Tuesday, December 6, 2011

One Year Diabetic Anniversary

Does this day need to be celebrated? Or does it need to be forgotten? It's been one year to the day since Buzz was diagnosed with diabetes.

One year ago, I was afraid Buzz was going to die. I was afraid he was going to leave our family. I was afraid we caused it. By not taking him to the vet when he first got sick. By feeding him too much. By not adopting him when I first saw his picture on petfinder (it took ~6 months to convince my husband we needed a 2nd dog).

But one year has passed. And Buzz didn't die. He didn't leave our family. We didn't cause it.

I've learned a lot in the past year. But nothing that I've done/learned can compare to what Buzz has gone through. He has bounced back from his death-bed. Who can say that? Not many.

He's courageous. He's brave. He's much more than I could ever describe. To me, Buzz isn't just a dog. He's a member of my family. He's my rock.

Buzz's diabetes is a work-in-progress. Just last night, we took him to get blood drawn for a fructosamine test. Fructosamine is a break-down product of glucose, or sugar, and stays in the blood for weeks. By testing for this molecule, we can learn what his average glucose levels have been the last few weeks since we haven't been testing his glucose everyday.

While at the vet, we learned that he's lost weight. He's 17 lbs and we were hoping he was more like 20. What can we do to make him gain weight? He's already eating 4 cups of high-protein food a day. Plus a treat every now and then. We'll get the results from the blood test tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to talk with our vet about his weight.

But compared to a year ago, Buzz is strong. He's resilient. He's... Buzz. A dog. He plays. He eats. He sleeps. He's not inhibited by the diabetes AT ALL. Sure, he gets insulin injections twice a day. But have you ever heard of Pavlov's dogs? If not, go read about it. We give Buzz a treat after every single injection. So now, he looks forward to his injections. It's easy for us, but more importantly, it's easy for Buzz.

If you would've asked me a year ago how I thought Buzz's diabetes diagnosis would turn out, this is not what I would've pictured. But I cannot tell you how happy I am that this is where we are. And I think it's safe to assume that Buzz is just as happy as me.



And don't forget to check out our Christmas pictures in the post below! :)

4 comments:

  1. Buzz, Buzz, Buzz...what a guy!! And Riley's jealous that you get 4 cups of food a day! She's only getting 1.5 cups at the moment and usually 2 cups when she's not on crate rest.

    You've all made it so far and you are now able to help people who are where you were a year ago! You rock!

    Elyse and Riley

    P.S.--Going to check out the Christmas pictures right now!

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  2. Buzz is so cute! Thanks for stopping by my blog, sorry I have not been too good at answering comments. Hopefully you straighted it out and can get the NPH at Walmart without a prescription. I'll be updating Zekes' dog diabetes blog over the holidays so please stop by soon.

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  3. We have a diabetic dog in our gamily. It was very scary when we first found out, and we weren't sure what was going to happen to her.
    Sophie has been diabetic for about two years now, and she is doing better than ever. She really was given a new lease on life. I can't help but feel like she knows that the insulin is making her better. She doesn't run away when you show her the needle, she just sits and waits for the injection (of course she doesn't let you forget about her speical treat afterwards)
    Seems like your family and your dog have really adjusted to having a diabetic in the family. Very cute dog btw!

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  4. Hi Chelsea! Thanks for stopping by - your experiences with diabetes seem identical to ours. It was so scary at first, but seeing how much better Buzz is, it was absolutely all worth it. And Buzz thanks you for thinking he is cute - he's a little full of himself. :)

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