About 5 years ago my daughter became very ill and became increasingly worse. Last October she almost died. The team at Children’s Hospital had no idea what was wrong with her. She was in and out of the hospital during that period and missed a few months of school. During this time we visited every specialist in the book and finally an allergist, Dr. Salt, at Sharp Reese-Steely remembered a patient of hers that went to the Mayo Clinic. She immediately went to our pediatrician and they concluded she had POTS syndrome. There are no physicians in the area who deal with juvenile POTS. We wanted the best for our daughter and took her to the Mayo Clinic. After 3 days of testing they determined that she did indeed have POTS syndrome and had a serious problem related to the POTS. She had very little stored iron in her blood.
POTS.rare but not.new autonomic disorder that has only been coined this for about 10 years. Every vessel is affected. My daughter Alena passes out, has a rapid heart beat of over 200 upon standing, has major joint swelling, fibromyalgia, digestion issues, and memory issues. I bed whoever is reading this to please write an article about this. Many kids are suffering as my daughter did and they have no idea what’s wrong with them!!!!
Before all this, during the decline, we purchased a service dog for Alena. Xena warrior princess!!!! Xena is the FIRST EVER SERVICE DOG AT GUAJOME PARK ACADEMY!!!! She is a beautiful German Shepherd puppy that we have had since birth. We had no intentions of keeping this puppy, but Alena became ill and she needed help. Protrain, the company we purchased Xena from, is a true Godsend and miracle. No other company will use German Shepherd dogs and we are a one breed family. We own 4 of these beauties and Alena would have no other dog trained to do this work. People forget they were the first dogs used as guide dogs. They are amazing. Xena does bracing work, picks up items, and the most valued gift.she alerts Alena before she passes out so she doesn’t fall to the ground. About 2-5 minutes before Alena passes out Xena stands rigid right in front of her and makes her sit down. She will not let her take another step. The superintendent is completely amazed by this dog that she is getting her own picture on the yearbook!
Michael Luevano has given this mother peace of mind that my daughter will be safe when she goes off to college in 2 short years. It is so rare to find a company like Protrain who will work tirelessly to find the perfect dog for you, customize a program, and keep our children with disabilities independent! Protrain also has helped a friend of mine with a dog for there autistic son. Our pediatrician, Dr. Albert Martinez, never gave up on getting answers. I ask you to please help other families in our position and spread the word. It is also very cool GPA has this amazing new student, Xena! Feel free to contact me to spread the word and thank you for reading my story.
