Poetry, Lola and Medical Detection Dogs

Liz Brownlee ♦ January 17, 2020 ♦ Leave a comment

Some of you may know, but maybe some of you don’t, that I have an assistance dog. A number of years ago, it was suggested by my consultant that I might want to have a pancreas transplant, due to the number of low blood sugars and unconscious episodes I was having, as I have no warning symptoms.

This made life a bit scary, especially going to sleep at night – I was never sure if I would wake up the next morning. Going out alone was always a bit of a trial, too. I looked into a pancreas transplant and decided not to go for one. Instead, I applied for a medical detection dog, and after being on their waiting list, Medical Detection Dogs in Milton Keynes helped train Lola for me.

I’ve had Lola for 10 years now, and she has been brilliant. She lets me know before my blood sugar is too low or too high, so I can do something about it, and she has saved my life on a number of occasions. Nowadays I also have a sensor which also reads my blood sugar and sends a signal to my pump, and it also warns me – but it’s not as fast as Lola, and sometimes when it’s calibrating I don’t have it. Lola also alerts when I’m out, and can hear the alarms when I can’t, so she still earns her keep! She has enabled me to be a poet and to be able to go out to schools etc.

So – the reason for this post. Medical Detection dogs is a wonderful charity. Their dogs are the ones being trained to detect various cancers way before traditional methods used by medical science can. Dogs are also trained for a number of conditions like Ehlers Danlos syndrome where sufferers can collapse at any moment without warning. Their dogs alert so there is time to lie down safely, so the dogs’ owners are able to go out alone.

My daughter Emmelie is raising money for this charity by running a half marathon. If you have any spare pennies, and any amount would be welcome, do think of supporting her!

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=EmmelieBrownlee&pageUrl=1&fbclid=IwAR1ifQ2x8DgF9067Ygv1IFOCcOrH5QeRmUDd9yKj0BhaBzWRnj9lvBIO8s4