It all started with a phone call from Meredith. She happened to be watching Diane Sawyer on ABC World News and saw that the upcoming story was on service dogs being trained for people who faint. I called my dad and we all watched it.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/dog-saves-owner-fainting-16417322
Canine Partners for Life has trainers that work with potential cardiac alert dogs. They detect the drop in BP that happens right before a person becomes symptomatic. They never mention what the young woman suffered from but it is clearly a type of dysautonomia, most likely Orthostatic Hypotention since all of the emphasis was on blood pressure and not heart rate.
I called CPL and we spoke about my medical issues and symptoms and they sent an application packet. It took me almost a week to fill out the 8 pages of questions, have friends write reference letters (thanks Dawn and Meredith) and I had to write two essays. I have now written the check for the application fee and printed off 3 photos of me and my family as they requested, its all finished and will go out in the mail tomorrow.
CPL will review my application and if they feel they can train a dog for me we will have a SKYPE interview to go over more details, I will submit the letter from my Neurologist and I will be paced on a wait list. Because I have a child with a dog allergy we have to wait longer than the average person, waiting for not only a poodle or poodle mix when they work mostly with retrievers but a poodle or poodle mix with a knack for cardiac alert.
So we still have more steps to go but the first one is underway. I am very nervous and excited!
2 comments:
are you still on the waiting list? I have WPW and POTS (orthostatic hypotenstion) and am working on my application tonite! Hope you either have your canine partner or will ery soon!
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