Cadence Mitchell's Service Dog Emmy

Hello. Cadence is my very brave daughter. She has many health challenges, however, she lives each day with grace and dignity. She has suffered her whole life with health difficulties. She has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, 2nd degree heart block, and a pacemaker. She has Fontan Associated Liver Disease, now in the final cirrhosis stage. She was diagnosed with Failure to Thrive and has been petite, with a lower than normal bone age her whole life. She doesn't produce growth hormone. Her GI system causes excruciating daily pain. She was in the hospital again (her whole life has been made of hospital stays) and is currently undergoing tests and procedures - all results point to Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and Crohn's Disease. They are also testing for celiac. She has a sacral dimple from birth and is undergoing tests for spina bifida occulta. She has a genetic heart mutation NKX2.5 and has a genetic syndrome called Trisomy 8 Mosaicism.

Cadence has stomach and bowel pain every single day. She's often very sick and has to be hospitalized. She may not do things like other teens ; group functions, friend functions, and more because of her very high risk of catching Covid or RSV. Animals are her best friends.

I can't begin to list all of the activities she is involved in. She works with animal shelters, rescuers, and trainers. She is a reptile expert. She volunteers at barns and farms. She is an advocate for heart health and CPR and blood donation. She won an award "Teen of Impact" for her work with the American Heart ASsociation and is now speaking at their events. She was awarded Community Hero by the San Diego County Fair for her volunteer efforts with so many organizations. She plays 5 musical instruments, sings, and acts. She wants to be a professional actor and voice actor.

In order to become more independent as she turns 18 in a few weeks, she has asked for a service dog. We found an amazing Red Fox Lab pup that we will drive up to pick up in Northern California at the end of February. She earns a lot of money by herself by working - she's a junior chef and she cooks for people. She also does animal care/pet care for people. She paid for her horse by herself and continues to pay for the horse's care. She wants to pay for the SD training by working, but I know she will need some help. She is finally getting her driver's license at 18 years of age, later than most because of her PTSD and fear of driving. But she has conquered that fear and is ready.

I know she will need some help to make this trip up to Northern California (with me and her brother) in order to pick up her pup. We will then begin training the pup for obedience and the Canine Good Citizen test.

I'd love to get her some help for her trip to make sure she can get her dog. The dog will be trained to do mobility assistance, to help with tasks like medication reminder and retrieval, and to do medical alerts like arrhythmia alert, GI spasm alert, and low blood pressure/syncope alert.

I'm a photographer and will be giving her proceeds from all my photo sessions so if you are local and need photography, please contact me: www.melissagmitchell.com

Thank you for your support.