Narcolepsy w/Cataplexy Service Dog for Emma

My name is Emma Rose Bianco, and I have Narcolepsy with Cataplexy. This is a neurological disorder that greatly affects my daily living and quality of life. The Backstory -I was always told that out of my parent's five kids, I was my parents only newborn to sleep soundly through the night, and that I've slept with a little frown my whole life while I sleep. As a toddler, my parents woke me up in the morning--I didn't wake them up. At middle school sleepovers, I was the first one asleep--by hours. At 15, I’d easily sleep until noon in the summer. In high school, I went to the nurses office often to lay down to go to sleep. I got turned away one day and was told to head back to class. But I couldn't bear the thought--I was exhausted. I went to the girl’s locker room and slept on the floor instead of going back to my two hour dance fitness class. More currently, I lost my license, job, and overall sense of independence and normalcy due to my disorder. Despite what will continue to be a lifelong challenge, I am reminded on a daily basis that I have a lot to be thankful for--and I am grateful for that perspective.  Asking the public for money is difficult to do, especially since it’s for something that directly benefits myself, not another person or cause. I do not proceed with this request lightly and it is a deeply personal decision to make public. I am asking for your kindness shown through donations, sharing this page on social media, and by word of mouth to help me get a Service Dog. This fund may take years to complete, as the monetary value of an already trained service dog is always going to be a costly one. However, I know the risks of my disorder and live with a great lack of independence everyday, and I truly understand how a service dog would benefit my life. For any action that is taken to help me, I am truly thankful. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For reference: SD=Service Dog *Below I am presenting my personal (top three) challenges in having this disorder, and how a Service Dog can be greatly beneficial to my daily life.   Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) -EDS, for a normal individual, is comparable to 48-72 hours of sleep deprivation—everyday. Or, extreme jet lag. The exhaustion creates what I call, “episodes”, where I lose control of my involuntary movement and it all becomes voluntary—and suddenly I’m asleep. *EDS causes zoning out, intense brain fog, memory loss, and constant body weakness/heaviness in all my limbs and joints (omg, my knees!!) -A Service dog could be an active and trained eye for each of my episodes. If I'm in bed relaxing watching TV or reading and happened to have an episode, my face could easily fall directly into my pillow. A SD would be trained to nudge me free, or bark for help. I cannot move or talk during these instances, and heightened anxiety can prolong my episodes even further. This is the most vital aspect of having a SD for me because there is always that risk looming over me. Cataplexy -Narcolepsy with Cataplexy is Narcolepsy Type 1. On a scale from 1-10, once my emotions reach a strong level “6”, my body gets weaker and weaker and I have an episode as a result. Laughing, joy, frustration, sadness, anxiety, fear, surprise, anger, etc. are classic examples of emotions people with Cataplexy get triggered by. Laughing, surprise and anxiety are my personal top three triggers. Laughing gets me to a "6" the quickest! In my backstory at the top, I mentioned how I sleep with a frown. This is due to sleepiness weakening my facial muscles. As you can see, this has always been part of me. -A SD could provide deep pressure therapy (DPT) to calm my senses and emotions to ease or prevent any current or oncoming anxiety. Their body pushing into mine can lower heart rate and blood pressure, which allows for a quicker recovery if in the midst of  intense anxiety. This, in turn, helps avoid the potential risk of serious harm from a cataplexy attack. Anxiety is part of my personal brain chemistry, so I'll always be challenged with it. Knowing this, a SD will always be helpful for the times it gets incredibly overwhelming to handle. Balance/Positioning -So when these episodes occur, what do they look like? Well, they FEEL a lot like forehead smacking, awkward and uncomfortable neck straining, painful wrist contorting, and eyeglasses smooshing. -Having a SD would be very helpful for the times that I would like to be more comfortable by having my head in a more proper, upright position. My neck gets strained during most of my episodes, which can get to be very uncomfortable. Hanging on to the dog in the times I need to slump over comfortably during an episode would also be helpful--more than anyone could know. These occurrences seem small, but when they occur daily, there needs to be little routines in place to make sure I’m comfortable and safe. Thank you to the one who always knew I needed my head tilted up since the beginning :) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ So, why 25k? -Get my own dog and train: One option is to get a dog of my own choosing and take advantage of a business that trains the dog and me together. This would entail spending 8 months to 2 years of training depending on varying factors. Training a SD on my own time with a service can be just as costly as getting an already trained one. Training services range anywhere from 3-6k for a dog who does very simple tasks, or up to 25k for a dog who will train to do many things for specific conditions. -Get an already trained dog: Narcolepsy w/Cataplexy is an unusual disorder. Catering a dogs training to it may be a challenge. There is one place in particular that is the, "Creme de la Creme" of Narcolepsy SD's. If I went the route of getting a pre-trained dog, I would apply to this one place in particular. They specialize in training dogs to cater to Narcolepsy. Similar to how seizure and diabetic alert dogs are trained, Narcolepsy service dogs can be trained to sense the biochemical changes that are emitted through my sweat and be able to act on an episode either before I'm aware of it coming on, or while in the middle of one. This would be a huge advantage for me If I went this route. *I am unsure as to which option I will choose right now--It depends on how my campaign does going forward! I may choose the route of getting my own dog and training with them. For now, it seems to be the more likely of the two. How you can help?  -You can directly help my fund by either donating any amount, or sharing my fund on Facebook and twitter--while asking friends to share too! If you cannot help add to the fund, sharing my page on social media greatly effects how well it does! Each person that shares it introduces my fund to a completely new set of eyes. Spreading awareness helps me get my fund going! How will I update you? - When you help a person raise funds, it makes sense for you to understand what you're helping them do and how it will impact their life. Every so often, I will post updates detailing one component of Narcolepsy w/Cataplexy at a time, while sharing my personal experiences with it. My hope is that in time, everyone helping my fund can be educated on all aspects of this disorder and how they present themselves in my daily life. And of course, I will also update how well the fund is going!! Thank you everyone! Emma Rose Bianco #Emsausted