Hi, I am Harvey, Tess' boyfriend. I am posting this to help her raise funds to afford medication and other treatments for her chronic condition POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome).

Anyone who knows Tess knows that she devotes her life to helping others. She is a selfless and caring friend who is always ready to go the extra mile to cheer someone up. When she isn't studying tirelessly to become a paediatric doctor, to yes you guessed it, help others, she devotes her spare time to teaching young kids piano. But anyone who knows Tess also knows that she pushes through all this while suffering silently from her health.

POTS is an 'invisible illness' which affects Tess' life every single day. It is an autonomic nervous system condition that mainly affects the heart. It is extremely debilitating and on some days, she struggles to get out of bed, walk up to the top floor for dinner or to enjoy the simple parts of the day. Other symptoms include fatigue, low blood pressure, fainting, nausea and increased heart rate amongst others. Current costs are about $450 a month for medication and approximately $300 a month on specialist fees which are being handled at the moment.

Despite spending an arm and a leg on the current treatment, the condition is worsening and we as her loved ones need to prepare. As POTS isn't an NDIS-recognised primary disability, there is no cover for medication, surgery, government carers or service animals for when Tess is alone in the house. Her cardiologist has discussed the idea of surgery but due to the high risk, we are exercising all options before we come to that decision. We've started the process of finding a suitable puppy and trainer to certify this puppy as an assistance dog! Unfortunately, this is a very expensive process.

For specifics, Tess and family will be adopting a labradoodle puppy that will be trained in AAI through a training program run by Service Animals Australia. Labrador and Labrador crosses are notoriously known for their obedience and ability to be trained as mobility assistance and medical alert dogs! The dog would be in the house when Tess is alone just in case she is at fainting/fall risk or if she needs water/medication and cannot get up from bed or if it is up the stairs where she can't go. The doggy would also be by her side when travelling on PT and long difficult walks to warn her when her autonomic system is struggling and needs a rest.

A service dog + training will be around $10,000. Reasonably, Tess and her mother cannot afford to pay for the entire process on top of her current medical costs. Against her want to inconvenience anyone she knows, she really needs a bit of contribution, because this amount of money without government assistance is insane.

Our next resort is going on 60 minutes. (lol)

If you donate, please include your punny name suggestions for Tess' heart service dog!

Also, if anyone has any connections with the NDIS that would be sweet!