*It says beneficiary is Russell Touchstone because GoFundMe will not let me be the beneficiary because I'm under 18. Russell Touchstone is my dad. All money will go towards the dog.

Hello. I'm Megan! I am 17 years old. I have Small Fiber Polyneuropathy, Dysautonomia, Elher's Danlos Syndrome, and Crohn's disease. The doctors are also looking into a couple other things such as different autoimmune diseases. This is my story:

When I was younger I used to dance, sing, and act. The performing arts was practically my life at the time. I would dance at least 3 hours a day everyday. I would sing in shows and at my school talent show. I did theater shows around the community and even had a couple paid acting roles. I was in a dance troupe that did performances all around Florida, including the Strawberry Festival. The troupe I was in also went in a recording studio and got to record a song! I had so many friends at my dance troupe and my performing arts studio I would go to after school. I even had quite a few friends at school. Life was good.

At twelve years old I had my first Crohn's flare. It took awhile to find out it was Crohn's. My first flare everyone thought it was just a virus. After awhile a colonoscopy and endoscopy was done and they diagnosed me with Ulcerative Colitis. It took awhile to find a medication that would work for me. Pills were not working. Steroids would not work. I was also getting pancreatitis on top of these flares, making everything ten times worse. After several hospital stays, including Easter and my 13th birthday,  they put me on a medication called Remicade. This is a medication that suppresses my immune system because Crohn's is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body. After I started Remicade, I went into remission. Even though I had these struggles, I was still able to live my life whenever I wasn't in the hospital. Recently they found out through a pill cam I had Crohn's of the small bowels, but they are unsure whether I had Crohn's the whole time or if my Ulcerative Colitis progressed to Crohn's. Like I said, the Crohn's did make life difficult, but I still was able to live my life. When I was in remission I could still do everything I used to be able to do. Life might have been a little harder, but life was still good.

Around thirteen years old, I started getting pains all over my body, especially my knees, ankles, and back. I also started bruising and scarring very easily. Even though I would have a lot of weight gain later on, I started getting stretch marks BEFORE I gained weight. I still had the body of a dancer. I ended up going to a geneticist who diagnosed me with Hypermobile Elher's Danlos Syndrome. Elher's Danlos is where my connective tissue in my body is loose. Connective tissue is basically the glue that holds my body together. A symptom of Elher's Danlos is hypermobile joints (some people call this "double jointed"). However, people can have hypermobile joints without having Elher's Danlose Syndrome. People who have Elher's Danlos Syndrome can have extreme pain, easy injuries (such as dislocations, broken bones, sprains, tears, etc.), and easy bruising and scarring due to think skin. It can also make cuts take longer to heal or not heal correctly. Although I had to slow down with my dancing a bit, I still could live my life. I did have bad days where I could barely get out of bed, but I always made the best of the good days and still lived my life. I even got a job as an assistant teacher for the three to five year old's dance class! I did start losing friends. Kids at school just thought I was seeking attention because my disability was invisible. The only time they may see some of my disability was if I had a bad bruise or if I was limping. My pains would not always be in the same spot and weren't at the same intensity everyday. People would see me limping one day but then fine the next. My friends did not understand my disability even when I tried to explain it to them. However, through this I found more friends. Even though they might have not fully understood my disability, they believed me and didn't think I was crazy or attention seeking. Even though I was going through some battles, my life was still good.

Shortly after turning 14 years old, my life completely turned around. For Christmas my brother bought me a drone. Everyday we would go out to a field near our house and fly it. We would run around and chase the drone, especially at first since it took some time to learn how to control it. One day I was running in a field with a drone. The next day I woke up and couldn't walk to the bathroom without nearly passing out. I would get extremely dizzy and short of breath. My pain was also getting worse. This led to us seeing nearly every doctor under the sun. Pulmonologist, Rheumotologist, Cardiologist, Immunologist, ENT, etc. No one had answers. We did so many tests. Blood work, tilt tables, x-rays, MRIs, cat scans, etc. No answers. I could not go to school. I could not dance anymore. I was stuck on a couch in my house. Only able to get out for doctor appointments. Someone did donate a wheelchair to my family which did help me get out more. I still could not get out much because I was just so fatigued. I started having a lot of weight gain as well. This led certain doctors to believe I was just de conditioned, even though I was a dancer running in a field a day before my symptoms started. Many people, including doctors, started to think I was crazy and making all of this up. People started to no longer believe me. After awhile I was diagnosed with Dysautnomia. This is the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the things our body does without us having to think about it, such as heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, breathing, temperature regulation, etc. For me personally, Dysautonomia causes my blood pressure and heart rate to act funny. It also makes my temperature regulation mess up. It also causes me to have days where I am extremely foggy headed. I also do not always sweat enough. One doctor thought something else was going on, so he ordered a skin biopsy. It turns out I also had severe Small Fiber Polyneuropathy. Small Fiber Polyneuropathy is where the nerves are damaged all throughout the body. This causes lots of pain and can cause Dysautonomia. There are medicines to help lessen the symptoms of Small Fiber Polyneuropathy. However, all I have tried either haven't helped or I had horrible side effects to. One of the worse was IVIG. IVIG has helped many with Small Fiber Polyneuropathy. However, I had bad side effects. I had severe aseptic meningitis and serum sickness. Other pain medications make me feel extremely out of it and do not even help the pain. I lost so many friends and could no longer live like a normal teenager. However, this isn't the end of my story.

I may have had a rough life. However, I will NOT let my disabilities define me or take over me. I am stronger than whatever life throws at me. I rather look at the positives rather than the negatives in my life. I might have had to stop dancing, but now I draw and animate. I might have lost my old friends, but now I have true friends who stand by me no matter what. I might be knocked down for a little while, but I will ALWAYS bounce back up. Through all of this I have maintained extremely good grades. In fact, I now go to a collegiate school where I will be earning my AA and my high school diploma next year! Sure, life has been hard, but I rather be positive about it. If I just mope around all sad and depressed, I will just feel worse. Being positive helps me feel better. All my detours in life make me stronger. I feel this is all happening for a purpose. I know a lot of you may not be religious which is ok. However, I personally believe God has a plan for me. He's letting these hardships come into my life so I can be strong for whatever important plan he has for me life. All of these experiences will help me serve Him.

The reason I am making this fundraiser is to raise money for a Service Dog to help me be independent and go off to college! Depending on what day I am having and how much I have to walk, I use either a walker or a wheelchair. I noticed at most colleges I would have to use my wheelchair because they are pretty big. When navigating different colleges, I found it is extremely difficult to get around by myself. I could not open or hold doors, I could not pick anything up I dropped, I could not get anything too high, and if my Smart Drive was ever not working I would not be able to maneuver myself. I also find myself having difficulties in my own home, such us picking things off the ground and putting in/taking out clothes in the dryer. I also have difficulty going on the ground and then getting back up, especially on my bad days. Right now I have my parents and my brother who have all been a huge help! However, my dream is to go away to college on my own. At college, I will not have my parents there to do things like push me in a wheelchair or pick things up off the ground for me. However, a Service Dog could do the things my parents currently help me with. A Service Dog could help me achieve the independence I need to be able to live on my own.

There are a few great organizations in Florida that give free Service Dogs to those in need. However, most of these wonderful programs either have long wait lists, don't provide what I need, or they only give dogs to a particular group of people such as veterans or the blind. Sadly, I do not have that long to wait for a service dog since I need one to go to college with me in August 2021. However, if I start training a puppy right now, my dog would either be done with training or close to done and able to complete specific tasks I need done. Owner training a service dog can also be greatly beneficial to both the handler and the dog. It helps the dog and the handler form an extremely close bond that cannot be broken. Owner training also has the luxury of having a dog specially trained to help my specific needs. Of course by "owner training" I do not mean only I will be training it. I will be doing reinforcement training while I take it to local trainers to help me train my puppy. I plan on training my dog for mobility work. This includes pressing handicapped buttons, retrieving items off the ground, retrieving water from the fridge, getting items from high shelves, getting clothes from the dryer, pulling a wheelchair, and bracing to help myself get up. Heavy mobility work cannot be trained until he is two years old, such as bracing and pulling my wheelchair. However, the other tasks he can start learning as soon as he learns the basics such as sit, stay, stand, focus, heel, etc. Through a Service dog, I will be able to go off to college and become independent. I will no longer have to rely on someone else and feel like a burden. Instead, I will have my service dog. We will help each other. I will feed him and give him a place to live. He will help me have my life back. Unlike me having to rely on someone without being able to give anything in return, me and my service dog will rely on each other and help each other live.

Money will be used towards the following:
1. Getting a Golden Retriever Puppy from a reputable breeder
2. Gear (this includes normal dog necessities and actual service dog gear like vests, boots, portable bowl, etc.)
3. Training
4. Puppy Insurance (six months and under)
5. The first year of adult dog insurance (over six months)
6. Neuter

I have done estimates for each category which led to about $4,500. However, each category can vary greatly, especially training and gear. If there is any left over money, all of it will be used towards the well being of the dog. This includes food, treats, extra toys, etc. All money raised will be put towards the dog.

Thank you for reading this. If you donate, thank you. If you cannot donate I completely understand. All I ask is that you share this to help my dream of going to college come true.