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Sammy the Service Dog, Russellville, AL (2024)

11/18/2024

Shout out to Barktown Sheffield for letting me do a little training at Sammy's fun place today!! We hung out in the lobby and worked on him focusing on momma while other doggies and people came in and out. It wasn't the easiest for him at first.. but he caught on really quick!! Super proud of my Sammy boy!!
If you don't have a place for grooming and dayare and need somewhere who loves your baby as much as you do! Barktown is the place!!!
He also had an awesome check up for his yearly visit 🩵🩵

10/25/2024

Three Dimensional Dog and his team did this write up on sammy and me!! Aaron and his team are phenomenal!!! They have been amazing during our journey and my extremely long list of things i wanted him trained to do 😂 between zoom calls, one on one training, group classes and all the things! They have been there for everything!! I will forever be grateful for all the hours they have invested in us! I hope sharing this write up will help anyone with questions or needing guidance towards owner training!!! 🐕‍🦺🩵
Dysautonomia International Dysautonomia Talk

Many pretrained service dog programs can take upwards of 2 years. In Sammy's case, in-home service dog training began almost immediately.

10/19/2024

🩵🐕‍🦺 Sammy Fundraiser 🐕‍🦺🩵
Who doesn't love Krispy Kreme doughnuts!?!
We are selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to help raise money to go towards more training, supplies, and expenses for him to stay on track with his health to be best help and provide for his momma!!

Original glazed doughnuts $14.00
Raspberry or Kreme filled doughnuts $16.00
BOGO Cards $22.00

All money and orders have to be paid by Oct 28th
You can pay with cash or PayPal or venmo!!
PayPal [email protected]
Venmo amosley91

10/18/2024

neurocardiogenic syncope is the most common form of syncope, impacting approximately 20% of the global population. Learn more about fainting disorders at dysautonomiainternational.org/syncope or watch this lecture by world-renowned syncope expert and Dysautonomia International Medical Advisory Board member, Dr. Blair Grubb: vimeo.com/160728361

10/18/2024

Day 16 and 17!! Dysautonomia friendly hobbies and go to comfort show!!
Dysautonomia friendly hobbies i like to do are read, go on short walks with Sammy, spend time with Zalinah and of course sleeeep 😴🙃
Dysautonomia go to comfort show.. I have several!! Definitely Reba!! The Golden Girls, Fresh Prince and Full House 🩵🩵

10/16/2024

Okay so for some reason my post yesterday failed and I didn't know it 😭😭😭
Soooo Happy Dysautonomia Awareness Day in Russellville AL (yesterday October 15th) take 2!!
Thank you City of Russellville, Alabama- Government for recognizing a day and month that means so much to my family and me!!
Scroll through the pictures and see pictures of Mommajoyce and Poppa for the inspiration of choosing Oct 15th as Dysautonomia Awareness Day in the city of Russellville AL. October 15th was my Poppas birthday! I miss him so much but I know now he is healthy and healed! He LOVED advocating and raising money for the Relay even before he was diagnosed with leukemia. Him and Mommajoyce (and my momma of course! I dont know how she does everything she does sometimes Julia Fleming Sullivan) poured everything they had into raising money for a good cause. I know he would be proud to celebrate his birthday with me for Dysautonomia Awareness!
These are my a couple of my favorite pictures with Mommajoyce and Poppa.. the one of Poppa and me with the trophy is from the my senior year in Miss RHS and he got to come home that day from Birmingham the first time! Second picture of us is us getting ready for hugh school graduation. A graduation I never thought he would attend but he did!! Picture of Mommajoyce and me dancing and being silly at my sister's for a get together.. and it is my FAVORITE picture of us!!! We both danced and acted silly like we do.. and made comments while dancing like "why are the two most fragile ones the only ones acting like this?" And then a picture of Zalinahs first Relay for Life with family and the winner of the Jimmy Fleming Spirit award for the year for 2016. I would love to have him here with us watching his Great grand babies grow up play ball, and i know he'd do everything he could to get to ALL Jackson, Zalinah and Ryleighs games!! He would be so proud of them.. he is home, healthy, and happy holding his beautiful Great granddaughter Maysen!! 🩵🩵

10/16/2024

Thank you to CB&S Bank for wearing turquoise in support for Dysautonomia Awareness month and Dysautonomia Awareness Day in Russellville, AL.

10/14/2024

The most common age of onset of is age 14, but POTS is not just a teenaged condition - about half of patients develop POTS in adulthood. Mayo Clinic researchers have estimated that POTS impacts 1 out of 100 teens.

Dysautonomia International offers a teen support group, along with over 80 other support groups. Connect with other dysautonomia patients and caregivers at dysautonomiainternational.org/support

10/14/2024

Took Sammy to the grocery store with us last week and he went to counseling with momma!! Aaron McDonald

10/14/2024

This is something that absolutely terrifies me... when i initially saw the post I messaged my nurse about it and she said she would check emails to see how we would be affected.. the next morning I woke up to a message from her saying this is NOT a drill... with a comedy skit. She always knows when to make me laugh because I will immediately panic right after 😂😬
Unfortunately, hurricane Helene has affected everyone nationwide. Hospitals have made major cut backs on which patients will and will not receive fluids during their care. I am currently on five infusions a week to help manage my symptoms. However, pharmacy's will recieve a lower percentage of their norm than hospitals recieve. With that being said... I have no idea what my next delivery will look like for November, praying i recieve a delivery!
We immediately went to the store Thursday to buy supplemental things i can do if I cannot receive an infusion. Today, there are a lot of posts on different dysautonomia pages about how they are struggling to find the drinks they use to manage their symptoms since the shortage started (some of these posts are coming from people who do not receive infusions).
PLEASE, please!!! If you are just stocking up on gatorlyte, biolyte, pedialyte, Gatorade fit.. or any other high sodium drink.. just to stock up. Please save some for us who need them to are seriously trying to manage our symptoms... and stay standing up not horizontal on the ground..
I promise I am not being ugly by saying any of this!! Because a lot of these items are probably just items on their grocery list and you honestly had no idea.. but If you are stocking up on these items to be stingy like the covid 2020 milk and toilet paper aisle.. with all the kindness in my heart (and I am sure I speak for other dysautonomia warriors) please for some us!!! I know you love the drink.. we do too... I know you are working out, running, hiking etc. And need the extra hydration. We aren't physically doing those things but our body thinks it is and we need them too! And drinking just regular water won't cut it for some of us... supplementing these drinks for infusions won't even cut it for some, but we are trying our best and would love the help and support of others!!!
Thank you so much
Sincerely,
A girl with a long list of chronic illnesses panicking 🩵😬🥰😂🦓

Pictures of Sammy shopping for drinks!!!

Remnants of Hurricane Helene shut down a North Carolina factory that supplies critical IV fluids to hospitals across the country. There's no timeline for when production will resume at the facility.

10/14/2024

This is something that absolutely terrifies me... when i initially saw the post I messaged my nurse about it and she said she would check emails to see how we would be affected.. the next morning I woke up to a message from her saying this is NOT a drill... with a comedy skit. She always knows when to make me laugh because I will immediately panic right after 😂😬
Unfortunately, hurricane Helene has affected everyone nationwide. Hospitals have made major cut backs on which patients will and will not receive fluids during their care. I am currently on five infusions a week to help manage my symptoms. However, pharmacy's will recieve a lower percentage of their norm than hospitals recieve. With that being said... I have no idea what my next delivery will look like for November, praying i recieve a delivery!
We immediately went to the store Thursday to buy supplemental things i can do if I cannot receive an infusion. Today, there are a lot of posts on different dysautonomia pages about how they are struggling to find the drinks they use to manage their symptoms since the shortage started (some of these posts are coming from people who do not receive infusions).
PLEASE, please!!! If you are just stocking up on gatorlyte, biolyte, pedialyte, Gatorade fit.. or any other high sodium drink.. just to stock up. Please save some for us who need them to are seriously trying to manage our symptoms... and stay standing up not horizontal on the ground..
I promise I am not being ugly by saying any of this!! Because a lot of these items are probably just items on their grocery list and you honestly had no idea.. but If you are stocking up on these items to be stingy like the covid 2020 milk and toilet paper aisle.. with all the kindness in my heart (and I am sure I speak for other dysautonomia warriors) please for some us!!! I know you love the drink.. we do too... I know you are working out, running, hiking etc. And need the extra hydration. We aren't physically doing those things but our body thinks it is and we need them too! And drinking just regular water won't cut it for some of us... supplementing these drinks for infusions won't even cut it for some, but we are trying our best and would love the help and support of others!!!
Thank you so much
Sincerely,
A girl with a long list of chronic illnesses panicking 🩵😬🥰😂🦓
Pictures of Sammy shopping for drinks in comments!

Remnants of Hurricane Helene shut down a North Carolina factory that supplies critical IV fluids to hospitals across the country. There's no timeline for when production will resume at the facility.

10/13/2024

Day 12!!!! How do you manage a Flare?
Well, to be quite honest with you... I take Phenergan but most likely I am extremely nauseated.. and i sleep the day away. It almost the only way I can get through flare days...
When I start to feel a Flare coming I get certain symptoms.. breaking out in hives or welps and sometimes depending one how bad the flarewas those hives will turn into blisters.. migraines (migraine doesn't always mean I am IN a flare) constant temperature deregulation.. I'll have chill bumps but be sweating 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️ my skin will get so sensitive i can't stand for anything at all to touch it. Really random bruising and lots of them.. Random face swelling a flushing most the time it is one sided, and it feels like i am sitting up close to a bonfire. Usually I will start medicating best I can when symptoms start. Get cold eash cloths for hives or face. Then when the flare hits I sleep until I am able to stand without blacking out or go to the bathroom without help.
Side note... yes I have pictures of random times i have gotten hives/welps for documentation purposes for my dysautonomia specialist. Side note two.. pictures do NOT (TRUST ME) show how bad some of these hives and welps are.
*** my dream way of handling a flare😂... getting a small tattoo every time time I start to go into it.. I know a lot of people in support groups that do this and they say it is literally the best way to manage a flare up because we already have such a high pain tolerance.. when we get a tattoo ,your body focuses on that one area of "pain", and then the body causes the mast cell to stop or slow down on releasing too many chemical mediators. Which can help you from going into a full blown flare up.. and most of my full blown flare ups are started by MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome). The best way to describe MCAS is your body thinks you are having an allergic reaction... therefore it releases chemical mediators when not needed causing and overload of symptoms to then push you into a fight or flight mode and going into a flare up..

10/13/2024

Again... I'm begind.. sorry guys!!!
Dysautonomia challenge day 11.. Mobility aids
Mobility aids i use mostly are braces and KT tape... i used to use forearm crutches at all times. But I have gotten enough strength back that I don't have to have them like I did 🥰🥰
I get questions allll the time like... you're still in a brace... or why cant they just do surgery and fix what's wrong.. or are you going to ALWAYS be in a brace
To answer those questions.... yes I am still in a brace and I have been in one for three years i think 🤔... i have complete tear on my right hip labrum and my IT band is messed up. I also have a partial tear on my left hip labrum. Annddd my left shoulder labrum... can I have surgery to fix it... at the time I found no i couldn't because my body was not anywhere near strong enough to go tbrough surgery and possibly still isn't but also, my tears aren't necessarily due to an injury. They are because I have EDS which mean i lack the collagen and connective tissue i need to support my joints. This causes a lot of partial and fill dislocation which will lead to tears... most Dr's aren't going to operate on something to fix it when it is only going to tear again.
So, answer some questions I get often and I'll be glad to answer more if anyone has any!!! Yes I am still in a brace.. sometimes two depending on my symptoms.. now I can't have surgery to have it fixed unfortunately.. and yes I will most likely always be in a brace... if you see me without my brace.. please don't make an assumption I'm miraculously healed... I most likely have lots of KT holding allll my joints together.
#

10/12/2024

: When Mother Nature decides to play WWE with your body... every season. 🏋️‍♂️💥

The change in weather can feel like a body slam for those with . Changes in temperature, humidity, and air pressure can trigger or worsen symptoms. Those with Dysautonomia are known to be highly sensitive to quick but very small changes in the Barometric Pressure. When combined with erratic temperatures during the change of seasons, people with Dysautonomia can see increases in dizziness, fatigue, and heart rate. The seasonal change can be tough. It leaves many feeling like they are crawling to get through the day.

Just remember, you're not alone, and it's okay to take extra care of yourself when the weather starts to change!

📷 Image Credit:
Chronic Pain Info

10/12/2024

The fatigue that people experience with and other forms of can be extreme and accomplishing even the most simple tasks can feel exhausting. What treatments have helped you combat fatigue, if any?