Avery's Service Dog

Hi! My name is Avery and I have FND (Functional Neurological Disorder). I got diagnosed with FND while we were away on a family vacation in Mexico. It started with me fainting a couple of times, and then I ended up in the hospital. When we returned home the first night I had to go back to the hospital because I had stopped breathing. Shortly after that I ended up at the hospital again because I began having seizures. They are called PNES, Psychogenic Non-epileptic seizures. At that time, we didn't know what it was so it was really scary. Fast forward to now, I “faint” up to 20 times a day, and can have 10 or more seizures a day. I have also been quite open about my struggle with depression and anxiety. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder and clinical depression. This has been really hard to deal with on my own. A couple months ago, I proposed the idea of a service dog to my parents and neither was excited about it. So, If you know me, of course I did 4 hours of research and came across a program called Aspen Service Dogs. I knew immediately that ASD was the right fit, so I talked to my parents. This time, I didn't say I want, I said “I need”. We’re expecting the puppy’s arrival within the week, and it blows my mind that I am getting this puppy so quickly. Even though I know my parents would make this happen, it means a lot to me to help contribute to this. My goal is to raise as much of the cost as I can. If I’m being honest, these past couple months have been extremely difficult for me so I just want to say thank you to everyone supporting me through this time. I will work with Aspen trainers over the next 2 years until my dog can go through the Government testing and receive her official license as a Service Dog.