Been a long time .....

[Janspack]

Hi folks,

I've been a member of CIMDA for a good few years but not been active on the forum for a while. Thought it was time I checked in with my old friends who are still active on the forum.

Just wanted to have a bit of a boast about my youngest dog, Rhea, a 2 yr old Standard Poodle. I got her from her breeder in 2015 knowing that I wanted to train her as my Assistance Dog (I'm wheelchair dependent now). Well she qualified in February this year and not only does she work as my Asst Dog but she has also learnt to alert me to low cortisol levels - believe it or not, I have Addison's Disease! (also known in human circles as Adrenal Insufficiency).

Those who remember me will know that I had a Standard Poodle, YoYo who had Addison's and because of this group and what I learnt here, he had a great quality of life for 10 yrs post diagnosis. I lost him to laryngeal paralysis in the end.

[Jo CIMDA]

 Hi Jan and welcome back - for good reasons this time!

Great to hear from you.  How could we forget YoYo? 

Such good news about Rhea graduating to Assistant dog. How Ironic that you have Addison's - well they say we are like our dogs.   It is remarkable that she can detect when your cortisol levels are low. 

I hope your Addison's is well controlled and you are keeping as well as expected.

Take care

Jo

[Janspack]

Hi Jo,

Hope all is well with you too. Dogs never cease to amaze me with their abilities - specially with their noses.

My Addison's is what they call Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency - caused by the long term treatment on steroids. The pituitary gland stops producing ACTH so the adrenals don't produce cortisol and eventually they atrophy. Still the Pred saved my life so I'm not complaining. I've had one adrenal crisis when I dislocated a finger and the pain and stress sent me over the edge. Blue lights and a day in resus (Rhea was allowed to stay with me all day).

Having Rhea and a Motability wheelchair accessible vehicle has allowed me  to get out and about much more and I've been going to a few obedience shows to help with score keeping - something I hadn't been able to do for years.

Jan