Service Dog Fund

On April 18, 2023, my sweet girl Lily passed away after 10 faithful years of service and companionship. She was a German shepherd mix trained seizure-alert dog through Canine Helpers for the Handicapped. The reason I needed Lily was because of a neurological condition that I have called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POT Syndrome for short). I was diagnosed with this condition at the age of 18 after bacteria from a virus entered my bloodstream during routine oral surgery and inflicted damage to the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) branches of my nervous system. On any given day I will experience abnormal heart rates, low blood pressure, heart palpitations, poor blood flow to the upper body and extremities, fainting episodes, dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, blood pooling and other unusual symptoms. This condition has no known cure. It's an unpredictable, daily, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute battle I struggle with.

Lily helped make it possible for me to gain back my independence so I didn't have to rely on a wheelchair or buddy system anymore and get through college to work a full-time job. We graduated from college together with our bachelor's degrees, worked at two different companies, and loved hiking and kayaking on the weekends. Lily was my constant companion. I cannot count the times she put her head on my lap to keep me from standing up and having a fainting episode or licked my face after I went down to revive me. Knowing she would guard me if I wasn't conscious enough to do it myself made cities explorable, and watching her make goofy faces at me probably did more to ward off stress-induced symptoms than anything else. I miss her deeply.

Now that Lily has gone to rest, it's time for me to find a new companion. I need a dog who is big enough to brace me, guard me, and push me back down when I try to get up too fast. They need to be smart enough to follow hurried commands, focused enough to block out all distractions and brave enough to lead me anywhere. This is a tall order. This dog will need extensive training, medical workups, and some equipment to get them settled into their new role.

I know I can never replace Lily, but I'm looking for a dog who can follow in her footsteps.