Hello, if you don’t know me. My name is Dreana. From the outside, people walking by can’t tell right away that a drunk driver rear ended my dad and me in November 2012, that I lost memory, balance, and needed months to recover. To them, I’m just an 18 year old and going to university to study forensic anthropology mostly on scholarship money because my family’s on the poverty line. That makes me really, really lucky and eternally thankful. There’s just one problem… I could, potentially, die in the shower, walking to class, or even walking up a flight of stairs any day. Several times, I’ve started to take a shower, only to wake up in the bathtub, with my foot blocking the drain and the water up the bottom of my nose. Grand mal seizures due to drunk drivers can do that to you.I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was five. One of the very first distinct memories I have is walking down the stairs with my parents asking me questions because my teacher said I was brilliant but daydreamed far too often. I didn’t understand- I didn’t remember ever doing anything but paying attention in class. Luckily, my mom did daycare and knew that some neurological problems presented like this. She took me to the doctor.I had petit mal seizures on and off and was injured, but only minor injuries for the next ten years. Then, I spent three great years seizure free until the car accident. My doctors believe that shortly after the accident, I started having grand mal seizures, or tonic-clonic seizures, shortly after the accident, but only in my sleep. We didn’t notice them until January.I’ve been hospitalized several times and we are just now (June 28) starting to find medications that lower my seizures to once a day instead of three or four times a day. By now the local EMTs are all too familiar with me— from the bathroom floor at Friendly’s to my house’s floor.Most recently, I injured my knee so severely that I’ve been on crutches for a while and will continue to be on crutches for a long time. As far as the doctors at the walk in could tell, I will need (my third) knee surgery. For these reasons, I am on the waiting list for a seizure alert dog. Dogs are not free to take care of, however, and the foundation expects a donation when I do receive a dog.Please consider donating just a few dollars; EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS. As you could assume from the above, I do not have a job or a way of acquiring the amount of money needed for this on my own.I want to defeat epilepsy’s control over my independence with the help of a service dog; will you help me take a stand?WAYS TO TAKE A STAND:
- Donate,
- If you can’t, reblog so that this gets to someone who can.
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