Mom Hopes Service Dog Will Help Son Battle Seizures

A service dog will help to let his parents know when he starts having the silent seizures and also let them know when he has breakthroughs so that they can make sure he is safe.

5-year-old Stryder Doescher

(PRINEVILLE, OR) - Stryder Doescher is an adorable 5-year-old boy. He has an outstanding resilience and amazing attitude that has pulled him through his heroic battle with epilepsy and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (a connective tissue disorder).

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In his first years of life Stryder had many seizures, several hospitalizations, upwards of a dozen EEG's, MRI's, countless other invasive medical procedures, and many, many more challenges- you can read his story from day one here.

Now as always, his family is trying to do everything within their power to help Stryder reach his full potential. One of the many ways they would like to help Stryder is with a service dog.

This dog would help him with mobility, redirect him from negative repetitive behavior or dangerous situations, help calm him for medical procedures, be an asset during therapy and most importantly, alert his family during a seizure.

Stryder was just recently diagnosed with a rare disorder called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. LKS is a type of epilepsy where prognosis is not good. When a child with LKS is on the right medication, they are seizure free, at least with the spikes that occur during sleep.

Stryder

The continuous spikes happen silently, his parents cannot see them and yet they happen 1-2 per second and cause damage to his brain. The medications do not last for long periods of time so we will have to do overnight EEGs every 3-6 months and watch for epileptic activity and language problems. Stryder is on the maximum dosage right now and once this stops working (and it will, it's just a matter of time) they will have to try Valium and then steroids and neither may work.

A service dog will help to let his parents know when he starts having the silent seizures and also let them know when he has breakthroughs so that they can make sure he is safe.

See the photos of the bumps and bruises on his site atwww.strydersstory.com—they show what was probably a seizure that occurred while he was on the sidewalk (and that has happened a few times). Some children with LKS do not have "regular" seizures; Stryder does so there are those dangers as well. As it stands, Stryder does not sleep alone for fear of having seizures of any kind. A service dog will give him the freedom to do that and other things little boys should be able to do.

It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Stryder. His family is committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with their community’s help. If you can help them with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4PawsForAbility.org/donate-now). Include the child’s name in the “instructions to merchant” through PayPal. Or mail a check with her name on the memo line to: 4 Paws for Ability, In Honor of Stryder Doescher, 253 Dayton Ave., Xenia, Ohio 45385.

For additional information or an interview with 4 Paws for Ability executive director or the family, contact Jessica Noll at 937.768.9096 or email to Jessica4Paws@aol.com

4 Paws for Ability is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to place quality service dogs with children with disabilities and veterans who have lost use of limbs or hearing; help with animal rescue, and educate the public regarding use of service dogs in public places. 4 Paws for Ability relies on the generosity of individuals, as well as corporations, and accepts donations for operating expenses, training, food, toys, training supplies, medication, and our building fund.

4 Paws for Ability is located at 253 Dayton Ave., in Xenia, Ohio. Visit us at www.4PawsForAbility.org, “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.