Empower Stephanie's Independence with a Service Dog

My name is Stephanie and I have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). POTS is a form of dysautonomia, which is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls all of the automatic functions in the body (heart rate regulation, blood pressure regulation, digestion, etc.). POTS can cause a wide range of symptoms including, but not limited to, dizziness, lightheadedness, palpitations, heart racing, nausea, vomiting, difficulty concentrating, excessive fatigue, migraines, pre-syncope, and occasionally syncope (fainting).

There are no FDA-approved medications to treat POTS; instead, each individual symptom is treated. I take medicine for each symptom and am continually adding more as more symptoms pop up. Some other things that help with controlling symptoms are salt and IV fluids. However, medicine can't help with quality of life, and it can't stop every episode from happening.

A service dog, while not being able to stop episodes, can go get somebody when I have an episode and am alone. A service dog can elevate my feet or lay on my legs to promote blood flow. A service dog can wear a mobility harness so that, when needed, I can hold on to that and give a simple command to go find a chair. The dog would go to the first chair it can find so that I can sit down. Another task that a service dog could do would be to just sit with me when I am having an episode. I will sometimes be unable to function for 5+ hours, and it's very scary. Having a dog to just sit with me and be with me through that time would be very helpful. All of these tasks and more will be very helpful for daily functioning and safety, especially as I graduate and move into teaching.

I have been researching and applying for about a year, and I am happy to say that I am on a waiting list with Partners with Paws service dogs. I am very excited to continue in this process; however, the cost will be $10-15,000. If you are able to donate or share this post, Caleb and I would really appreciate it.