Why is Mika getting a service dog? I'm asked that every time the term service dog comes up. There are many reasons, most of which I won't discuss outside of the family. However, we are willing to discuss two of the main reasons.
1. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome- My daughter inherited a rare genetic disorder from me. To keep it very simple, we have defective connective tissue. Every part of your body uses connective tissue to keep body parts where they are supposed to be and functioning effectively. When you have EDS, your connective tissue isn't strong and firm, it's highly elastic. What does this mean? Joints that easily dislocate, skin that tears through stitches and stretches, significant pain, early onset arthritis and easy bruising (among many other things). There are 7 different types of EDS and some of them are very severe, so we are lucky to have a type that is not usually associated with spontaneous organ/aorta ruptures.
2. Brittle bones- Mika has a history for bones that break for no discernible reason. Of all of her fractures, we know what caused 4 of them. How bad is it? In the last 17 months, she's broken her foot, nose, finger (twice), collarbone, and her nose again. On an upside, the last time she broke her nose, she actually straightened the bend left from the previous break! Hey, you take what you can get. They haven't yet pegged the exact cause of her brittle bones, but there are three main theories floating around her specialists.
Now you know why a service dog will be so helpful for my daughter. Not only can it help when she's in a sling, backbrace or on crutches, it can also help comfort her through the pain of broken bones and dislocated joints. If only we could have gotten him/her before she broke both her nose and collarbone within the past 5 weeks....
No comments:
Post a Comment