Since age two, Marit Medefind-Bond has known two things: She has Type 1 diabetes, and she won’t let it slow her down.

Medefind-Bond is a professor of registered nursing at Merced College, where she has been joined every day by Prim, her service dog. Prim’s role is to be on alert for warning signs, via smell, that Medefind-Bond’s blood sugar may be too high or low.

Prim just recently retired. Medefind-Bond and her third semester students threw her a party after turning 13 years old. Medefind-Bond says that her now-former service dog was starting to have health issues and that it was time for her to retire. Now, Medefind-Bond has been matched with a new service dog, Kahanu.

Medefind-Bond teaches alongside a team of professors in the nursing program, primarily working with students during their first semester of the four-semester program, as well as instructing in the nursing simulation lab. There, students participate in realistic scenarios using simulation mannequins as “patients” in a lab setting to practice their nursing skills in a safer environment and learn about new diagnoses or to face real-life challenges that could arise in a hospital.

Type 1 diabetes is nothing new to Medefind-Bond or her family. Her dad also lives with Type 1 diabetes, so her parents were quick to recognize and diagnose their daughter.

Until she was about 10 years old, Medefind-Bond was taking around 8 to 10 insulin shots daily, making for an unusual childhood. Some of her friends’ parents were even nervous about letting her come over for a sleepover; they weren’t sure what to do with a child with diabetes, fearing she would have a medical emergency.

“I had a couple of instances as a child where I wasn’t invited to a birthday party because the parents weren’t sure if I could eat cake or not,” she said. “As a child, that can really hurt your feelings.”

When she was about 10 years old, the Merced native got an insulin pump, which gave her much more flexibility in everything from activities to mealtime, as well as a glucose sensor. The pump helps by mimicking a healthy pancreas, releasing rapid-acting insulin to the body to remove the need for regular shots throughout the day.

And if all that fails, she’s got a four-legged sidekick to help her out.

After earning bachelor’s degrees in history and science at Harvard, and just before entering a master’s program at Johns Hopkins University, Medefind-Bond decided to get a service dog, Prim.

Prim was at Medefind-Bond’s side through the all-nighters, clinical rotations, and even walking across the stage to receive her degree.

“I was going to be living independently for the first time and just wanted to have that extra safety net,” she said. “The dog could help me or notify someone if I needed help with a blood sugar episode.” Prim has even had to wake up Medefind-Bond’s husband when she couldn’t wake up her owner for an alert.

Shortly after she started nursing school, a couple of faculty members suggested they collaborate on a research paper about the use of a service animal in a clinical setting.

The resulting article, on which Medefind-Bond is a coauthor, highlights the challenges and benefits of a nursing student with a service animal working in clinical settings. While the presence of a service animal raises some concerns about hygiene and allergies, the paper also notes that many patients responded positively and some even saw their physical condition improve after having been around Prim.

After graduating in 2018, Medefind-Bond returned to Merced, where she has held positions at UC Merced, Dignity Health and others before joining Merced College.

Following her parents’ example, she has also worked to enrich her community, particularly through the arts. She served on Playhouse Merced’s board, performed with the Mariposa Yosemite Symphony Orchestra, and played the piano for her church.

And at Valley Children’s Hospital, Medefind-Bond worked in the Childhood Cancer Survivorship program and wanted to support the brave kids who completed cancer treatment. To help survivors, she started the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Scholarship.

“I was just thinking of what we at Valley Children’s could do to help bolster that community and kind of put our money where our mouth is,” she said. “It was about showing these patients, these students, these kids, that we really believe in them.”

For Prim, retirement has brought some adjustments. She was a little confused when Medefind-Bond left for work without her, and initially was a bit skeptical of Kahanu. Now they’re inseparable, playing together and cuddling on the couch with mom.

She said it’s been an adjustment moving from a veteran to a 2-year-old service dog.

“Prim’s older, she’s super chill, she’s tired—Kahanu has a lot more energy,” she said. “My husband and I are adjusting to having a young dog in the house again. Giving her more play time, more exercise, more stimulation.”