15-year-old Myrtle Beach diabetic honors her nurse by naming a support dog after her

A former patient at a Myrtle Beach hospital on Monday reunited with her favorite nurse who inspired the name of the support dog that helps her manage her diabetes.

Caroline Kay, 15, reconnected with Penny Doyle, a pediatric nurse at Grand Strand Medical Center, to introduce her to her Labradoodle named Penny.

Caroline’s visit to the hospital marks more than two years since she has seen Doyle.

Doyle looked after Caroline during her stay in February 2020 after she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The condition - once referred to as juvenile diabetes because it mostly affects young people - occurs when the body isn’t producing enough insulin. That hormone regulates the amount of sugar in the blood, the Associated Press reported.

Caroline, who attends Carolina Forest High School, recalled the time she spent in the hospital with Doyle and how the nurse was so compassionate. She’d even pick movies for them to watch.

“She had to prick my finger once an hour for like 24 hours,” Caroline said to reporters. “... At first I didn’t really like her because of that, but after a while, she was just so sweet and would apologize every time,” Caroline said laughing.

Caroline has had her puppy Penny since November.

Doyle said she knew diabetic patients could get support dogs and told Caroline and her family about it before they left the hospital.

The puppy paws and licks at Caroline when her blood sugar is low or high.

Caroline said she had to send saliva covered cotton balls to the support dog trainers when her blood sugar was too low or too high so they could train Penny.

A glucose monitor tracks her blood sugar levels and lets Caroline know when there’s a problem.

But she said Penny is able to detect her levels sometimes 20 to 30 minutes before the device does.

“That’s really helpful ... when I sleep because I sleep through all the alarms,” Caroline said. “It could beep at me all night, and I would be asleep.

“But she’ll hop on my bed and paw me, and make sure I’m awake.”

Doyle called Caroline’s move to name Penny after her an honor. She also admitted to being a big dog lover.

“It’s wonderful, and Caroline is beautiful,” Doyle said. “And I know she’s going to do well.”

Caroline said she knew immediately what she would name the dog when her mom asked when they left the hospital.

“‘Penny, of course,’” she recalled saying.

“’Penny. There’s no other option.’”

This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 5:35 PM.