Help Mattie Get A Service Dog!
Donation protected
Meet Mattie June!
She is a happy, joy-giving three-year-old. Her smile will brighten your worst day. Her laughter is contagious and you will do anything just to keep hearing it. She loves music and when she asks you to sing a song, you will sing it, over and over, because at the end of every song, she cheers for you and you can never get enough of it. She adores her family...her mom and dad, her older brother and baby sister, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When someone she loves walks into the room, her face lights up and she claps excitedly. She makes everyone feel important with her cuddles and kisses.
Mattie’s strength and determination is without equal. She had her first brain surgery 2 days after she was born. Since then, she has had 7 more surgeries and has taken countless ambulance rides due to emergency situations. Her nights spent in a hospital are many...too many to count. Mattie even spent her first birthday in the hospital.
Mattie was born with hydrocephalus which is known as fluid on the brain. The build up of spinal fluid causes a lot of pressure and her head to be enlarged. In addition to hydrocephalus Mattie has holoprosencephaly (HPE). The medial bone dividing the right & left hemisphere of the brain, deviates which restricts the brain from developing ‘normally’. Her first surgery was to put in a shunt to relieve the pressure by removing some of the fluid from her brain into her stomach, where the body reabsorbs it. She had her first seizure at 10 months old.
Since then Mattie has had many, many seizures ranging from micro to Grand mall seizures. When she was 1 year old, there was one seizure that completely took over and wouldn’t let go. Nurses said she was having prolonged seizures and for 2 hours they were giving her meds to try and stop it. While they did an EEG we thought she was sleeping peacefully. Unfortunately, doctors informed us that even as she slept Mattie was experiencing micro seizures. The news from the doctor wasn’t good and he wasn’t sure that when/if she woke up that she’d be able to do anything. But our little girl fought! Not only did she wake up, she came home 3 days later....Christmas Day! She lost movement on her right side but she has been working hard to use that side more and more!
Many of Mattie’s seizures require ambulance rides and hospital stays. Her brain is just wired to have seizures, her neurologist explained. Medications and diet help control her seizures but she will still have them due to her condition. Both of Mattie’s conditions cause developmental delays. Right now, Mattie can’t walk or put much weight on her legs but she has recently started to sit on her own. A big milestone! She also has a feeding tube to help her eat and take her medications. We are so proud of her!
We are a military family. Her mom is an Army veteran and her dad is currently serving in the United States Army. We say this to express how thankful we are for the insurance that has helped Mattie get the equipment she needs. But now we need your help! We have been approved to get Mattie a service dog! Her dog will be trained to specifically meet her needs. It will be able to detect her oncoming seizures and also be trained on how to help her through them! This is huge! And an answer to prayer!
The company we are working with is called 4 Paws For Ability. Please give them a look and see all the amazing things they do for the disabled and veterans! It costs $40,000 to train a service dog. They ask that the family raise $17,000 of that fee. First and most importantly, please consider praying for our sweet girl. We seek her complete healing more than anything! And we know that God is able!
If you would like to donate money to help with Mattie’s service dog, we would be so grateful! ANY amount would be an incredible blessing.
We thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about our vivacious little girl.
Be blessed!
She is a happy, joy-giving three-year-old. Her smile will brighten your worst day. Her laughter is contagious and you will do anything just to keep hearing it. She loves music and when she asks you to sing a song, you will sing it, over and over, because at the end of every song, she cheers for you and you can never get enough of it. She adores her family...her mom and dad, her older brother and baby sister, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When someone she loves walks into the room, her face lights up and she claps excitedly. She makes everyone feel important with her cuddles and kisses.
Mattie’s strength and determination is without equal. She had her first brain surgery 2 days after she was born. Since then, she has had 7 more surgeries and has taken countless ambulance rides due to emergency situations. Her nights spent in a hospital are many...too many to count. Mattie even spent her first birthday in the hospital.
Mattie was born with hydrocephalus which is known as fluid on the brain. The build up of spinal fluid causes a lot of pressure and her head to be enlarged. In addition to hydrocephalus Mattie has holoprosencephaly (HPE). The medial bone dividing the right & left hemisphere of the brain, deviates which restricts the brain from developing ‘normally’. Her first surgery was to put in a shunt to relieve the pressure by removing some of the fluid from her brain into her stomach, where the body reabsorbs it. She had her first seizure at 10 months old.
Since then Mattie has had many, many seizures ranging from micro to Grand mall seizures. When she was 1 year old, there was one seizure that completely took over and wouldn’t let go. Nurses said she was having prolonged seizures and for 2 hours they were giving her meds to try and stop it. While they did an EEG we thought she was sleeping peacefully. Unfortunately, doctors informed us that even as she slept Mattie was experiencing micro seizures. The news from the doctor wasn’t good and he wasn’t sure that when/if she woke up that she’d be able to do anything. But our little girl fought! Not only did she wake up, she came home 3 days later....Christmas Day! She lost movement on her right side but she has been working hard to use that side more and more!
Many of Mattie’s seizures require ambulance rides and hospital stays. Her brain is just wired to have seizures, her neurologist explained. Medications and diet help control her seizures but she will still have them due to her condition. Both of Mattie’s conditions cause developmental delays. Right now, Mattie can’t walk or put much weight on her legs but she has recently started to sit on her own. A big milestone! She also has a feeding tube to help her eat and take her medications. We are so proud of her!
We are a military family. Her mom is an Army veteran and her dad is currently serving in the United States Army. We say this to express how thankful we are for the insurance that has helped Mattie get the equipment she needs. But now we need your help! We have been approved to get Mattie a service dog! Her dog will be trained to specifically meet her needs. It will be able to detect her oncoming seizures and also be trained on how to help her through them! This is huge! And an answer to prayer!
The company we are working with is called 4 Paws For Ability. Please give them a look and see all the amazing things they do for the disabled and veterans! It costs $40,000 to train a service dog. They ask that the family raise $17,000 of that fee. First and most importantly, please consider praying for our sweet girl. We seek her complete healing more than anything! And we know that God is able!
If you would like to donate money to help with Mattie’s service dog, we would be so grateful! ANY amount would be an incredible blessing.
We thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about our vivacious little girl.
Be blessed!
Organizer
Heather Janinda
Organizer
Bainbridge, NY