Andrew's Hope: Dreams Can Come True!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Dreams Can Come True!

What a wonderful feeling: we have not only met, but exceeded our goal!! We are excited that we could help 4 Paws out by raising more than what we needed. We know that it will be put to good use.

We finally had the marathon for Andrew on Sunday. What an exciting day! We started off bright and early at 7:30 am. We had a large group of peope available to help us. (The thank you list will be published later) As we rushed about getting everything ready, I noticed how calm and quiet Andrew was. At times he appeared to have just had a seizure. That was what his mood was like for most of the day. He was awake, but not engaging. When the flurry of people came I had a hard time making sure everyone had a chance to meet Andrew. The walk itself was a gentle 3.2 miles. There was wonderful food after and a DJ. But, just like a wedding, it was all done and cleaned up by 12:30pm. We were able to raise almost $4,000!

We have so many people to thank. Some really good things happened during the fundraising process. It brought my mom and her sisters closer. Allen was shocked and awed when he realized just how many people out there believe that Andrew needs and deserves the service dog. And I have gained three totally awesome new friends in Angie Clifford, Linda Lein and Liz Shelton. They, along with their families, have been so giving and loving. My family has really jumped in to help Andrew with getting his dog; all in their own ways. I love you all and THANK YOU to everyone that has helped me make this dream for Andrew come true!!

1 comment:

NancyMay 18, 2010 at 1:06 AM
Jamie, I am so very proud of you, both as a woman and as a mother! In just a few short months, you've tackled a huge goal for your son!
Love you bunches,
Aunt Nancy
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About Andrew

Andrew is a very handsome wonderful 6 year old boy. He gives us so much joy to have him in our life and, just like any parents, we want to do everything we can to make his life better.

Andrew has bilateral hearing loss and a difficult to control seizure disorder. Andrew also has a visual processing disorder which essentially makes him "blind". While he can visualize objects, he can not process and identify what he is seeing. On top of this, Andrew also has a swallowing disorder which makes it necessary for specialized feeding.

The seizures Andrew has been diagnosed with have also included Infantile Spasms, which is a very serious diagnosis in a child. Due to the severity and frequency of Andrew's seizures, he is termed as "Global Delay" because of the interruption they cause in his daily learning and processing of information. This is despite of being on multiple medications and therapies.

At 3 years of age, Andrew took his first steps. We are still waiting for the day he says his first word. Andrew has come a long ways in the last 3 years. Having Carina enhance her training to include tethering will be wonderful for Andrew. We have fought long and hard to get him walking, including fighting the school when they wanted to put him in a wheelchair. Andrew should be indepdendent as safely possible and noone should ever hold him back.

Carina has improved Andrew's long term quality of life by alerting and providing comfort before, during and after seizures. She can also help to be Andrew's eyes and ears and provide a much needed source of support and comfort to him as he meets the upcoming challenges in his life. We heard about a great organization that places highly trained dogs.

4 Paws for Ability is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities. The dogs are specially chosen and trained specific to each individual's needs. Our previous fundraising was on behalf of 4 Paws For Ability in order to minimize the wait time and allow us to participate in the process of placing a dog with Andrew.

Why 4 Paws For Ability?

4 Paws For Ability specializes in training service dogs for children with special needs and has a very high success rate. We encourage you to visit their site at http://www.4pawsforability.org/ to learn more about this wonderful organization. 4 Paws For Ability is a 501(C) Non-Profit Agency and all donations are tax deductible. 4 Paws for Ability's mission is to "Enrich the lives of people with disabilities by the training and placement of service dogs to provide individuals with companionship and promote independent living." and "Assist with animal rescue whenever possible by obtaining many of our animals from shelters and rescue groups." Through a family friend, we heard of another family currently undergoing the training and placement process of a seizure response dog for their 4 year old daughter Caitlin. 4 Paws For Ability is very highly recommended and has placed over 500 service dogs!