Tiny tot will need service dog
Cassandra or Cassie to her family is a beautiful three-month-old girl. Unknown as to exactly what occurred, Cassie went into distress and suffered trauma at birth. Cassie spent the first two weeks of her life on a ventilator, and the next four as well in Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. Upon leaving the hospital, it was known that she suffered from Seizure Disorder and Temperature Instability. She was home only two weeks before one of these conditions sent her back to Children’s for an additional week. Shortly thereafter she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as well.
Cassie is a fighter, already proving hospital staff wrong in her progress. Doctors worried that she would not be able to breathe without the ventilator, but she did. Doctors said that she may not be able to learn to coordinate her movements and learn to eat, but she did. While Cassie has overcome so much, she still has a long road ahead.
Cassie is unable to regulate her body temperature as effectively as most people do. Her regular body temperature is only in the 96’s. When she is not feeling well it begins to drop, and she has to be warmed back up. She has been hospitalized for dropping to 93 degrees. Just as she drops, getting upset and having a tantrum as most babies do, can cause Cassie to run a temperature, and if not monitored can become dangerously high. There is nothing that can be done to help this condition, only careful monitoring by the family.
Cassie’s seizures are also tricky. She does not exhibit any outward signs, and her seizures can only be seen by medical monitoring such as an EEG. Cassie has to take a daily medication to ensure that they are controlled. Cassie’s Cerebral Palsy is what may limit or slow her development the most. Cerebral Palsy is a condition that affects her muscles. It can cause increased tightness, looseness, spasms, or tremors. This will be Cassie’s biggest battle. She also takes medication daily for this.
Cassie’s service dog will be able to assist her in many areas but especially with the Cerebral Palsy. The dog will be able to assist in opening doors, retrieving dropped items and a variety of other things to help her when a parent can’t jump at just that moment or just to give her that added independence as she gets older. Her dog will also be able to attend her therapies and help out. She can stretch and work her hands by petting him, or exercise her arms by reaching for him, her legs by trying to follow him when she is able. And one of the most important things to me as her mother is the behavior modification, he can help soothe her.
Over the next few years of hospital stays, therapies, being stuck at home due to a bad temperature day or a variety of other things, Cassie will begin to get frustrated. As much as I don’t want to think that I as her mother won’t be able to help, there will be times when she will be angry or frustrated with me for pushing her. She may be scared or lonely. Her dog can accompany her to doctor appointments, hospital stays, anything. He will be able to be her friend to help calm and soothe her, when maybe I can’t.
And at some point the may be able to help her make some more friends. Cassie’s medical conditions make her different which may cause children to avoid her; a furry companion would change that instantly, perhaps helping her to blossom socially in a way that would otherwise not be possible.
It may seem silly to be worrying about all of this now while she is only three months old, but the process of getting a service dog is not a quick one. First you must apply and be accepted, then fundraise the money, then wait while a dog is found and trained, then go through training yourself, and finally your dog comes home. In order for Cassie to have her dog when she needs him, we must start now.
Finally, but by no means least importantly, the dog will do what any other dog might do — love and be loved, loyally and unconditionally. Many agencies have long waiting lists with a wait of up to five years, but 4 Paws reduces that waiting time, by having the parents work with them to fundraise the up to $13,000 needed to cover the cost of providing a trained dog.
In regard to your tax-free donation, be sure to note on the memo line of your check or in the special instructions box for credit cards, “In Honor of Cassandra Tillman.”
Contact: Caliese Collier
Tel: 479-747-0953
Email: caliese2005@yahoo.com
Note: I highly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.