The World’s Cutest Caregiver!

Hey there, I’m Brittany and I’m 28 years old. Let’s get the complicated medical stuff over with first so then I can talk about the adorable service dog named Bodie that’s being trained to help me live a more independent life!

The Beginning

Up until I was 15, I was pretty much able to do all the things that I wanted to do. I was a pre-professional dancer, I was an honor student, and I loved hanging out with my friends. That all changed after a series of illnesses that started in November of 2009. By the fall of 2010, I was bed bound, using a wheelchair, in severe constant pain, and had such intense sensitivities to noise, light, and chemicals, that I only left the house for carefully planned medical appointments. I was unable to complete high school, not even through homeschooling.

Diagnoses

The past thirteen years have been filled with ups and downs, some progress, then relapses. Overall, I am more stable than I used to be, and I’m now in a place where I’m ready to take on the responsibilities of being a service dog owner.

I am grateful for my current medical team, and I’ve been diagnosed with complex conditions such as a connective tissue disorder called Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), Craniocervical Instability, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), Fibromyalgia, Chronic Migraines, and many more that I won’t get into because we don’t need to stay in this section all day.

Mental Health

I also deal with anxiety and depression. If you’ve been connected with me on social media for a while, you may not have heard me talk as much about my mental health as my physical health. But it’s important to me to share about my anxiety because my service dog Bodie is going to be specially trained to help me manage my anxiety just as he is going to be trained to help me with mobility tasks and POTS medical alerts, and I think that it’s so amazing that the service dog organization that I’ve chosen to work with, Michigan Service Dogs, is able to train dogs to be both mobility assistance dogs, medical alert dogs, and psychiatric support dogs.

What is my life like now?

I use my power wheelchair to navigate the house that I live in with my mom and my brother. They are wonderful and both do so much to support me, but since they can’t stay by my side 24/7, and I can only afford a caregiver four times per month, my service dog will make a huge difference for me!

I frequently drop objects but due to the pain in my neck and ligament laxity I struggle to bend over to pick them up. I have muscle weakness throughout my body, and have difficulty carrying things and opening doors and drawers, and turning on lights. I can’t do my own laundry, prepare my own meals, or complete other basic household chores.

I’m unable to work or attend school, and that’s in large part due to the frequency and intensity of my migraines when I try and type or focus on a laptop for an online class or to complete work.

How will a mobility assistance dog improve my quality of life?

My assistance dog is going to be trained to do all sorts of supportive tasks such as:

Hope

I have multiple medical interventions I’m currently pursuing that give me hope that after I give these treatments a chance to settle in, I’ll be able to try pursuing an education and try supporting myself and with the help of my service dog Bodie, live an independent life.

I wasn’t sure about writing this next part or not because at this point it feels almost cliché, but I mean it, so I am going to say it. I believe everything in life happens for a reason. Even my illness. This experience has shaped me and made me the person I am. I want to use this experience to help and support and lift up other people who are going through the same thing. And there were so many times that it felt too hard and it felt like too much. And I want to be able to offer comfort to people like me going through those hard times. That’s my dream. And I’m going to do it with my cuddly helper by my side.