A Service Dog for Paulina
Donation protected
I’m starting this campaign because my girlfriend, Paulina, is in need of a mobility service dog.
In a way you could say the world has always been rough on Paulina. This year alone, she was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia, and possibly Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She has also been diagnosed with arthritis and patellofemoral syndrome. Over the course of her life she has seen doctor after doctor for her mental and physical health. Along with these physical illnesses, she lives with PTSD, OCD, BDD, and anxiety. Being an adopted child is the stem to all of her mental illnesses and it can also make it challenging to get diagnoses for them because of the lack of family medical history. She still persevered and pursued several activities like soccer, dancing, and guitar playing, but that too was taken away when she started having symptoms from her newly discovered illnesses.
She’s lost a lot of her physical mobility. Her most severe symptoms are: fatigue, pain, poor balance making it hard for her to walk. On a good day, she can do a quick outing, like dinner or grocery shopping. On her bad days however, which are becoming much more frequent, it’s hard for her to even leave her bed. She’s lost a lot of confidence in her ability to walk and these bad days make her feel trapped and dependent, and they often lead to tears.
The idea of a mobility dog was kind of tossed around but became more prominent when walking on her own became more of a safety hazard because of her more frequent falling. In a search for ways she could improve her situation, she stumbled upon Scout, the soon-to-be service dog. Scout also happens to be a nickname she was given by her dad as a child, so it seems oddly perfect. After trying several rounds of physical therapy and different kinds of braces, it’s clear that a service dog like Scout is the best thing for her health right now. Both of us believe that getting a service dog would be the best solution for the following reasons: Scout would be a…
Mobility Supporter - The main purpose of Scout will be to support her when she’s walking somewhere or going upstairs. She’ll act as her brace when Paulina starts feeling dizzy or her legs start getting weak while still giving her a chance to utilize her own stability. She can also open doors and grab items such as medicine and water for Paulina.
While mobility is the main thing, Scout could possibly help in these ways:
OCD Interrupter - Scout will be able to interrupt Paulina’s OCD behaviors such as pressing in her own eyes for the sake of symmetry.
Allergy & Fatigue Detector - Scout will alert Paulina when she is scratching herself as cause of allergies and when she is overworking herself and needs to take a break.
Deep Pressure Stimulator: Scout will be able interrupt a PTSD symptom of disorientation by applying pressure to Paulina to relax and settle her.
On top of all that, this will give her the emotional support she needs while still giving her a sense of independence and self-confidence. I can’t be there to physically support her since I live about a thousand miles away, so getting her this dog is the best I can do from where I am. She’s honestly the best girlfriend I could ever ask for so I’m really hoping I can do this for her.
I would really appreciate anything you have to offer, and I know Paulina will even more so. If you want another way to support, Paulina is also selling t-shirts and hoodies she designed herself.
The link for that is here: https://teespring.com/stores/the-anxious-pig
She thinks that only a few people care about her, but I wanna prove her wrong. I wanna show her just how much she means to the world, especially to me.
Thanks everyone!
In a way you could say the world has always been rough on Paulina. This year alone, she was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia, and possibly Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She has also been diagnosed with arthritis and patellofemoral syndrome. Over the course of her life she has seen doctor after doctor for her mental and physical health. Along with these physical illnesses, she lives with PTSD, OCD, BDD, and anxiety. Being an adopted child is the stem to all of her mental illnesses and it can also make it challenging to get diagnoses for them because of the lack of family medical history. She still persevered and pursued several activities like soccer, dancing, and guitar playing, but that too was taken away when she started having symptoms from her newly discovered illnesses.
She’s lost a lot of her physical mobility. Her most severe symptoms are: fatigue, pain, poor balance making it hard for her to walk. On a good day, she can do a quick outing, like dinner or grocery shopping. On her bad days however, which are becoming much more frequent, it’s hard for her to even leave her bed. She’s lost a lot of confidence in her ability to walk and these bad days make her feel trapped and dependent, and they often lead to tears.
The idea of a mobility dog was kind of tossed around but became more prominent when walking on her own became more of a safety hazard because of her more frequent falling. In a search for ways she could improve her situation, she stumbled upon Scout, the soon-to-be service dog. Scout also happens to be a nickname she was given by her dad as a child, so it seems oddly perfect. After trying several rounds of physical therapy and different kinds of braces, it’s clear that a service dog like Scout is the best thing for her health right now. Both of us believe that getting a service dog would be the best solution for the following reasons: Scout would be a…
Mobility Supporter - The main purpose of Scout will be to support her when she’s walking somewhere or going upstairs. She’ll act as her brace when Paulina starts feeling dizzy or her legs start getting weak while still giving her a chance to utilize her own stability. She can also open doors and grab items such as medicine and water for Paulina.
While mobility is the main thing, Scout could possibly help in these ways:
OCD Interrupter - Scout will be able to interrupt Paulina’s OCD behaviors such as pressing in her own eyes for the sake of symmetry.
Allergy & Fatigue Detector - Scout will alert Paulina when she is scratching herself as cause of allergies and when she is overworking herself and needs to take a break.
Deep Pressure Stimulator: Scout will be able interrupt a PTSD symptom of disorientation by applying pressure to Paulina to relax and settle her.
On top of all that, this will give her the emotional support she needs while still giving her a sense of independence and self-confidence. I can’t be there to physically support her since I live about a thousand miles away, so getting her this dog is the best I can do from where I am. She’s honestly the best girlfriend I could ever ask for so I’m really hoping I can do this for her.
I would really appreciate anything you have to offer, and I know Paulina will even more so. If you want another way to support, Paulina is also selling t-shirts and hoodies she designed herself.
The link for that is here: https://teespring.com/stores/the-anxious-pig
She thinks that only a few people care about her, but I wanna prove her wrong. I wanna show her just how much she means to the world, especially to me.
Thanks everyone!
Organizer
Caleb Andrew
Organizer
Tulsa, OK
