The miracle of one dog plus lots of love

Last updated on: November 2, 2012 at 9:52 am by John Shore

The miracle of one dog plus lots of love 2012-11-02T09:52:39-08:00 John Shore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hi guys. The letter below is from a good woman I know. It doesn’t describe 1/100th of what she does out of love for her fiancé. Please help this young couple if you can. And you absolutely can, no matter what, by maximally sharing this post—and especially this link. Please do that, a lot. The dogs you’ll read about below cost serious money to maintain and train—and the visionary who does that work has already given these kids so many breaks he qualifies as a saint.

I know any amount with which you can help the three of them would be more appreciated than words can express

Here’s the letter:

Hi there. I’m sending this e-mail to many people. Some of you know me better than others. I’m Christie Landtroop. I am asking for your help and prayers.

My fiance, Matt, has been suffering for a long time (his whole life, really). He had been doing fairly well when we met in 2009, but he quickly unraveled before my eyes.

The past three years have been filled with doctors and therapists and tests and medications. There have also been trips to the ER and hospital stays.

The trouble is that Matt has things going on with his brain.

In September of 2011 (after a lifetime of being treated for ADHD and then for bipolar disorder) he was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, also called high-functioning Autism. The hard part about his Asperger’s is that right now he is not at all high-functioning. That term means only that his IQ is not affected. He is, however, distinctly limited in his understanding of people and social norms. He has never fit in, and has few friends. He is disabled by his anxiety and sensory over-stimulation. He has frequent panic attacks and has trouble being around anyone but me (and at times he can’t stand to be near me, either). He also has a tendency to intentionally hit his head against walls to cope with the turmoil in his head. Matt knows he is different, but he can’t understand why many people don’t like him. And this causes so much pain for him.

This past spring, Matt was diagnosed with something called Dysautonomia. It is a dysfunction of his Autonomic Nervous System. That is the part of the nervous system that regulates things like body temperature, blood pressure, and the body’s “fight-or-flight” responses. Matt’s symptoms have shown up as him losing consciousness during normal activities like standing up, walking across a room, or lightly (accidentally) bumping his head on the car door frame when getting into the car. This, in conjunction with his Asperger’s, has produced some very scary situations. His Dysautonomia is the reason he lost his job at Walmart over two years ago. Thankfully this Dysautonomia is now mostly controlled by a medication he started a few months ago. He still gets dizzy at times, and if he forgets to take his medicine it is usually a very bad day for us both.

Just last month, in September 2012, Matt was finally diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). This is a condition you tend to associate with war veterans and victims of violent crime. Matt is not a veteran, but is a survivor of a different kind of trauma. Much of the trauma he endured had to do with the severe bullying he got growing up. There are other things as well, but the point is that due (as we’ve now learned) to his PTSD, Matt is suffering from nightmares and frequent episodes of dissociation. PTSD also causes Matt additional, unfounded and unpredictable anxieties that pop-up several times a day. These random PTSD anxieties plus the Asperger’s anxieties overwhelm him; they’re a very intense combination.

Last year during holiday time, Matt experienced some really tough times due to his conditions. He experienced many frightening things and something called a Dissociative Fugue. You can hear from us about what happened because we recorded the below YouTube videos to document it. (Keep in mind that all we knew at the time was that he has Asperger’s.)

Part 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq4q-uuvDn4&list=PL337B978500FB10FB&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jFYJ5VNQdM&list=PL337B978500FB10FB&index=2&feature=plpp_video

Matt has tried many different ways to cope with his symptoms, from group therapy, to intensive inpatient therapy, to individual therapy, to medications than I’ll ever remember. Unfortunately, none of these has provided lasting relief or help to him.

** Now for the good part!!! ****

We somehow got the idea that getting a service dog would be a helpful and stabilizing influence for Matt. I was fortunate enough to find the world’s best dog trainers for neuro-psychological service dogs only one hour away from us. Bob Taylor is the President of DogWish.org, and he is an amazing man. He invited us up to the DogWish kennels to meet with him and his other trainers as well as some dogs.

We have been up there six times now, and whenever Matt is around those dogs he is a different person! He is happy and calmer. He is focused and present. The moment the dogs go away, he is back to the tormented Matt that struggles to survive.

There’s a terrier there called Brat that will run and jump into Matt’s arms. A little six-week-old puppy named Dezzy loves to lick Matt’s face and untie his shoelaces. Matt loves the German Shepherds like Lexi and Coby. The way his whole face and demeanor lit up when he first saw Lexi was an absolutely priceless moment for me to witness. I was near tears the whole way home just replaying that moment in my mind.

Our goal is to raise the money to get Matt a properly and highly trained service dog through DogWish. Bob thoroughly evaluates and examines each dog before he pairs them up with their handler to make sure they are a perfect match. The dogs are trained for six months before they are released into the care of their handlers.

Matt’s dream dog is a fluffy German Shepherd. Bob told us to go ahead and start searching near us to find some for him to check out. Normally, we’d have to wait until we got a large down payment together before we could get to this point, but Bob is so kind and generous that he has agreed to get started now and we will raise as much as we can as fast as we can along the way.

If you are able to help in any amount please follow this link to Matt’s DogWish page. If you are not able to help at this time but know of others who would be touched enough to share this or contribute, please forward this e-mail to them in its entirety. Please leave comments of support and encouragement on our fundraising page as well so Matt knows that there are people out there who care and want to help him.

I thank you so very much with ALL of my heart for taking the time to read this.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me ([email protected]) and I will get back to you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Love,

Christie Landtroop

Relationships

Previous Post

October 31, 2012

A reader asks: "How can I believe in God as you do?"

Next Post

November 5, 2012 How can you be thankful when others have so little?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Dear John En Espanol Everywhere She's Not Humor Look See Pastor Bob's Corner Personal Portuguese Relationships Russian Short-short story Smith Family Chronicles Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2024 August 2022 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 June 2019 December 2018 May 2018 May 2017 January 2017 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the only female judge of Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hannah Esther Deborah Ruth

Books by This Author Books by John Shore

See All Titles »