think there is just one type of LDL.

Trigs is short for triglycerides, another name for fats. As you can see, my son's triglycerides were even LOWER than normal range.  Surprisingly, this has been achieved whilst eating lots of  fat: bacon ,eggs, meats, fish, coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, walnut oil, olive oil, butter and cream!  Fat is good for us (in the context of a low carb diet), despite what dieticians and TV advertising tell us. Fat is the most efficient type of fuel for humans.

One important thing to note is, lipid panels are "calculated" and not "measured" which is the norm for doing these blood tests. Please head on over to Wheat Belly Blog for a detailed explanation of this.
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/11/a-grain-eaters-cholesterol-panel/
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/category/triglycerides/

How has my son with type 1 diabetes achieved these excellent results?  With a low carbohydrate diet of course. Eating carbs stimulates insulin release which instigates conversion of carbs to fat for times of famine. I recommend reading Wheat Belly by Dr Davis, The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson, Grain Brain by Dr Perlmutter , The Rosedale Diet by Dr Rosedale, The Diabetes Solution by Dr Bernstein for an explanation as to why it is carbohydrate and not saturated fat which causes heart disease.  Please also refer to the many websites in my sidebar which are great resources for health restoration with healthy eating.

If you have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, digestive disease or neurological disease, please do your own research by reading books and websites.

Yes, everybody is different, but the same principle applies to every human; the more carbohydrate your eat, the higher your blood glucose will be.

2013 was the worst year of my life - learning to live with type1 diabetes. But, learning how to control this deadly disease simply by changing diet and exercise has been empowering, and I really hope my son can be a role model for other type 1 children. Diabetes does not have to result in devastating complications. Eating and cooking low carb is not difficult - it just involves some effort. Watching what my son goes through on a daily basis is difficult- cooking low carb is not in comparison. And when I receive such excellent result as these, it encourages me even more to maintain the low carb lifestyle, and reinforces that all I have researched does work when put into practice.

A very happy new year to all my readers.  Lisa xo

A very tired little diabetic alert puppy.

 

Puppy training

 My son likes to carry Maya around like a teddy bear, and she loves it. She stays quiet in his arms and doesn't try to squirm away.

 Maya is a typical border collie - very smart and active, although she has many puppy naps throughout the day. She is always looking for something to destroy! - such as my shoes. She has already eaten through my son's iphone recharger cord.

So far, I have taught her to sit, down and nudge. The nudge will become her alert action for low or high blood glucose levels. I let her have a sniff of a low saliva sample the other day. She knew it was something interesting and sniffed it for a long time. One day she will know it means danger.

We just get so much entertainment value from her antics. I will train her some more behaviours this week for the low and high signals. She also starts puppy preschool next month, and maybe some obedience and agility classes after that. Border Collies need to keep their minds and bodies active!

Maya home at last.

 Maya came to live with us yesterday. We drove to the airport freight depot to collect her. There were actually a lot of animals coming and going there.  I could hear her crying out in the truck drop off zone. When she was handed over to us over the counter, I started crying, because she looked so scared. My son held her in the car on the hour long drive home.

 We let her outside straight away. We quickly worked out that she loves leaves, rocks, sticks and digging in the dirt. So much for all the toys we bought her!

 She has a beautiful placid, gentle nature. Dainty like a little girl should be.

 She also prefers sleeping on the cool tiles, rather than the bed we got her.

 

 Palm fronds are a favourite.

 Just like a real life fluffy teddy bear. Her fur is so soft and clean, and she has the cutest little nose.

Just like a human baby, she needs naps every couple of hours. Romping around outside is exhausting for her.  She slept in my son's room last night in the kids old baby cot. But, unlike a human bub, I simply put her in the cot, put her blanket over her, and she went off to sleep until 5am. No crying or midnight feeds. Much easier.

Training will begin in a little while, once she is more familiar with her new family.

Maya - 7 1/2 weeks

 Maya's last couple of days with her brothers. I love this photo of her after digging in the garden.

 Glad she loves the cuddly toys. I have a whole basket full of them waiting for her.

 Chasing a chicken.

With her brothers. I feel really bad for breaking up this little family, but her new family will give her lots of love and cuddles. Just one more day.

Maya 7 1/2 weeks

 Just a few more days until Maya comes home to live with us.

 The poor little thing will get no rest at our house, because we will be fighting over who gets to hold her all the time. Her fluffy coat just makes me want to scoop her up in my arms.

How could I not fall in love with this adorable little pooch? She is one special little girl.