Little Miss Lauren - Service Dog
Donation protected
Feel free to follow updates on both Lauren and Cali on Facebook:
www.Facebook.com/alittlegirlneedsadog
We have began an online store to help raise funds:
www.LittleMissLauren.com
Update :
What has changed? We had originally planned on going through a local training organization . We were then referred to an organization our of state that would train in both Physical Assist and Seizure Alert.
We decided that we want to be a part of Lauren's dogs training from day 1. We want her dog to be raised with her for many reasons but mainly because we feel that it will be best for her and so that her service dog will know her , really know her.
So that has changed some things . We felt wholeheartedly that we found Lauren's dog in a litter of German Shepherds . The mother and father are both wonderful dogs.
We began owner training under the hands on direction and supervision of an experienced trainer with Due Praise Dog Training. Wilma Tilton specializes in owner training and has been working with us in one hour sessions, 2 sessions per week, since September 2014.
Cali has turned out to be one amazing and highly trainable dog. Our prayers were answered with her. Our training expenses which include trainer fees, gear, food and vet visits will continue until Cali has a full 2 years of training.
Lauren's Birth Story:
In August of 2010, in our 33rd week of pregnancy, a large amount of fluid was found on our little girls brain. We had recently switched Obstetricians, and he had felt that I was measuring larger than my due date would indicate. After a negative testing for gestational diabetes, an additional ultrasound was done.
After speaking to the doctor, we were sent directly to a high risk facility the same day. That day we found out that Lauren was going to be born with (Myelomeningocele) Spina Bifida, a clubbed foot, and a severe level of Hydrocephaly. The fluid on her brain would not allow much information about her brain formation at that time.
Over the next two weeks we entered into a whirlwind of information and testing, one being an amniocentesis. Five days later my contractions had increased to the point of being kept overnight for observation at the hospital. An emergency C-section was scheduled by the next morning and Lauren Cassidy was born weighing 9lbs 15oz at 35 weeks. Most of her weight was due to the fluid on her brain and her head was at birth compared to that of a 2 year old or older.
Lauren stayed in the NICU for two weeks after her birth and during her first two days received a surgical procedure to close the opening of her spine (estimated to cover 4-5 vertebrae) and a shunt placement to allow drainage of the fluid from her brain. She also began having her foot cast to correct the deformation.
Her shunt valve was adjusted many times over a 6 month period which resulted in cranial deformity, but for her it was necessary to offer her the best chance of development. A combination of both CT and MRI scans done of her brain eventually indicated that she was completely missing the Septum Pellucidum as well as the Corpus Callosum. During a second opinion in another city we were advised that her development would not move past an infant level.
Our Ladybug now:
Lauren turned 4 in September 2014 and the typical milestones that she has met vary from a range of 6 months-3 years. She amazes us daily with all of the things we feared she would never be able to do. Slowly she continues to conquers the unexpected.
Lauren is in a wheelchair that helps with positioning and mobility issues from Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida. Lauren is on two daily medications for a seizure disorder and we use natural alternatives to ailments whenever possible. She takes Juice Plus daily which allows her to have access to whole foods in a crushed form. She has a feeding tube that she received high calorie Pediasure feedings through at night and during the day.She uses an oxygen machine at night on a low setting.
Lauren has weekly Speech and Feeding Therapy, and bi-weekly Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy in Knoxville, Tennessee where our family now lives. Periodically Lauren has visits with her Nuerosurgeons at The Walter E. Boehm Birth Defects Center, her Nuerologist, GI Specialist, Urology, and Orthopaedic whom are all located at T.C Thompson Children's Hospital of Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee where she was born.
Lauren thinks that life is a musical and we do not plan telling her otherwise. :) This little girl loves music and sings the words that she knows as loud as she possibly can. She is a huge fan of Taylor Swift and nursery ryhmes from HooplaKidz.
Service Dog:
Feel free to follow updates on both Lauren and Cali on Facebook:
www.Facebook.com/alittlegirlneedsadog
We have began an online store to help raise funds:
www.LittleMissLauren.com
www.Facebook.com/alittlegirlneedsadog
We have began an online store to help raise funds:
www.LittleMissLauren.com
Update :
What has changed? We had originally planned on going through a local training organization . We were then referred to an organization our of state that would train in both Physical Assist and Seizure Alert.
We decided that we want to be a part of Lauren's dogs training from day 1. We want her dog to be raised with her for many reasons but mainly because we feel that it will be best for her and so that her service dog will know her , really know her.
So that has changed some things . We felt wholeheartedly that we found Lauren's dog in a litter of German Shepherds . The mother and father are both wonderful dogs.
We began owner training under the hands on direction and supervision of an experienced trainer with Due Praise Dog Training. Wilma Tilton specializes in owner training and has been working with us in one hour sessions, 2 sessions per week, since September 2014.
Cali has turned out to be one amazing and highly trainable dog. Our prayers were answered with her. Our training expenses which include trainer fees, gear, food and vet visits will continue until Cali has a full 2 years of training.
Lauren's Birth Story:
In August of 2010, in our 33rd week of pregnancy, a large amount of fluid was found on our little girls brain. We had recently switched Obstetricians, and he had felt that I was measuring larger than my due date would indicate. After a negative testing for gestational diabetes, an additional ultrasound was done.
After speaking to the doctor, we were sent directly to a high risk facility the same day. That day we found out that Lauren was going to be born with (Myelomeningocele) Spina Bifida, a clubbed foot, and a severe level of Hydrocephaly. The fluid on her brain would not allow much information about her brain formation at that time.
Over the next two weeks we entered into a whirlwind of information and testing, one being an amniocentesis. Five days later my contractions had increased to the point of being kept overnight for observation at the hospital. An emergency C-section was scheduled by the next morning and Lauren Cassidy was born weighing 9lbs 15oz at 35 weeks. Most of her weight was due to the fluid on her brain and her head was at birth compared to that of a 2 year old or older.
Lauren stayed in the NICU for two weeks after her birth and during her first two days received a surgical procedure to close the opening of her spine (estimated to cover 4-5 vertebrae) and a shunt placement to allow drainage of the fluid from her brain. She also began having her foot cast to correct the deformation.
Her shunt valve was adjusted many times over a 6 month period which resulted in cranial deformity, but for her it was necessary to offer her the best chance of development. A combination of both CT and MRI scans done of her brain eventually indicated that she was completely missing the Septum Pellucidum as well as the Corpus Callosum. During a second opinion in another city we were advised that her development would not move past an infant level.
Our Ladybug now:
Lauren turned 4 in September 2014 and the typical milestones that she has met vary from a range of 6 months-3 years. She amazes us daily with all of the things we feared she would never be able to do. Slowly she continues to conquers the unexpected.
Lauren is in a wheelchair that helps with positioning and mobility issues from Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida. Lauren is on two daily medications for a seizure disorder and we use natural alternatives to ailments whenever possible. She takes Juice Plus daily which allows her to have access to whole foods in a crushed form. She has a feeding tube that she received high calorie Pediasure feedings through at night and during the day.She uses an oxygen machine at night on a low setting.
Lauren has weekly Speech and Feeding Therapy, and bi-weekly Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy in Knoxville, Tennessee where our family now lives. Periodically Lauren has visits with her Nuerosurgeons at The Walter E. Boehm Birth Defects Center, her Nuerologist, GI Specialist, Urology, and Orthopaedic whom are all located at T.C Thompson Children's Hospital of Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee where she was born.
Lauren thinks that life is a musical and we do not plan telling her otherwise. :) This little girl loves music and sings the words that she knows as loud as she possibly can. She is a huge fan of Taylor Swift and nursery ryhmes from HooplaKidz.
Service Dog:
Feel free to follow updates on both Lauren and Cali on Facebook:
www.Facebook.com/alittlegirlneedsadog
We have began an online store to help raise funds:
www.LittleMissLauren.com
Organiser
Cassandra Ferguson Jones
Organiser
Knoxville, TN
