Help Emma Henry get her Service Dog
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I've started this in hopes of helping our dear friend/ babysitter Emma Henry to get the service dog her recent diagnosis has deemed essential to live her best life. A week ago Emma was diagnosised with Supra-ventricular tachycardia. Her heart was beating too fast, irregularly, and having palpitations. She had a heart ablation to remove a node and tissue to stop this issue. From there they discovered she had Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS). This is very rare and will impact her life severely. These past few months she fell off her horse 4 times, fainted multiple times living alone, and could not perform everyday tasks without getting dizzy. Emma's blood pressure changes so fast and greatly that all of the blood rushes to her feet, leaving her brain without any blood. When in the hospital, just sitting up caused her blood pressure to drop 50 units. Emma is on multiple medications to keep her blood pressure up right now, but some fast movements still cause dizziness. She experienced her first fainting episode in 2009. It has gotten worse over time had gone undiagnosed.
We do not know what is causing PoTS so she needs to go to a Dysautonomia Nervous system lab in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic in May. These medications are allowing Emma to finish school and hopefully start law school in August. Her nervous system is not working and the doctors at St. Francis have narrowed it down to a nervous system disease or something that attacked her nervous system. Some patients have fairly mild symptoms and can continue with normal work, school, social and recreational activities. For others, symptoms may be so severe that normal life activities, such as bathing, housework, eating, sitting upright, walking or standing can be significantly limited. Physicians with expertise in treating POTS have compared the functional impairment seen in POTS patients to the impairment seen in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure. Approximately 25% of POTS patients are disabled and unable to work. Researchers found that quality-of-life in POTS patients is comparable to patients on dialysis for kidney failure. Emma is working hard to gain her strength back after lying in the hospital for a week. To walk on campus lengthy periods of time, drive, and stand up after sitting in class for a while, she would be so much more comfortable and safe with a service dog by her side.
Service Dog:
Doggie Do Good, and other companies provide PoTS dogs for those diagnosed. These dogs are trained to smell and sense change in blood pressure. They will alert her to lie down before she faints to avoid fainting. They will also call 911 or a family member. She lives alone so having a dog to do these actions would benefit her greatly. In public, the service dog would alert others to call 911 as well as herself that she had a blood pressure change before she can even feel it. They can also fetch a phone, water, etc. The extensive training that these incredible dogs undergo is expensive ranging from $17,000-19,000. Insurance does not cover service dogs, so Emma must self-fundraise as much as she can. Please help with any amount you can!
We do not know what is causing PoTS so she needs to go to a Dysautonomia Nervous system lab in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic in May. These medications are allowing Emma to finish school and hopefully start law school in August. Her nervous system is not working and the doctors at St. Francis have narrowed it down to a nervous system disease or something that attacked her nervous system. Some patients have fairly mild symptoms and can continue with normal work, school, social and recreational activities. For others, symptoms may be so severe that normal life activities, such as bathing, housework, eating, sitting upright, walking or standing can be significantly limited. Physicians with expertise in treating POTS have compared the functional impairment seen in POTS patients to the impairment seen in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure. Approximately 25% of POTS patients are disabled and unable to work. Researchers found that quality-of-life in POTS patients is comparable to patients on dialysis for kidney failure. Emma is working hard to gain her strength back after lying in the hospital for a week. To walk on campus lengthy periods of time, drive, and stand up after sitting in class for a while, she would be so much more comfortable and safe with a service dog by her side.
Service Dog:
Doggie Do Good, and other companies provide PoTS dogs for those diagnosed. These dogs are trained to smell and sense change in blood pressure. They will alert her to lie down before she faints to avoid fainting. They will also call 911 or a family member. She lives alone so having a dog to do these actions would benefit her greatly. In public, the service dog would alert others to call 911 as well as herself that she had a blood pressure change before she can even feel it. They can also fetch a phone, water, etc. The extensive training that these incredible dogs undergo is expensive ranging from $17,000-19,000. Insurance does not cover service dogs, so Emma must self-fundraise as much as she can. Please help with any amount you can!
Organizer and beneficiary
Heidi Magner
Organizer
Hampton Bays, NY
Emma Henry
Beneficiary