Brain Damage A Survivor's Story with a Service Dog

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Essentially, my brain is damaged more than 99% of other people. I have damage to my corneas as well as like 75% of my white matter.

[00:00:11]>> Mhm.

[00:00:11]>> Uh I have damage in both hemispheres of my brain.

[00:00:16]>> Mhm.

[00:00:16]>> I have to have a service dog now uh to make sure that if my equilibrium is off, she can catch me.

[00:00:24]>> There you go.

[00:00:25]>> Because I do just randomly fall. And she will. She'll catch me. And she'll also warn me before it happens. So, she'll make me sit down or um like lean up against something >> so that I can catch myself because I almost feel like a um it's not like pins and needles, but it's almost like a numbness in the back of my head.

[00:00:42]>> So, that'll she'll warn me to that before it happens. There's a several things that she she will cue me on because I also have uh seizures now, like an epilepsy. So, learning the difference between the cues on if um my equilibrium's going out or if I'm going to have a seizure. She helps me on that one. If I'm going to pass out or if I'm going down, she knows to find like go get help. There have also been times where I've passed out bad enough where she has to bring me too. So, she's been trained to like kind of throw herself into my chest to make sure that I keep breathing. Uh cuz I do have breathing issues now.

[00:01:16]um where she's had to create a bubble, but she stops as soon as like EMTs and people um in uniforms come, which has caused issues for other people.

[00:01:27]>> Yeah.

[00:01:28]>> Because, you know, they quote her as um vicious. Uh, I remember they they it's almost like um an MRI where they stick you in the tube >> and you've got all the stuff on your head and it's a way to see a more indepth imaging of your brain is they can see more where the damage is done.

[00:01:48]>> They see more if it's gray matter or white matter. And for me, they were able to tell that it was white matter that it's not going to heal. They were able to tell that my brain stem is damaged.

[00:01:59]Mhm.

[00:01:59]>> They were able to tell it's never going to get better for me. Learning the the difference between just an MRI and the DTI is anybody that I find out that has the the traumatic brain injuries and the extent of it, I automatically recommend getting a DTI. And I'm like, "No, you need to get a DTI. That'll tell you how bad it is." For me is I have I have a standard score of 1% for attention, executive function, processing speed, and reaction time.

[00:02:29]uh delayed memory uh and motor coordination.