I have a number of really complex medical conditions. Most of which actually make the rare disease list and many don’t know about. I was mostly healthy through my childhood .... lots of sports injuries, minor stomach issues but healthy. However the summer of 2017 that all changed. I woke up one morning with mono for the second time. After that I had major stomach issues, wasn’t able to eat, started having heart rate and blood pressure issues and much more. After seeing drs all over the country I was diagnosed with; gastroparesis which means my stomach doesn’t empty properly, ehlors danlose ( a genetic connective tissue disorder), mast cell activation system ( pretty much my body is allergic to everything including itself) and pots syndrome ( which affects how your blood moves in the body and make the heart beat faster than necessary due to positional changes). All of these diagnoses have multiple symptoms that go with it that which Makes getting diagnosed difficult. Many doctors are dismissive especially ER doctors. This leads to major medical trauma and medical PTSD.

I originally wanted to get an emotional support animal that could come to college with me to ease the pain for being so far from home. However, as I got sicker he started doing some natural alerts. So we got him evaluated by a behavioral specialist. He passed with flying colors and we started the process of making him a service dog. He is a multipurpose service dog, but mostly medical alert.

It’s definitely been a hard process. I feel like I bang my head against the wall a lot, but it is by far the most rewarding processes.

I think the hardest part is that people don’t understand he is mine and think I am training him for someone else which leads to them asking a lot of weird questions.

My Mom is by far my biggest support system. She is always there for me no matter what. It’s supper hard to keep friends when you are chronically ill.

I think the people I have met along the way that are going through the same things. It’s been great to get to help and mentor people.

Not having friends to be around.

I hosted a hospital prom to bring to get her the chronically ill teen and young adult community. The biggest reason was because being chronically ill can be so incredibly isolating and you can miss many of the major life moments that so many take for granted. Yes I hope to host another one in the future! We just got a children’s hospital and they had reached out about hoping to collaborate in the future.

I am working hard to advocate for the service dog community and change the opinions of people working in the medical field. I am hopefully pave the way for medical employees with service dogs.

Email: m.l.thomson99@gmail.com

Instagram: @leoservicedoodle