George and Abbey

Today, I want to tell you all about my dear blog friend, George.

George is a diabetic but he unfortunately has another very serious condition called Hypoglycemia unawareness, which only affects a very small percentage of people. It is a complication of diabetes in which the patient is totally unaware of a deep drop in their blood sugar. The usual signs and symptoms of low blood sugar – such as palpitations, sweating, anxiety, blurry vision and trembling – are never triggered in George and because of the lack of symptoms, he has never been warned of a forthcoming life-threatening episode. This, unfortunately, has resulted in a lot of strange and foolish behaviour over the years but much more seriously, he has been in comas and has had a couple of near fatal car accidents – one which occurred and which he blogged about just last year. Seizures, loss of consciousness, brain damage and death are very real fears which George has to live with on a daily basis. He is currently experiencing low blood sugar episodes about six times per week.

Often, the partner or children of someone who is suffering with Hypoglycemia unawareness will notice their strange behaviour and alert them to it, enabling them to take the necessary action. But George lives alone, so I’m sure the fear he lives with must be absolutely terrible for him. George actually lost a friend of his recently – a man who went to bed feeling absolutely fine, slipped into a coma in his sleep and sadly, passed away just two days later. Perhaps the saddest part of all is that his death could have been prevented.

Just as there are dogs for the deaf and for the blind, there are also diabetes alert/response dogs who are trained to notice a drop in blood sugar even before the diabetic is aware of it. How amazing is that! With one of these dogs and a telephone lifeline, George would not only be well protected at home but also while driving, walking, exercising or just sitting at work. You can imagine the massive difference this would make to his life. You can imagine the difference it would have made to his friend.

The amount of money required in order to obtain one of these highly specialized dogs is $7,500. George has been accepted into the Beth Eden program in Texas and is due to receive his dog Abbey – a beautiful Australian Shepherd – in December. He has been working so hard in raising the necessary funds to secure Abbey, but he still has a way to go.

If you or anyone you know would like to help George, you can do so in a couple of ways. Firstly, you can make a donation to Abbey’s trainer, via paypal. Her account is:

ann4352@suddenlink.net

George is also registered at www.igive.com. If you sign up and register there, you can shop at hundreds of online shops and a percentage of your purchases are donated to George’s account, which are then transferred to his trainer. This is the address of George’s page:

http://www.iGive.com/BethEdenFredAbbey

I’m sure many of us have a Christmas wish list, but what could be more special or invaluable than a life saving companion? With your help, Abbey and George can be together for Christmas and George can be looking forward to a New Year in which his life could quite literally, be saved.

Thank you for taking the time to read, and a huge thank you – in anticipation – of those who are able to help. xxx