Mason's Press Release
Service Dog needed for Mason, who has multiple seizures daily
Mason
Ohler is a fun, energetic, and friendly child who will be attending
kindergarten in the fall. Mason was born in September 2004 and
everything was wonderful, he was a sweet quiet baby. But in November
2006 Mason's life was changed.
He was only a little over two years old when he had his first seizure. After several admissions to the children's hospital and numerous tests we were left to believe that Mason was experiencing febrile seizures, and the good news was children typically out grow these type of seizures. In the meantime every time Mason would get sick we had to monitor his fevers and be sure to keep on top of them.
Mason continued having seizures for almost 18 months. Then they seemed to stop, so we thought we had the right diagnosis and he would be seizure free. That was true until July 23, 2008. The day his baby sister was born he had one of the first seizures that he had in nearly 2 years. He then began having multiple seizures almost every day, some days it would be as many as 20.
Mason
had had multiple EEGs done. In the past we were not able to capture
seizure activity during the tests. This changed in 2009, Mason had to
have a stress EEG and he had five occurrences on the EEG. This was both
good and bad news. Good because we had finally caught the type and location, bad because Mason was past the five-year mark
and we knew this was permanent.
He had several CT scans, and MRIs, but so far the doctors are unable to determine why he is having the seizures and have diagnosed him with a seizure disorder. We have tests done every two to three months continually trying to find out why. He is on medication and it helps but he still has days where he has multiple seizures. The tricky part about Mason is his seizures are very quick usually 30 seconds or so, so if we are not with him every single minute we miss when he has them.
Most of the people who are around Mason cannot recognize when he is having a seizure: he just seems to slip into his own little world briefly and then returns to normal. This is why we have chose to get Mason a seizure alert dog.
With the help of the service dog anyone helping to care for Mason will be able to recognize through the alert of the service dog when Mason is having a seizure. We feel that this is the best chance Mason has to really determine how many and how often he is having seizures. Not only that but this service dog will be able to help prevent Mason from going into a dangerous situation if he is about to have a seizure.
Mason
has also started to have some behaviors which we believe are brought on
by the medication he has to take such as tantrums, and he hates to be
touched. Mason is also afraid to sleep alone in his own bed. He
has been having nightmares and gets scared pretty easily. So the dog
will also be trained to do behavior disruption to help calm Mason in
stressful situations.
We have been given a opportunity by a unique organization called 4 Paws For Ability. 4 Paws is a nonprofit organization that helps families with special needs acquire service dogs. Mason has been approved for the placement of a Seizure Alert Service Dog! As part of the application process we have agreed to partner with 4 Paws to fund raise the $13,000 it will cost to train the perfect partner for Mason.
Once we have reached our goal, Mason will be placed in a class and given the dates we will be able to come to 4 Paws to receive his service dog. It costs 4 Paws a minimum of $22,000 to train and place one service dog which is why we are committed to raising at least $13,000 and with your help we can make this happen! While it does cost much more than this to train and place a dog like the one that Mason will receive any money that we raise over our fundraising goal will be used to help another family meet their fundraising requirement!
The benefits that a service dog can provide are endless. His dog will be trained to alert us when Mason is about to have or is having a seizure. They will also train the dog to respond when Mason is having behavioral issues, such as sensory overload, tantrums, and in stressful situations. The dog will be to be able to respond to a situation to help calm Mason.
Mason will be expected to take care of the dog which will be a huge benefit for him. Most importantly it will give him a constant companion that will not only be there unconditionally, it will also give him the confidence he needs to become independent. If you would like to help Mason achieve the independence, safety, and support a service dog will provide for him.
Please consider making a tax deductible donation to 4 Paws For Ability, Inc at 253 Dayton Ave. Xenia, OH 45385. Be sure to include "In Honor of Mason Ohler" on the memo portion of your check so that Mason will receive proper credit.
We thank everyone for all of your support and prayers for Mason and our family.
Jason & Amy Ohler
Mineral City, OH
(330)859-2678
www.4paws4mason.yolasite.com