December 5, 2015
I am sorry it has taken me so long to add an update. Life has a way of happening and changing one's world completely. I woke up the morning of August 25th to discover my left wrist and hand were paralyzed.
Of course the doctor's first thought was a stroke, and Anna and I spent the night in the hospital while they ran every possible test, The results were that I had not had a stroke hence it had to be nerve damage which they would test for out-patient
After 48 hours, I started to get incremental use of my thumb and fore finger and that is where it stopped. Finally a very special Neurologist has isolated exactly which nerves in my arm are not working and where.
Their prognosis is that full or partial healing is possible. It all depends on whether the nerves will heal. So far, other than that first partial use of my thumb and forefinger nothing has changed,
Next week they are making a custom brace for my left hand and wrist as my fingers curl. When I am not using my thumb and first finger, they curl as well.
All the doctors as well as my Occupational therapist are afraid that if my fingers remain in this position they will atrophy, and it will not matter if any of the nerves heal because my fingers will have become permanently stuck in the curled position.
Hence, they are making me a custom brace next week which will force my fingers to remain straight. I worry this will make it impossible for me to use even the one finger and my thumb that I have some use of. I am hoping that I will be able to take the brace off when I need that finger and thumb.
It is amazing what one takes for granted. It took me almost four months to figure out how to make a lumpy, one-handed pony tail. It still takes 10+ minutes to do. Yesterday was the first time I figured out how to clip my finger nails.
On the dog front: Poor Anna has nasty ear infections in both ears. I had been treating them as always (cockers: eyes, ears, and skin) but this morning she was so miserable that it was time for the vet!
I have a wonderful Eastern medicine vet, so Anna is on two antibiotics, one oral and the other drops for her ears, and two herbal medicines to work on specific organs which effect or are effected by the ear infections.
Anna thinks the pills are pretty tasty, but she is most definitely not a happy dog!!! Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts! Charlotte and Anna
PS. We still very much need your help raising funds so that I can get a mobility/balance dog, and Anna can do whatever makes her happy. At the moment, I am thinking of us becoming a therapy dog team.
We did two years of hospice work when she was younger. I learned so much from our people, and Anna loved being treated like a Queen. It will also allow her to do some outside work!
Thank you in advance for helping Anna and I! Even the smallest of donations will add up. If enough people donate what they can, it will happen!
August 24, 2015
I want to start by thanking those who have donated as well as those who have taken the time to sign my Guestbook. Both of these are very important. I have been meaning to write an update for the last few weeks and obviously have not. I have spent most of the time in immense pain and barely able to keep my Facebook Page. Service Dog Needed (SDN) https://www.facebook.com/servicedogneededfunctioning. If you have not visited it, you should.
I have spent the last year plus and hundreds of hours developing it. It is meant for all dog lovers with only occasional service dog (SD)information when asked or if something major is going on. My focus is in a way related to SD in that all SDs go through regular challenging personality and temperament tests. They must remain focused on the person they are helping even if bombs are falling. With SDN, I have taken a step back and am looking at the relationship between dogs and humans in general. Why will a dog place itself in danger to save its person?
Several weeks ago, a guide dog jumped in front of a bus and was killed in order to keep its handler safe. While guide dogs are taught to respond to all senses, guiding their handler to bus stop and stop lights and keep their handler safe from step off a curb or walking in front of a car. Depending how the guide dog was trained, its thought should have been how do I get my person to safety. Instead the guide dog acted instantly by throwing himself in front of the bus. Somehow, he had to be able to judge that something was wrong with the bus and then choose how to react, as this is definitely not a trained behavior.
It is this innate relationship between dogs and their families that I am working on exploring on SDN. There are infrequent stories of pets who risked their lives in order to save their companion. But their is so much. Why do people choose dogs as companions over human friends. Like a human child's mother, dog people will not tolerate a friend who criticizes their dog. While many of SDN's people simply hit the "Like" button on the post, many comment, usually in agreement, but we have a handful of people who question, create their own theories, share their own beliefs. These people actually spend the time to read my Posts and think through them, looking at them from their experiences. These people are the heart of SDN, and we teach each other!
Last week, was Anna's 12th birthday. Please donate so that she can retire and become my couch potato. After working with me for eight and a half years, she deserves to enjoy life while she can. I have added a picture of her birthday cake and presents as well as one of her attacking it into the service dog album. I found a wonderful recipe in which there were only seven ingredients including those for the cake and for the icing. It was primarily peanut butter and apple. Completely grain and meat free and definitely safe for humans.
Unfortunately, I fell when I tried to reach too far forward to get the cutting board. Falling is nothing new. My guess is, should I track them, that I fall at least once a week. Typically, they happen at night. Most likely because of exhaustion. I usually, but not always, know 2-3 steps before the fall and try to reach a doorframe to keep me upright or at least use it to balance the fall. It also directs my fall forward which causes the least damage. This fall happened without, and since I was overreaching forward, I fell backwards landing on the discs that are disintegrating. That put me into bed for a few days.
I am back to my norm. Anna made her first retrieve without me asking her to. It was so awesome to see. I dropped the cap off a container and it half hid under the refrigerator. The side that meets up with my office; she knows better than to go into the kitchen. As it is very hard for me to reach down to the ground and my care giver was here, she automatically went to get it. I saw Anna start moving as I told my care giver to let me ask Anna instead. My care giver was able to take two steps as Anna flew by her and brought to me. No signals, no commands, just absolutely perfect.
Anna and I are flying to Washington DC for ten days this week to visit my brother and his family. Anyone who reads this please send good thoughts. We will be functioning in a world that is three hours earlier than mine and mornings are always hard. While my brother knows my health is not great; he almost decided to cancel the trip because of it. But while he is aware, my 5 year old nephew will most likely not understand. The other two times I visited them, my nephew and I played straight from the time I woke up, and he went to bed. I will not be able to do that this time and hopefully I will find a way so that he understands. I love him to death. He is everything I imagine the ideal child to be. He is definitely not perfect, but when we play he has a blast while remaining respectful and honest. There is, or was, no cheating when playing games from either of us.
Okay. I don't write, and then I write an essay. Its just after midnight. I still have to put SDN to bed, and Anna needs to go out as well! If you have made it this far, please donate $5 to my cause. It is about the same as a cup of coffee and if enough people donate just the $5, the money will be raised, and I will have a new service dog and a retired Anna!
Thank You!
Charlotte and Miss Anna
July 9, 2015
I have not written an update in several weeks. Instead, I have been battling with the frailness of my human body. However, it is time to get this fundraiser rolling. As the fundraising indicator shows, a couple people have helped start the momentum with their donations.
While this may seem small, it is a start! As George Eliot said, "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
I am not expecting one person to sweep in and save the day. This is the real world where people have their own pets to care for and their own bills to pay!
What I am hoping for is finding many people who can each help in their own way. The quarters I asked people to save for me on my Facebook Page:, https://www.facebook.com/servicedogneeded, are now much needed.
If you could donate $5/month for ten months that would be $50. If 100 people can do this, the $5000 will have been raised. If this still feels impossible to you, ask four of your friends to join with you. With each of you donating $1, you and your friends will make this happen!
There are many ways of helping and not all require the giving of money. Do you have something you purchased for your dog, only to bring it home and discover he or she will not touch it. Would you be willing to donate the item, so I can use it as a thank you gift or for a silent auction?
Easiest of all, and absolutely free, is to make sure to sign my Guestbook before leaving this page. It will show those who come after you that you support this cause! In the same fashion, let all your friends know of my cause and encourage them to support it. Again, in whatever way, they can.
With enough people, mountains can be moved. This is what I am hoping for and dreaming of. There is no gesture so small that it will not add up in giant ways!
I realized last week that Anna will turn 12 next month. She deserves to retire and lazily sleep on the bed, with one eye open, watching, making sure the new service dog is taking care of me with the same high standards she has always done.
Please help me let Anna retire and enjoy being a senior citizen, while a new and much larger service dog gives me the help I so desperately need and for which Anna is too old and too small.
Lets make it our goal for Anna to be able to retire before her 13th birthday. Just think, by helping Anna, you are helping me, or vice versa. Either way, you will have helped and touched the lives of two beings!
Thank you all!
Charlotte and Miss Anna
June 25, 2015
Just a quick note: I now have my HelpHOPELive.org/campaign/8893 on Facebook! You can follow my journey on FB: ServiceDogNeeded. Please help share this page!
June 22, 2015
This has been a very hard week! It started with the feeling that each individual muscle group was being stretched on a wooden rack. Additionally, it felt as if sparks were running down my nerves and once they reached the nerve endings exploding. The pain forced me to cancel all my appointments, doctors or other.
Because of being forced to cancel all my appointments, I knew I would be swamped trying to play catch up. I had hoped that when the pain finally let up, I would have the needed energy to make up everything I missed. Unfortunately, battling the pain used up each and every ounce of energy I had. Simply existing still makes me tired!
Fortunately, I had Anna at my side, keeping one eye on me and helping me in every way possible. Unfortunately, my needs are now greater than those she was ever meant to help with, and she is extremely exhausted!
There have been some good things though. Thanks to Emily, here at HelpHOPELive, I now have a huge source of dog photos to use on FB and Twitter. Before, Anna was my only model, I had a handful of pictures of previous dogs, and was primarily dependent on Sharing Posts from other pages.
Now my FB and Twitter Pages will have unique photos and quotes/comments which will hopefully bounce around and generate new interest!
June 13, 2015
I am so excited that this page is up and running. It has been a long road finding an organization that met all my needs and with a stellar reputation! All donations are guaranteed by HelpHOPELive to be used only for expenses occurred while obtaining my new service dog.
Until now, I have been working on growing FB: ServiceDogNeeded but have not been using it for fundraising; its original purpose. I plan to keep growing SDN, but I will now be asking for your help, in whatever way possible, and for the quarters I asked you to save for me!
HelpHOPELive is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Hence, your donations are tax deductible. To pull the final rabbit out of the hat, I never see the money. HelpHOPELive invests it, and it is never put in my name. Hence, I do not need to worry about the government programs I depend on but only allow me to have $2000 total at any time. This is what had me most stumped!
Please help me get my new service dog, and in doing so, help change a life. I thank HelpHOPELive with all my heart for accepting me into their program! Instead of going at this alone, I will now have experts to turn to for help!
May 11, 2015
I am on the waiting list of a small program in Merced, CA. However, until a program literally puts the leash of a graduated service dog in my hand, I am going to continue to seek out programs, searching for the perfect match! Unfortunately because of the strain caused by a person's height and weight, there are only a handful of service dog programs that breed and train dogs large enough to withstand the physical demands placed on them!
