ASSISTANCE CANINE FOR EPILEPSY
Donation protected
That's me in the sports bra trying to live a "Normal Life", but my life is anything but normal. My Seizures are triggered by anything.. Welcome to my story..
I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22. Before my diagnosis, I was a life guard, a rock climber, a college student, a traveler, and many more things. I had also made the decision to drive 1600 miles away from home, from one side of the country to the other in my dreams of finishing my degree. After my diagnosis, I needed to live a safer lifestyle due to my seizures. This meant no driving, no swimming, no taking baths unless monitored. This drastic change in my lifestyle took a toll on my emotions in general. I was able to finish out my semester of college, but I had a lot more to learn about my new illness. First form of therapy was drug therapy. This seemed to work at first as I was 8 months seizure free and finally able to gain some freedoms like driving again. But, unfortunately, my epilepsy became drug resistant and I had another seizure. This seizure occurred while driving home from class, thankfully me and no one else was harmed.
The seizures intensified over this past summer. They have become so bad that I had to take a medical leave from school and had to nearly stop working. This has limited me to almost CONSTANT supervision and emotional stress. Recently, in an attempt to improve my lifestyle and happiness, we have decided to look for a canine assistant. This canine assistant will be trained to:
1. alert me before having a seizure.
2.The canine will alert someone in the home that I am having a seizure and need help.
3.The canine will be trained to assist my head and neck if I convulse on the floor.
4. trained for comfort from sever anxiety attacks(I cannot control the feelings that occur for no reason), this is needed due to some of the side effects that the DRUG THERAPY has on me.
4.Having a canine assistant will help me to find some independence in my life again. They would do this by allowing me to feel safe being alone which would greatly improve my quality of life.
5. My anxiety would improve over time and I would be physically safer with a canine assistant.
6. Lastly but certainly not least of the importance. With this canine I can be warned of a seizure in enough time to sit or lay down in a safe location and possibly figure out what is triggering them in the first place as I would be more aware to the onset.
Having these small freedoms back in my life would help to rebuild my confidence and greatly improve my quality of life, in which is completely limited to adult day care.
I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22. Before my diagnosis, I was a life guard, a rock climber, a college student, a traveler, and many more things. I had also made the decision to drive 1600 miles away from home, from one side of the country to the other in my dreams of finishing my degree. After my diagnosis, I needed to live a safer lifestyle due to my seizures. This meant no driving, no swimming, no taking baths unless monitored. This drastic change in my lifestyle took a toll on my emotions in general. I was able to finish out my semester of college, but I had a lot more to learn about my new illness. First form of therapy was drug therapy. This seemed to work at first as I was 8 months seizure free and finally able to gain some freedoms like driving again. But, unfortunately, my epilepsy became drug resistant and I had another seizure. This seizure occurred while driving home from class, thankfully me and no one else was harmed.
The seizures intensified over this past summer. They have become so bad that I had to take a medical leave from school and had to nearly stop working. This has limited me to almost CONSTANT supervision and emotional stress. Recently, in an attempt to improve my lifestyle and happiness, we have decided to look for a canine assistant. This canine assistant will be trained to:
1. alert me before having a seizure.
2.The canine will alert someone in the home that I am having a seizure and need help.
3.The canine will be trained to assist my head and neck if I convulse on the floor.
4. trained for comfort from sever anxiety attacks(I cannot control the feelings that occur for no reason), this is needed due to some of the side effects that the DRUG THERAPY has on me.
4.Having a canine assistant will help me to find some independence in my life again. They would do this by allowing me to feel safe being alone which would greatly improve my quality of life.
5. My anxiety would improve over time and I would be physically safer with a canine assistant.
6. Lastly but certainly not least of the importance. With this canine I can be warned of a seizure in enough time to sit or lay down in a safe location and possibly figure out what is triggering them in the first place as I would be more aware to the onset.
Having these small freedoms back in my life would help to rebuild my confidence and greatly improve my quality of life, in which is completely limited to adult day care.
Organizer
Talia Matthews
Organizer
Las Cruces, NM
