Hi! My name is Avery Paner and I’ve been diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome for almost 3 years now. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) can be a life altering and debilitating health condition. Simply standing up can be a challenge for affected people as their body is unable to adjust to gravity. PoTS is due to an abnormal response by the autonomic (automatic) nervous system and is characterised by orthostatic intolerance (the development of symptoms when upright that are mostly relieved by lying down). Symptoms include palpitations, lightheadedness, fatigue, sweating, nausea, syncope (fainting), pre-syncope, headaches, brain fog/confusion, and MUCH more. Recently my condition has been getting much worse. A few weeks ago I passed out almost 20 times in one day. After spending almost a week in the hospital, I was left with no answers yet again. Around one year ago is when I started looking into the possibility of a service dog. Through the ADI website I was able to find Ears Eyes Nose & Paws  located in Chapel Hill. EENP provides assistance with medical alert dogs that are able to detect a certain hormone or adrenaline release and can alert me before a syncope episode occurs. I’ve been battling with the idea of a service dog now for the past year, but recently after I passed out and hit my head with no warning I decided it was time to take action.

Service dogs are EXPENSIVE. It costs on average $50,000 for service dog training and placement. That being said, I am still a broke teenager! I am fortunate enough to have parents with somewhat stable incomes that can help with a portion of the fees, but I still need more help. As of now, there is NO CURE for POTS. I have big goals for my future and lots of community service events present that I want to be a part of. A service dog would greatly impact my quality of life and help me achieve the fullest potential that POTS can offer. Any financial generosity would be greatly appreciated and would go directly into the funding of my service dog. Thank you so so much:)

-Aves