Photo Story – Living with POTS and a dog that helps a lot

Photo Story – Living with POTS and a dog that helps a lot

Mary Beall is a student here a Piedmont University she has a medical condition called POTS, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. When she transitions from lying down to standing up, symptoms such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue can occur. She also has a cardiac alert service dog named Everest. This is the story of what she goes through medically as a full time college student, as well as owner training her service dog.

Mornings can typically be difficult for Mary, she has a routine of taking her heart rate, blood pressure, as well as her medicine. She also has to make sure her dog is well exercised before working. Unlike most college students she tends to wake up 2 hours before class so she is able to get every thing done. (Signature photo)

Mary has to take her blood pressure regularly. One medicine she takes can raise her blood pressure and one medicine drops it severely. The reason she’s more likely to pass out is because her blood pressure raises and then drops. This blood pressure machine connects to an app so that her doctors can have a baseline blood pressure and make sure the medicine isn’t making it go too low. 

Mary takes a multitude of medicines for her heart rate, blood pressure and dizziness. She typically takes meds around 3 times a day. Filling medicine can be a process even with the amount that she takes. Sometimes forgetting to take her meds can cause a medical episode and that is why Everest is trained to help in certain situations. (Establishing shot)

A continuous heart monitor is one way that Marys doctors can keep track of her fluctuating heart rates. She has it because she keeps passing out and the doctors wanted to make sure its not an arrhythmia. This heart rate monitor implant is the easiest way to do it and it lasts up to 5 years.

Doing laundry can be such a simple task for most people but not for Mary. The constant bending down and standing up to load the washer or dryer can make her dizzy therefore pass out. Everest helps her by grabbing clothes and dropping them into the washer or dryer. Since she is still in training she isn’t the best but tries her hardest at her job.

Having a high drive, high energy dog means lots of exercise. Mary uses a chuck-it ball thrower to make sure Everest gets the exercise she needs. When having POTS, physical exercise can make Mary extremely fatigued. Therefore to be able to give her service dog physical exercise this is the best option when Mary is having a bad health day. (Interaction shot)
DPT or Deep Pressure Therapy can be very beneficial for multiple reasons. When Mary feels her heart rate get too high she can lay down and have Everest preform this task. This is to prevent her from passing out and the pressure from Everests’ body weight can lower her heart rate.
Downing a salt packet may seem abnormal for most but for Mary it actually helps with many medical things. Salt can help your body retain more water and in turn you stay more hydrated. Staying hydrated with Pedialyte or Gatorade is also a staple for Mary. (Close up)
When getting ready for class Mary also gets Everest dressed for work. Having a brightly colored vest keeps Everest properly labeled and people know not to distract her in public. Service dogs are always “working” but they have time to just be a dog and relax. Weather they’re in public or in Marys room Everest always keeps an eye on her. (Portrait)
While in class for pyrotechnics Everest stays in a down stay while Mary is able to safely work on what she needs to do. Everest will still be by Mary’s side if she needs help medically.
Even in a busy environment Everest is still able to keep her focus on Mary if she ever need to alert her to a medical episode. This is why its so important to not distract a service dog while they’re working, this includes talking to them, petting them, and making direct consistent eye contact.
When needed Everest can work off leash to help Mary as well. Here Mary is asking her to orbit which is a crowd control task, in the future this can help with big crowds of people. This task is essentially where Everest circles around Mary to create space. (Clincher shot)

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