Dear Daililyfan;

I am unbelievably impressed. You have put a tremendous amount of your energy, skills, thoughts and love into something you have passion for and what a great accomplishment!!! Thank you for sharing this with us. I have been training my husband for 28 years and do not get that type of service. Any suggestions? Maybe I will start with the vest, I love to sew. Honestly, your story has inspired me. God Bless you and Josie!

Jeanie

I'm quite impressed as well. This is something my husband and I have been discussing for several months. We would dearly love to be able to get a service dog but as you mentioned, it's terribly cost prohibitive.

I've looked into several of the online agencies who provide dogs, but we've not qualified for one reason or the other. Still, it's worthwhile for us to keep looking and we have.

I've fallen out of my wheelchair a couple of times and I think of how beneficial this could be if we could somehow train a dog to help me back into my chair rather than my having to wait for assistance.

I'd love to hear more about your story!

Dear Peppermint;

Possibly, you could get a dog on your own and train yourself. When I first had my accident I spent almost two years in a wheelchair. Our dog was killed in the accident. My parents bought us a new puppy, she was so healing to our lives. I had her housebroke in two days on my own. Then a few months later the kids talked me into a rescue dog, lab/counhound, again I trained both of these dogs out of a wheelchair. Maybe this would be something for you to consider and look at the gratification and end result that Daililyfan has shared and accomplished. I fought my way out of a wheelchair many times, as I sustained severe open fractures to both of my feet. But I never accepted living my life in a wheelchair, even though I was told early on, my prognosis was scary. I began to crawl, I crawled all over the house with knee pads, but I got where I wanted to go and was able to do things for myself. Even most recently, sustained another total arthrodesis/fusion and nerve surgery. I came home in a wheelchair, but, again I started to crawl with both of my feet lifted in the air behind me. The pain was horrible, everything hurt, both arms and shoulders flared up, I was a flipping mess. But three months later, I am walking, slow, but I am walking. Don't give up, just challenge yourself in little ways each day. Get some knowledge about training a dog for special needs, go find the perfect dog for you and give it a shot, you have nothing to lose, if all else fails you will have a great companion. My dogs are not trained for special needs, they are older now, but they have this incredible sixth sense about them and somehow always manage to comfort me and have gotten me through some really difficult days. God Bless you Peppermint, don't let your limitations get in the way of your dreams and never accept or give up on walking again!

Jeanie

I am trying my darndest to get the last part of the Symptom Report finished tonight for SS Disability. I have had it for weeks. Yikes. Anyway, I will check back in here in a couple days and answer everyone.

I am glad that people enjoyed the post. I wanted to open people's eyes to what a dog can do for you, but also that it's not an easy street.

Jules