Service dog for Abby
Donation protected
Hi I'm Abby I'm 18 a "high school senior" (I'm not currently enrolled due to my illness). My freshman year of high school I started to have daily headaches. We later found out they were migraines. I have since had a migraine every day for almost 3 years. I later noticed that often someone would walk by and I would smell their Cologne, perfume, detergent, etc and then my migraine would get worse and I would get dizzy then often fall. Sophomore year I was still having this awful migraine and dizzy spell that were greatly affecting my attendance I missed 37 days of school first semester. Second semester I switched to all online classes which worked for a little while then a doctor recommended that I drop out. In April of my sophomore year I was diagnosed with a form of Dysautonomia. Dysautonomia is a blanket term for dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system my specific type of Dysautonomia is POTS or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. POTS causes my blood to pool in my hands and feet causing my brain to send a signal saying that I'm bleeding out, so my heart rate raises, my blood pressure drops out and I faint, or my vision blacks out and I get lightheaded. I have something called Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which causes joint pain and dislocations. The pain and fatigue from fainting often require me to use a wheelchair. I am trying to get a service dog to help me with my mobility and my independence. The service dog would help me use stairs, could pull my wheelchair, and help me up off the floor when I fall or faint. The dog could alert me to my changes in heart rate and blood pressure before I faint. The dog could also help me to pick things up that I've dropped, since postural changes cause dizziness and fainting. We have an organization chosen and would like to start training as soon as possible, as it takes up to 2 years to have a fully trained service dog. My goal is to move forward with the initial application, screening and payment of $2500 by the end of November, so that I will have a prospect by January hopefully.
Organizer and beneficiary
Abby Cockrell
Organizer
Acworth, GA
Mark Cockrell
Beneficiary