Skylee's Service Dog Fund
Donation protected
Well ill start from the beginning i guess..
At 5 weeks old i was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease(read about it here ; http://www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq ). I ended up having emergency surgery to remove an acorn like blockage in my stomach, come to find out i had Pyloric Stenosis. Which is very rare in females. From that point on, my mom was asked if she wanted to start me on experimental medication that had a 50/50 chance of working. Not only that but i had 72hrs to live and she only had 5 minutes to make up her mind before the offer was no longer available. These experimental drugs saved my life and i am still on them today along with many other meds that i have been prescribed over my life time. I have many many specialists, ranging from Cardiologists, Pulmonary, Orthodontists, G.I Doctors (ive had him since i was 5 weeks old), Mitochondrial Specialists (I had Dr.Korson my entire life(since i was 5weeks) however he moved onto teaching rather than doctoring as of recently.), Rehabilitation, Bone Doctors, etc.
With the lack of mitochondria in my cells, or some of them are broken or just are there but dont work. So every single part of my body and or organs are effected in some way.
Id write more paragraphs than needed but id probably write too much so im just going to list things to make it easier.
I have a fluid cyst in my brain, which has caused no harm to me as long as it doesnt attach itself to my nerves and its closely monitored by my neurologists. I have chronic head aches and black outs, that occur randomly. I will get "dizzy" and black out and end up in another room or on the ground. I dont remember what happens during them and can sometimes be unresponsive until i come out. But so far they are not considered seizures as i have been seizure tested and now currently fear rapid flashing lights of any kind since it feels like i could go into a seizure even though those tests proved otherwise.
I have been diagnosed with scoliosis, my l5 and s1 disks inflame so bad that the pain is crippling. I will always have chronic pain. I broke both growth plates in my knees when i was younger and have knee problems. I have balance issues and often stumble, i have a hard time getting up on almost every occasion. I have a hard time bending down to pick up things because either my knees lock or act up or my back acts up which makes it extremely difficult to work around. My knees, legs and ankles often give out from me and i stumble or fall. I do wear back braces, knee braces, and foot braces to help my scoliosis, knees from giving out and posture. I am often using my wheelchair because of this but i tend to walk too because i dont want to loose my entire ability to walk just yet as i am still young...but i do use my wheelchair when i need it.
I have PTSD( i was molested which makes me fear every guy i come near and think he's going to rape or hurt me. I have this thing where my skin crawls and i want to escape this person or people asap but i cant because im basically paralyzed by fear. My father did dome bad things when i was 7 years old and stuff ( you can basically read about it here ; http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20061122/NEWS/311229999/0/SEARCH ) I wasnt in the van at the time i hear the gun shots. I was a bad night. I used to be haunted by nightmares from that night and i still think he'll come back and try to kill us or something) , severe anxiety((Social too) i was bullied for 11 years so, im scared of a lot people and talking to strangers makes me uncomfortable)
Im scared of being alone...because i have very bad anxiety not only that but one day last year, Sept 28th. I thought i was dying. I ended up being rushed to the emergency room and everything. I had this very very severe and complex anxiety attack that ive never experienced before. I never knew i had anxiety before that moment. My heart was racing, i was blacking out, getting weak, i couldnt really stand without shaking and feeling weak in the knees, i was a big mess. I never once called an ambulance for any medical reason before. I was seriously thinking i was going to die or something like going into some kinda seizure, heart attack or even stroke. After that my problems only became more complex. One night i was home alone and i suddenly thought my heart stopped beating for a few seconds, not like skipped a beat but stopped beating all together. I didnt know what to do. After a while i ended up in the hospital for my episodes of where my heart would randomly race for no reason and slow back down and go right back up again.. I went home with a heart monitor to see what a 24-72 monitor would show as my heart beats were recorded on a disk and sent to my cardiologist. My ER doctors were able to see that i wouldnt be doing anything to set these episode and i eventually ended up back in the ER and my heart beat ended up hitting 172-180 BPM(beats per min) and i was like thinking i was on the verge of a heart attack i didnt know what was going on anymore and i refused to be left alone. I cried and feared for my own health. People literally had to babysit me and i was okay with that, i felt safe. I also knew if something happened to me they'd be able to get me the help i would need. After months of that i eventually got to go see my Cardiologist who couldnt see me until then because her schedule gets so packed theres no squeezing you in. I had an Echo and EKG done and everything showed up normal and completely okay though she has no idea how to explain those episodes i went through or anything. I suggested that maybe i have POTS but she said id have more than just that to deal with. But as of February i havent had those problems really. Sometimes my heart acts up here and there but its not as severe or long lasting its only for a few minutes.
Theres a lot more wrong with me, its very late and im having a difficult time thinking about more things to talk about when its so much easier in person to talk about things.
I think by having a service dog that, ill become more confident, independent, less afraid of people and all these other things that im afraid to do or cant do because of my disabilities. Not only that but i will have a companion or friend there with me to help me along. Ill be able to sleep through the night with out having to worry about being alone. I wont have to be afraid of the people around me that could have the potential of hurting me but probably have no intentions to. I will be able to go out and enjoy life. I dont get to go outside often because i have no friends or i cant because im afraid of the world around me. Ill be able to open up more and possibly coax myself to not fear the outside world. I wont have to worry about falling and having difficulties standing, or blacking out, ill know that my service dog will be there to help protect me, or even find help. There are so many things a service dog could do for me and ill be so grateful for what i receive and who i meet.
Even if im just considered or denied, i was able to share my story and that means a lot to me.
Im sorry if this is a bit repetitive or confusing in some way, i was trying to do my best to get a lot about me out with out having to struggle a lot about it, since my memory isnt the best either.
There is so much much more about me that i would like to share with you guys but this is alot to take in already! So please if you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email redacted]
At 5 weeks old i was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease(read about it here ; http://www.mitoaction.org/mito-faq ). I ended up having emergency surgery to remove an acorn like blockage in my stomach, come to find out i had Pyloric Stenosis. Which is very rare in females. From that point on, my mom was asked if she wanted to start me on experimental medication that had a 50/50 chance of working. Not only that but i had 72hrs to live and she only had 5 minutes to make up her mind before the offer was no longer available. These experimental drugs saved my life and i am still on them today along with many other meds that i have been prescribed over my life time. I have many many specialists, ranging from Cardiologists, Pulmonary, Orthodontists, G.I Doctors (ive had him since i was 5 weeks old), Mitochondrial Specialists (I had Dr.Korson my entire life(since i was 5weeks) however he moved onto teaching rather than doctoring as of recently.), Rehabilitation, Bone Doctors, etc.
With the lack of mitochondria in my cells, or some of them are broken or just are there but dont work. So every single part of my body and or organs are effected in some way.
Id write more paragraphs than needed but id probably write too much so im just going to list things to make it easier.
I have a fluid cyst in my brain, which has caused no harm to me as long as it doesnt attach itself to my nerves and its closely monitored by my neurologists. I have chronic head aches and black outs, that occur randomly. I will get "dizzy" and black out and end up in another room or on the ground. I dont remember what happens during them and can sometimes be unresponsive until i come out. But so far they are not considered seizures as i have been seizure tested and now currently fear rapid flashing lights of any kind since it feels like i could go into a seizure even though those tests proved otherwise.
I have been diagnosed with scoliosis, my l5 and s1 disks inflame so bad that the pain is crippling. I will always have chronic pain. I broke both growth plates in my knees when i was younger and have knee problems. I have balance issues and often stumble, i have a hard time getting up on almost every occasion. I have a hard time bending down to pick up things because either my knees lock or act up or my back acts up which makes it extremely difficult to work around. My knees, legs and ankles often give out from me and i stumble or fall. I do wear back braces, knee braces, and foot braces to help my scoliosis, knees from giving out and posture. I am often using my wheelchair because of this but i tend to walk too because i dont want to loose my entire ability to walk just yet as i am still young...but i do use my wheelchair when i need it.
I have PTSD( i was molested which makes me fear every guy i come near and think he's going to rape or hurt me. I have this thing where my skin crawls and i want to escape this person or people asap but i cant because im basically paralyzed by fear. My father did dome bad things when i was 7 years old and stuff ( you can basically read about it here ; http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20061122/NEWS/311229999/0/SEARCH ) I wasnt in the van at the time i hear the gun shots. I was a bad night. I used to be haunted by nightmares from that night and i still think he'll come back and try to kill us or something) , severe anxiety((Social too) i was bullied for 11 years so, im scared of a lot people and talking to strangers makes me uncomfortable)
Im scared of being alone...because i have very bad anxiety not only that but one day last year, Sept 28th. I thought i was dying. I ended up being rushed to the emergency room and everything. I had this very very severe and complex anxiety attack that ive never experienced before. I never knew i had anxiety before that moment. My heart was racing, i was blacking out, getting weak, i couldnt really stand without shaking and feeling weak in the knees, i was a big mess. I never once called an ambulance for any medical reason before. I was seriously thinking i was going to die or something like going into some kinda seizure, heart attack or even stroke. After that my problems only became more complex. One night i was home alone and i suddenly thought my heart stopped beating for a few seconds, not like skipped a beat but stopped beating all together. I didnt know what to do. After a while i ended up in the hospital for my episodes of where my heart would randomly race for no reason and slow back down and go right back up again.. I went home with a heart monitor to see what a 24-72 monitor would show as my heart beats were recorded on a disk and sent to my cardiologist. My ER doctors were able to see that i wouldnt be doing anything to set these episode and i eventually ended up back in the ER and my heart beat ended up hitting 172-180 BPM(beats per min) and i was like thinking i was on the verge of a heart attack i didnt know what was going on anymore and i refused to be left alone. I cried and feared for my own health. People literally had to babysit me and i was okay with that, i felt safe. I also knew if something happened to me they'd be able to get me the help i would need. After months of that i eventually got to go see my Cardiologist who couldnt see me until then because her schedule gets so packed theres no squeezing you in. I had an Echo and EKG done and everything showed up normal and completely okay though she has no idea how to explain those episodes i went through or anything. I suggested that maybe i have POTS but she said id have more than just that to deal with. But as of February i havent had those problems really. Sometimes my heart acts up here and there but its not as severe or long lasting its only for a few minutes.
Theres a lot more wrong with me, its very late and im having a difficult time thinking about more things to talk about when its so much easier in person to talk about things.
I think by having a service dog that, ill become more confident, independent, less afraid of people and all these other things that im afraid to do or cant do because of my disabilities. Not only that but i will have a companion or friend there with me to help me along. Ill be able to sleep through the night with out having to worry about being alone. I wont have to be afraid of the people around me that could have the potential of hurting me but probably have no intentions to. I will be able to go out and enjoy life. I dont get to go outside often because i have no friends or i cant because im afraid of the world around me. Ill be able to open up more and possibly coax myself to not fear the outside world. I wont have to worry about falling and having difficulties standing, or blacking out, ill know that my service dog will be there to help protect me, or even find help. There are so many things a service dog could do for me and ill be so grateful for what i receive and who i meet.
Even if im just considered or denied, i was able to share my story and that means a lot to me.
Im sorry if this is a bit repetitive or confusing in some way, i was trying to do my best to get a lot about me out with out having to struggle a lot about it, since my memory isnt the best either.
There is so much much more about me that i would like to share with you guys but this is alot to take in already! So please if you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email redacted]
Organizer
Skylee Marie Hjorth
Organizer
New Bedford, MA
