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For many disabled people, service dogs bridge the gap of disability to ability. Service dogs help the blind, the hearing impaired, the wheel chair bound, as well as people with psychiatric disabilities. These incredible animals go through months of training that is specialized for the needs of their disabled human partner, followed by months of training with their disabled partner.

Since the long wait and expense are two huge obstacles to overcome, imagine my excitement because one of those obstacles has been removed for me. I am one of the rare few that will not have to wait years for my canine assist. I believe that divine help led me to a training organization called Cat Can Do Training that has a service dog almost prepared for me. Her name is Molly, and we are a perfect match for each other. Therefore, the obstacle of time has been removed leaving only the obstacle of cost to overcome.

At some point in everyone’s life, an event occurs that they are not prepared for. For some it might be divorce, depression, death of a loved one, or loss of a job or a home. Most of the time, these traumatic events leave us trying to figure out how to put the pieces of our lives back together. Almost all of the time, we need help rebuilding our lives.

I was not prepared for disability. I had prepared myself for major, reconstructive shoulder surgery that would correct a debilitating birth defect. However, the damage was more extensive than originally anticipated and disability came knocking on my door. Months of physical therapy passed and took with it the hope of ever having normally functioning shoulders. Our savings account decreased to zero. My inability to work forced me to go back to school to get trained for a profession that my body could handle.

Although my hope of having normal working shoulders is gone, I have replaced my former hope with a new drive to find ways to adapt to my mobility issue. The reality is even though I am loved beyond measure by my friends and family, they simply cannot be with me 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but Molly can. I need help to meet my needs. With your financial help I can cross that bridge to independence and again become a productive member of society.

 

My Story

The Begining

I was born at St. Joseph’s hospital in Orange County, California. After two failed pregnancies my mom couldn’t wait to meet me face to face, to kiss my new born cheeks, and count all my fingers and toes. On August 2, 1976, I decided to make my debut to the world. It was a seemingly uncomplicated birth. After the customary brief hospital stay, my mother took me home. Everything seemed normal except for my unexplained crying. I was trying to communicate something, but what? Weeks passed and multiple doctors were unable to find anything wrong with me.

But the mother’s instinct knew that something wasn’t right with her child. Finally, in a final effort to find an answer, I was taken to the Navy hospital in Long Beach where a doctor’s thorough examination uncovered the mystery behind my cries. I had a birth defect in my shoulders; and during labor, my right clavicle snapped. My mother recalls the relief she felt as the doctor placed me in a shoulder immobilizer that instantly relieved my crying. After six weeks, the doctor removed the shoulder immobilizer. I was free to move like a normal baby. One day during my new found freedom I reached above my head to feel the baby mobile slowly swinging above me. As I pulled on the mobile, my mother heard a loud snap followed by that familiar cry. This time she didn’t have to wonder about the source. She knew my shoulder had re-broken. In another attempt to get my bone to heal I was demoted into the shoulder immobilizer. Six weeks later I was free again. I spent the first months of my life in agony with only a cry to express my pain.

 

My School Years

Months and years passed. My clavicle had grown into a noticeable S-shape (called a malunion) and the technology had not yet advanced enough to fix my defect. Although I was in chronic pain, I appeared to be your normal happy child unless you looked at my shoulder. I ran, played and laughed like other kids. However, kids are kids and will jump on any opportunity to taunt their peers because of their differences. They called me “hunchback” in honor of the deformity of my right shoulder. At the beginning of every year, during the routine school physicals, the new nurse would ogle in horror at my shoulder and send a note home to my mother requiring that I get examined by a doctor before I was permitted to participate in gym class. In spite of the pain of the deformity in my shoulders I became an accomplished musician, I excelled in school, and achieved two black belts. I had youthful vitality coupled with tenacity on my side.

Adulthood

For years the vitality synonymous with youth fueled my every ambition. However, as time passed youthful vitality was replaced by several surgeries to intercept and retard the increasing levels of damage sustained by years of wear and tear. One morning, around age 30, I woke up unable to feel my right hand. My lifetime friend of chronic pain increased beyond bearable levels, and the effects of the surgeries that stabilized my shoulder joints wore off. I lost the ability to participate in activities I once enjoyed. I couldn’t work. As time passed, it became increasingly difficult to function.

The Solution

After a lifetime of searching, I was finally referred to an orthopedic-oncologist qualified to assess my situation. I was elated when the new doctor told me that he could fix this defect. For the first time in my life, I had hope of one day having normal shoulders. My new life was calling my name. I was certain that after the long recovery process, I would enjoy a normal shouldered life.

Finally my big day arrived. Lying on the table, I could feel the anesthesia taking effect. I had time for one final thought as I inhaled my chemically induced bliss. I thought, “I wonder what a life with working pain-free shoulders will be like?”

Once the doctor had opened me up, he discovered that not only was my clavicle malformed, but the entire bone was broken near the joint. I had lived my entire life with my clavicle unattached to my shoulder joint. My shoulder muscles were not attached correctly and were stretched and worn out from years of having to function in the wrong places. I also sustained damage to the shoulder joint and nerves. My doctor completely reconstructed my clavicle, removed my muscles, cut them to the proper size, and reattached them to the correct places. A metal plate and screws anchored over my new clavicle held all this new work together.

But I’ve been given a new hope!

A New Hope

A New Way Of Life

Nine months of physical therapy pass. My pain is still unbearable. I cannot lift anything over a couple of pounds. My doctor told me that my massage therapy career was over and I could not make my living sitting in front of a computer either. My doctor eventually told me, “I built you to be pain free, not to be strong.” However, there is no progress on the pain-free front either.

The pain and numerous limitations that is my new life is not what I was hoping to achieve. What do I do? I have always lived my life as a survivor not a quitter, rarely needing help from anyone or anything. Sometimes I feel lost and hopeless. My loved ones selflessly help me; however, even caretakers need a break. Normal tasks I used to perform with ease are either impossible or difficult. Morning after morning, I stand before the mirror looking into my eyes searching for that spark of vitality that once defined me. I search the windows to my soul but come up empty handed. For this day I have to be satisfied with merely summoning the energy to function. All of my energy is allocated to showering, dressing, driving to school to find my new career, eating, and struggling to get my worn out body comfortable to sleep. Now, my doctor has coupled the word “disability” with my name. Reality is starting to creep in. I don’t look disabled, but I am. In fact, the only success of this reconstructive surgery is that I look normal. However, my normal appearance can be misleading and cause others to be judgmental. I am trapped between two worlds: the world of the normal and able bodied, and the world of the physically challenged. Desperately I am searching to find a bridge to independence.

I have lived long enough to learn that adapting is the key ingredient to a successful and happy life. Unfortunately there are no maps to show me how to navigate the unpredictable waters of my disability. Necessity is the mother of invention, and adaptations are derived through the “scientific” method of trial and error. However, at the end of the day I am still left with the questions, “How can I bridge the gap of my mobility impairment to lead a more fulfilling life? How can I conserve my physical and emotional resources so that I can have the energy to experience the joy and independence that my life is missing?”

 

Miss Molly

My Bridge to Independence

Blonde hair, big brown eyes, and a happy heart expressed through her wagging tail, Molly is not your average pretty face. She’s smart, beautiful, and has a heart made to help others. Molly is specially trained to perform tasks that are impossible or painful for me to accomplish. Molly can:

• Carry a back pack that contains my school books.
• Open heavy doors.
• Push a grocery cart
• Remove items from the shelf and placing them in the cart.
• Carry grocery bags from the car to the house.
• Pick up dropped objects.
• Pick up any item I drop and returning it to me with joy in her heart.
• Carry up to 15-20 pounds in her pack and up to 50 pounds in cart.
• Clear a path and acting like a buffer between me and others.
• Retrieve the phone for me to call for help.
• Push an emergency button.

Budget

Funds raised for Molly



Molly is available with some of the training I need currently in place. However, she will need additional training for my specialized needs.

Because of my unique circumstance, I need a dog that can carry weight now. Molly is physically and emotionally mature enough to carry the weight I need, which is perfect timing because of my upcoming surgery. The doctor wishes to perform this next surgery soon, and he feels it is important to get Molly in place given my physical limitations

The $30,000 will be used for:

• My fully trained and certified service dog, Molly.
• Preparation for dog placement:
• Assistance adaptations to the house
• Family training
• My formal training
• Team training with Molly