We were swimming at a friend’s house with the cousins. Lawton was lying leisurely by the pool…watching, smiling at the kids. His eyes were intent on the action, only briefly distracted by the occasional bird that walked by.
The sun shined, and the kids giggled. A perfect day for the pool.
The boys had only been swimming for a half an hour when Lawton jumps up and goes to the edge of the pool. He walks along the edge. The kids are yelling, playing…he wants in on the fun, right?
But he paces…he paces up and down, and at one point he is ready to jump in. Our Lawton…who hates water. He would never dream of jumping in a pool…but here he was staring at J…ready to jump to him. He would glance at me every now and then looking for the Ok. I just shook my head. He knew he wasn’t allowed to jump in.
He circled the pool and J pled with me to let Lawton jump in.
“No.” I said, “No way.” It wasn’t OUR pool…I’m not an expert on pool etiquette, but I do know you don’t let the dog in unless he was invited.
But Lawton continued to ask, “Can I jump in?” Constantly looking at the pool, and then back to me.
“What is up with him…it is so not like him!”
(Yeah, I’m that dense.)
It was my visiting brother who suggested, “Maybe he’s alerting.”
Say huh?
It was all instantly made clear. I had the boys come directly to the side of the pool. Lawton sat contentedly next to me…watching the familiar check…readying himself for his treat.
J was 72.
Not dangerously low, but I submit this: I checked J's blood sugar 30 minutes earlier, before he went int the pool, and he was a comfortable 156. AND, J was in the pool for at least an hour AFTER this blood sugar check. He was dropping so fast, where would his sugar have been if we didn’t check when we did?
What if?
What if?
My boys don’t have very many bad lows.
How significant was that last sentence? I have 3 young, active, crazy diabetic boys and we RARELY have a blood sugar under 60.
Very significant.
Quite significant.
Utterly significant.
I like to take credit when the boy’s numbers are doing well…but I need to give credit where credit is due.
Lawton lets me live. He lets me be mom. I can function without the overloading worry because of him.
I can F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N!
Good boy Lala! You are such a gift!
Yay Lawton! I am so happy for you to be so BLESSED with Lawton!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy being a mom! :)
I think you just sparked a blog post.
ReplyDeleteGive me an L-A-W-T-O-N
ReplyDeleteYeah Lawton!!!
Hooray for Lawton!! I could have used him yesterday when Addison dropped from a comfy 153 to 50 in half an hour!!! You are very lucky to have him! Give him some big smooches from all of his blogger fans..
ReplyDeleteyou and Lawton will have to come visit the rest of us in the looney bin often!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LAWTON!!!!! And hope to hear many more happy incredible wonderful stories about him!!!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Is Lawton a service dog? Just wondering because I know they train dogs to alert Type 1's when they are low. A friend of my has an alert (service) dog. Either way, I'm glad you have him! Good job Lawton!!!
ReplyDeleteI hear you.
ReplyDeleteMy dog, Dixie, makes living with diabetes each day a little bit easier.
We're blessed.
Way to go, Lawton! :-)
Okay, it's a good thing I don't live closer to you, because I would come and steal Lawton away when you weren't looking (in retribution to you coming over and pinching Elise's cheeks, of course!)
ReplyDeleteI love that dog! I have never met him but I love him! I think we need one. Not just yet because we are still grieving the loss of our beautiful husky. One day though when we are ready for a new dog, we'll get one that is D trained. We have looked into it and have family members ready to help us with the cost. I think Bekah has to be 12 though so it will be a few years. Until then I will just keep loving yours =).
ReplyDeleteMeri...that dog is awesome and you are one lucky family. I think you owe that boy two treats for taking so long to "listen" to him. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your Lawton stories. I had never even heard of these AMAZING animals before reading your blog...well, I've heard of dogs..you know what I mean!! Way to go LAWTON!!!
ReplyDeleteGo give Lawton a big hug from me. Really.....get up from that silly computer and go hug that terrific dog!
ReplyDeleteAren't those fast drops crazy? And scary! The other night, Matthew dropped 100 points in 1 hour! INSANE!
We want a d-dog. Seriously. I think we're going to look into it once our sweet dog goes to heaven.
Oh he is just fabulous! Every D family needs a Lawton. Maybe we could clone him...
ReplyDeleteHe is such a great asset to your family. He needs a blog of his own. Imagine what he'd say?! He is very handsome and your family so deserve this huge help. Sadly my hubby is a bit scared of dogs and so we'd need to have the tortoise trained up. He might not alert quickly enough though!
ReplyDeleteWOOT for Lawton!!! That is just TOO COOL!
ReplyDeleteI love that dog every bit as much as I love my chis . I wanna just kiss that face . I want a lab so bad too .
ReplyDeleteGood boy, LaLa!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you guys!
Will you come visit me in the looney bin? Bring Lawton!!
Super Lawton saves the day again! I love him.
ReplyDeleteLAWTON = UBER AWESOMENESS to the GOOGLE PLEX DEGREE!!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY!!!!
LAWTON = UBER AWESOMENESS to the GOOGLE PLEX DEGREE!!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY!!!!
I love hearing when other moms miss the first signs that something might be amiss! It makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one. I would be right there with you not realizing that Lawton was alerting. Sometimes it takes a village.
ReplyDeleteI can only dream of a Lawton, however I can not even imagine the stress of three boys with d without him. I am happy you're able to express how thankful you are for him on here and share such great stories.
ReplyDeleteI think I have a major crush on Lawton!
ReplyDeleteSweet Lawton. The dog that changed me from being someone that, frankly, did not like dogs to someone who ....does. Someone who has actually held a dog and gotten one out to play with at the pet store. I would LOVE a dog. A service dog. A Lawton.
Look at that face! Great job, Lawton! I'm so glad you're there for my sweet friend, Meri and her darlings!
Aw, what an awesome blessing Lawton must be for your family, Meri! I'm super-jealous. I want to get Lily a D-dog someday! Give yours a great big hug for the fabulous job he did!
ReplyDeleteSuch a good boy that Lawton is! And such a lucky family you are to have him!
ReplyDeleteTo the people who want a Lawton of their own...
ReplyDeleteIf you live in Ca, OR, Wa or NV: Go to www.dogs4diabetics.com.
This organization is the one that trained Lawton, and dogs are placed with diabetics for FREE.
:)
You're right though, it's for age 12 and up.
:):)