Noa’s Re of Sunshine

Our little Noa Re Lohmann started out life with everything going for her. A beautiful birth; a healthy and soulful baby girl; a happy family and a supportive community. Then, for no apparent reason she began having seizures around 8 months old. Infantile Spasms (also known as West Syndrome) was her initial diagnosis. There was no explanation of why they were occuring, just a diagnosis with not a very good prognosis. I remember hearing her diagnosis and initially thinking, "Many people live with seizures and live functional lives." But when the doctor explained this type of epilepsy as potentially "catatrophic" with a likelihood of significant lifelong intellectual impairment, things got real. From that point on we navigated through numerous treatments, doctor visits, medical examinations, and hospital stays while Noa siezed an average of 20 times a day for nearly 5 years. 

Noa is now 12 years old and has endured literally thousands of seizure episodes in her life. We have tried just about every treatment and medication out there only to find that her neurological makeup wants to hold status quo. She has not only struggled with seizures every day of her life but also anxiety and behavioral reactivity related to epilepsy. Noa has made a lot of progress over the years and we are happy to say that in the last 3 years she has gone from having 7-8 seizure clusters a day to now only 1-2 a day with a few tonic clonic (grand mal) seizures occurring on a monthly basis. This is great progress and we are hopeful to one day find a way to decrease the seizues even more.

Noa is one of the strongest people I know. She gets up every day and goes through life regardless of the brain activity that causes her body to take control at any given moment. She keeps marching forward with the help and support of an amazing team of caregivers, teachers, friends, therapist, medical practitioners, and family. Not a single day passes where her brain gets to rest. Yet, she keeps marching on with a smile on her face. Noa is funny, goofy, sensitive, loving, feisty, sometimes aggressive, loud, playful, and sweet. She is sensitive to the world around her, and while she may be lacking cognitive skills she more than makes up for this with her intuition and amazing smile. She cares deeply about her family and community of supports. She calls her grandparents daily and often calls her caregivers and relatives, and other random contacts, to talk about her day.

This Go Fund Me page is about providing Noa with an emotional support dog that could potentially be trained as a service dog to detect seizures if we find the right fit and personality. This dog will serve as a companion, comfort object, and friend to ease anxiety at the very least and at best serve as a seizure alert dog to maintain safety. We are seeking a doodle breed as they are known to be allergy friendly, intelligent, and serve in many therapeutic support roles. We have also identified some local trainers to assist in the process of creating an appropriate emotional support companion to meet Noa’s sensitivity needs.

Our goal is raise $5,000 to help cover the expense of purchasing a doodle, which ranges from $2500-$3000 and training expenses of $2000. We are committed to providing Noa with the highest quality of life possible. Our request for additional financial support is greatly appreciated as this is an expensive time-sensitive endeavor.