Seizure Response Dog 4 Dalton
Donation protected
Imagine waking up sick and in confusion with your co-workers standing over you calling your name. “Dalton, Dalton,” I heard and at the age of 30, I had just suffered my first seizure. I bled for 20 minutes on the bathroom floor before my co-workers would find me. The fear of having a seizure with no one around is terrifying to me.
Shortly after being found I was loaded into an ambulance and taken to my local hospital, I found myself having an MRI. Doctors would determine from the scans that I had a large cancerous tumor in the right frontal lobe of my brain.
Taking an aggressive approach to my diagnosis, I would have a 13-hour brain surgery 2-weeks after the seizure. After surgery, I required rehabilitation to strengthen my body and my mind. The world I knew was completely different.
Today, nearly two years since my surgery things are still different. I lost several things I took for granted: jobs, friends, being able to jump in the car and drive to the store, something even as small as being in a room by myself.
Amber and I have done our best to create a safe environment for me. We moved from Colorado to Florida to be closer to family, placed cameras in most of the rooms so she can find me in the house when she is away picking up the kids from school, but now we need your help.
We are asking to please contribute whatever you can and as often as you can to raise funds to purchase a service animal for me. Service Dogs for those with seizure disorders are called Seizure Response Dogs and are very expensive. So again please, contribute whatever you can and as often as you can.
Along with necessary obedience skills, my dog will train to alert people that I am having a seizure by barking and performing tasks for me after I have come from the seizure. Over time there is a chance that my dog could even alert me before a seizure happens, prompting me to get in a seizure safety position.
The estimated cost of a seizure response dog is ($15k -$30K) depending on breed and the trainer's experience. They are not just pets, but companions that face their owners' disorders and fears head-on.
Having a Seizure Response Dog will change my life and give me a sense of independence that I have lost due to this cruel disease. My dog will be there to respond to a seizure and carry my medical information for those he/she alerts, medications, and be my furry sidekick to kick cancer's butt.
Thank you to all that took the time to read my story. Please don't give what you don't have, but give whatever you can and as often as you can.
Shortly after being found I was loaded into an ambulance and taken to my local hospital, I found myself having an MRI. Doctors would determine from the scans that I had a large cancerous tumor in the right frontal lobe of my brain.
Taking an aggressive approach to my diagnosis, I would have a 13-hour brain surgery 2-weeks after the seizure. After surgery, I required rehabilitation to strengthen my body and my mind. The world I knew was completely different.
Today, nearly two years since my surgery things are still different. I lost several things I took for granted: jobs, friends, being able to jump in the car and drive to the store, something even as small as being in a room by myself.
Amber and I have done our best to create a safe environment for me. We moved from Colorado to Florida to be closer to family, placed cameras in most of the rooms so she can find me in the house when she is away picking up the kids from school, but now we need your help.
We are asking to please contribute whatever you can and as often as you can to raise funds to purchase a service animal for me. Service Dogs for those with seizure disorders are called Seizure Response Dogs and are very expensive. So again please, contribute whatever you can and as often as you can.
Along with necessary obedience skills, my dog will train to alert people that I am having a seizure by barking and performing tasks for me after I have come from the seizure. Over time there is a chance that my dog could even alert me before a seizure happens, prompting me to get in a seizure safety position.
The estimated cost of a seizure response dog is ($15k -$30K) depending on breed and the trainer's experience. They are not just pets, but companions that face their owners' disorders and fears head-on.
Having a Seizure Response Dog will change my life and give me a sense of independence that I have lost due to this cruel disease. My dog will be there to respond to a seizure and carry my medical information for those he/she alerts, medications, and be my furry sidekick to kick cancer's butt.
Thank you to all that took the time to read my story. Please don't give what you don't have, but give whatever you can and as often as you can.
Co-organizers (2)
Dalton Patterson
Organizer
Riverview, FL
Dalton Patterson
Co-organizer