It’s been so long since I wrote last. Not for a lack of wanting to do so, but more because time has become a slippery commodity that seems to trickle away quite quickly these days. So much has happened these last months, it’s impossible to cover all the ground in one post.
Let’s start with the handsome pup in those photos. That would be Tucker Blue. We call him Tucker, or Tuck, or sometimes other names that I won’t publish here. Tucker came into our lives because after I had my second near-fatal episode in November, we realized that I was going to need help managing my migraines and potentially find a way to be able to predict these episodes before they happen so I could call for help.
Tucker was selected from a litter of pups at Allan Waldner’s Golden Retriever Haven because he possesses personality traits that are needed to be a service dog. My service dog, to be more specific. We’re fortunate enough to have found a local trainer – Tyson King of VIK9 – who works with dog owners to train their dogs for service work. Tucker Blue will be trained to detect my migraines before they happen so that I can use my rescue medications earlier, which we hope will help us to avoid these life-threatening episodes. And if I do have an episode, he will be trained to get help in the event that I am unable to do so.
These episodes of mine now have a name: migraine with brainstem aura (MBA). Essentially, some of my migraines hit my brainstem and cause a spreading cortical depression in my brain that turns off speech, movement and control of my breathing. We’re not sure why they started, or when the next one will happen, or when/if they’ll stop happening. I had a third one in January, and a near-miss just this last week. I’ve likened living with MBA to living with a stalker: you know they’re out there and you know they’ll be back, and you never quite know when or how bad it will be when they show up. It’s been a devastating development in our life, and we continue to struggle with the trauma of what we’ve been through alongside finding a way to live with our new reality.
Tucker arrived in our lives on March 13th, right at the start of the COVID-19 madness for us. It was the worst possible timing in terms of our stress levels and having the capacity to love on a little critter who tried every last ounce of our patience. But now that I reflect back on those early weeks that we had with Tucker at home, I see the silver lining. All the time and focus that we gave to this little guy has set all of us up for a happier, more well-adjusted life with him.
At the moment, Tucker is mostly my companion. We hang together, play together, and now that I’m back at our office he’s in his crate with me during the day when I’m working. But training a service dog is a tall order and so we started his service dog training with Tyson shortly after his arrival. One day a week Tucker goes to the mall and learns about escalators, ignoring food in the food court, and whatever other activities Tyson has planned for that day with his crew of handlers and service dogs.
I’ve started taking Tucker out in his service vest when I go to stores so that he can become familiar with a wide variety of environments and stimuli. When I have a migraine, I breathe on him and show him that there’s something wrong so that he can start to learn the difference between a no problem situation and a problem situation. Earlier this week when I was fighting to stay out of an MBA episode, he curled up on the sofa with me and didn’t leave my side.
It’s a long road to certifying Tucker to be a service dog, and I’m not altogether certain that we have what it takes. You’ll see posts about our adventures – and misadventures – in training here on this quite life as I feel willing and able to share. I’ll continue with other content as well. I’ve got several posts churning in my head and I can’t wait to get my fingers on the keys of my laptop to collect my thoughts! I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. I look forward to getting back to writing now that life is coming back into more of a rhythm with Tucker settling in. Until next time…
For more information on Tyson King and VIK9, visit www.vik9.ca. For more information on Tucker's breeder Allan Waldner, check out www.goldenretrieverhaven.com.
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