Madison Bellof of Tega Cay on mission to bring dog home

Taking care of a new animal can be quite a responsibility, even for a teen about to start high school in the fall. But Madison Bellof is hoping a new animal could help take care of her.

Bellof, 14, was diagnosed more than a year ago with Type 1 diabetes. There is constant testing and technology. She wears a continuous glucose monitor that sends readings to an app on mom Carolyn’s phone. Yet she also travels to JDRF conferences and volunteers with the diabetes research group. She still figure skates competitively.

And, she bakes.

“Lots of bake sales,” Carolyn said. “Madison’s been baking cupcakes and cookies for over a year now.”

Bake sale and figure skating fundraisers are aimed toward a new service animal, a dog trained to alert Madison and others nearby when her blood sugar levels spike in either direction.

“It can smell my blood sugar,” Madison said. “My friend has one, and they just fascinated me.”

Hannah Self, 14, also will start high school in the fall. The Lake Wylie girl was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes six years ago. Two years ago, matched as a mentor family, the Selfs met the Bellofs.

Self got her own service animal, Signal, three years ago. Her mom Laura Self said Signal is “one of many tools” for managing diabetes.

“She’s been most helpful in some of the middle-of-the-night checks,” Laura Self said. “She’s also been a tremendous emotional support.”

The service dog isn’t a cure all for managing blood sugar, but an animal can help.

“It’s still a daily struggle, as any family with this diagnosis will tell you,” Laura Self said. “It doesn’t get any better, but you get better at dealing with it.”

Because of their specialized training, a service animal costs about $16,000. Most are Labradors or Golden Retrievers. Few places train and sell them, but some dogs are able to alert blood sugar problems quicker than a monitor would.

“Some of them are actually trained to go get a juice box, and others will bark and go to get help,” Carolyn said.

They have about $6,000 raised so far. While the Bellofs would love to have a service dog already, their main goal is to have one by the time Madison heads off to college.

“It’s really difficult to control the blood sugars at night, especially,” Carolyn said. “We would really like to have the dog before she goes off to college, because there’s no parent there to wake you up during the night.”

Her community is helping toward the family goal. A gofundme.com page, “Madison’s Mission Dog,” is collecting money. The winter figure skating fundraiser was a success. On July 4, the family brought in almost $700 from a bake sale beside a waterslide event as part of Tega Cay’s day-long birthday celebration. Then, a local restaurant owner offered $500 and his location for a future fundraiser as the Bellofs got closer.

“She ended up doing really well,” Carolyn said. “People have been very supportive.”

Madison, just returned from a JDRF conference in Orlando, has ideas of getting her service animal and taking the dog off to college someday. Where she hopes to study endocrinology.

“To help kids like me,” she said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Madison Bellof of Tega Cay on mission to bring dog home."