Young Mom Needs Medical Alert Dog
Donation protected
I'm Laura, and this is my story. Every day has become a struggle as I now live with three medical conditions: a rare form of muscular dystrophy, a brain tumor on my pituitary, and a traumatic pelvis injury. Any one of these alone would be a major concern. But the three together have created a crisis. A medical alert dog could preserve my quality of life and even save it. The catch? The expertise required to train this type of service animal specific to my needs totals $17,000.
Right before my son's first birthday last fall, a perfect storm landed me where I am today. As my life has dramatically changed in the last few months, I've had learn a lot and quickly. My type of muscular dystrophy is called periodic paralysis. It causes attacks of muscle weakness and complete paralysis every day. Though present from birth, it often evidences itself in adulthood. Every attack is life-threatening and causes permanent and cumulative muscle damage. Often coinciding with hormonal changes, they really ramp up at age 35-50 (when the majority of the damage occurs). Many sufferers end up in a wheelchair permanently. However, a medical alert dog could help prevent this from occurring. Let me tell you how.

A dog's keen sense of smell can detect shifts in my potassium level long before I see the signs. These shifts are triggered by stressors like lack of sleep, being too hot or too cold, not eating or drinking often enough, pain or illness can all bring on an episode. After I was diagnosed in 2013, I got better at managing my triggers and medicating with potassium was sufficient to give me a pretty good quality of life. But my latest pregnancy, activation of my brain tumor, and age (35!) came together with disastrous consequences. I'm under the care of one of the world's leading specialists in periodic paralysis. Unfortunately, I developed an allergy to the only FDA-approved medication for the condition.
Even before my allergy surfaced, I'd begun trying to find an organization capable of training medical alert dogs. These dogs can predict an attack up to 30 minutes beforehand, alerting me to take potassium. If I get the medicine in time, it can prevent or greatly reduce the severity of an attack. Not only will a dog alert, but it will let me know when I've taken enough potassium. Sharing that gift of scent would change my life and those of my family's too. At best, right now I have a 2-3 minute warning before I can no longer move in any way. I can't talk. I can't open my eyes. But I can hear and understand everything around me. It's terrifying.

I do my best to keep myself and my kids safe, but often I'm more focused on their needs rather than my own and don't realize an attack is imminent. Every day without a medical alert dog I've been losing more strength and more freedom to live my life. Muscle damage begins at the core and spreads outward, so the pain from my pelvis injury causes attacks, and the attacks cause my pain to worsen. A dog should lessen my dependence on a wheelchair now and prevent me from having to be in one permanently.
The good news is that we have finally found the right organization to train a dog for me. Paws for Life has accepted me into their program, and I meet my potential match in the next few days! But their training, the dog, and supplies are not free. To sign a contract and take our puppy home, we need to raise $2,500. The cost of initial supplies is an additional $500. And in order to pay the trainers for their excellent work with our future dog, we are obligated to raise another $14,000.
That brings us to a total of $17,000. It's a daunting amount for anyone, but I'm so thankful to have the support of loving husband and our two beautiful children. We are willing to do whatever it takes to get a chance at a better quality of life. Would you consider being a part of that?
Right before my son's first birthday last fall, a perfect storm landed me where I am today. As my life has dramatically changed in the last few months, I've had learn a lot and quickly. My type of muscular dystrophy is called periodic paralysis. It causes attacks of muscle weakness and complete paralysis every day. Though present from birth, it often evidences itself in adulthood. Every attack is life-threatening and causes permanent and cumulative muscle damage. Often coinciding with hormonal changes, they really ramp up at age 35-50 (when the majority of the damage occurs). Many sufferers end up in a wheelchair permanently. However, a medical alert dog could help prevent this from occurring. Let me tell you how.
A dog's keen sense of smell can detect shifts in my potassium level long before I see the signs. These shifts are triggered by stressors like lack of sleep, being too hot or too cold, not eating or drinking often enough, pain or illness can all bring on an episode. After I was diagnosed in 2013, I got better at managing my triggers and medicating with potassium was sufficient to give me a pretty good quality of life. But my latest pregnancy, activation of my brain tumor, and age (35!) came together with disastrous consequences. I'm under the care of one of the world's leading specialists in periodic paralysis. Unfortunately, I developed an allergy to the only FDA-approved medication for the condition.
Even before my allergy surfaced, I'd begun trying to find an organization capable of training medical alert dogs. These dogs can predict an attack up to 30 minutes beforehand, alerting me to take potassium. If I get the medicine in time, it can prevent or greatly reduce the severity of an attack. Not only will a dog alert, but it will let me know when I've taken enough potassium. Sharing that gift of scent would change my life and those of my family's too. At best, right now I have a 2-3 minute warning before I can no longer move in any way. I can't talk. I can't open my eyes. But I can hear and understand everything around me. It's terrifying.
I do my best to keep myself and my kids safe, but often I'm more focused on their needs rather than my own and don't realize an attack is imminent. Every day without a medical alert dog I've been losing more strength and more freedom to live my life. Muscle damage begins at the core and spreads outward, so the pain from my pelvis injury causes attacks, and the attacks cause my pain to worsen. A dog should lessen my dependence on a wheelchair now and prevent me from having to be in one permanently.
The good news is that we have finally found the right organization to train a dog for me. Paws for Life has accepted me into their program, and I meet my potential match in the next few days! But their training, the dog, and supplies are not free. To sign a contract and take our puppy home, we need to raise $2,500. The cost of initial supplies is an additional $500. And in order to pay the trainers for their excellent work with our future dog, we are obligated to raise another $14,000.
That brings us to a total of $17,000. It's a daunting amount for anyone, but I'm so thankful to have the support of loving husband and our two beautiful children. We are willing to do whatever it takes to get a chance at a better quality of life. Would you consider being a part of that?
Fundraising team (2)
Laura Marie Glass
Organizer
Greenville, SC
Todd Glass
Team member
