Hi everyone :) My name is Samm and I am Maddyn’s mother. Maddyn is the sweetest, happiest and strongest 3 year old boy that has had quite the challenging start to his life. In utero, he suffered a brain bleed along with a hypoxic episode due to a traumatic car accident when I was 20 weeks pregnant which left him with cerebral palsy, microcephaly, polymicrogyria and other congenital brain anomalies. 

When Maddyn was around 1, he started having infantile spasms (a type of seizure), 6ish months later he started having myoclonic twitches, another type of seizure and now more recently in March he started having atypical absence seizures diagnosed after an EEG on 6/30. Maddyn is on multiple anti-epileptics along with the ketogenic diet yet is still having seizure activity. Due to the new seizures happening pretty often and the pattern of his brain waves, he was also diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. This is a severe form of epilepsy that is very hard to treat and is pretty resistant to most treatments. Seizures almost always worsen as they grow older which is why I want to start this process as soon as possible. He is now at risk for SUDEP or Sudden Unexplained Death of someone with Epilepsy. 
 

I am a registered nurse and left my career at the hospital to be a nurse to him at home to keep a closer eye on him because this is terrifying. I am a single mother to him and just want him safe. This service dog would not only give me peace of mind knowing that it can sense an oncoming seizure and I will have his emergency medication ready but it will be a life saver especially at night when we are asleep or when he is at school or in the community. He deserves to be safe and live a long life despite having a possible life threatening diagnosis. 

When choosing a puppy for your service dog, there are a lot of different things you need to think about. Does the breeder choose adult dogs with good, healthy genes with a calm temperament? Are they doing all required testing once the puppy is born to ensure their bodies and minds are healthy enough to alert you if your child is about to have a possible life threatening situation? When I chose Iron Hill retrievers as the breeder for Maddyn's service dog, I chose a place that does all of the above. They introduce them to puppy stimulation games and other fun activities when they are born, they socialize them with other puppies and do tests on hips, elbows, patella, an echo of the heart, full dental check up so you know that this dog will be able to protect your child for a long time. The final test that a puppy needs to pass to be certified as a Service Dog is the Volhard test to check their temperament, They believe the type of dog that would work best for my child's future size will be a Retriever. The price of this dog reflects the quality and ability to be a good asset to Maddyn. 

I chose to work with Superstar service dogs based out of Mount Vernon, IA because they are one of the only trainers near by that allows the families to bond with the puppy for 4 weeks (after we receive from the mother at 8 weeks of age.) Then we get down to business and I, as the handler of the family will go to Mount Vernon 2x a week and train it along side with them so I am able to be involved and learn everything about the training process. This will allow me to train ALL of Maddyn's future puppies so that he is able to always have a service dog by his side. 
 

Superstar Service dogs actually trained the first puppy in the world to attach the magnet to a child’s VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) device to send electrical impulses to the brain to stop a seizure at the first sign.  Maddyn will actually be getting a VNS implanted in the next few months and his puppy will be the SECOND dog on the planet to be able to do this. That is a miracle! The training for the dog can take up to 2 years, depending on the dog. If it takes the entire 2 years, it will be a total of $9100. It is $95 a week. 

This is so unlike me to ask for help like this. I really am hopeful we can raise enough money to offset some of the cost. This is a financial commitment that I am willing to do for him but I need your help.  Anything over our goal will go to the Stead Family Children’s hospital in Iowa City to help fund more research on Pediatric Epilepsy. 
 

I appreciate you even reading this far.. thank you 

Samm and Maddyn