WELCOME TO TALI'S PAGE
In the Life of Tali May....
Tali is a beautiful and unique seventeen year old girl born with tuberous sclerosis and started having seizures at the age of one. This disease as well as being autistic has caused her to lose her speech, have ADHD, develope 3 brain tumors, and have the necessity of being watched constantly for fear of her seizures occuring at any moment, injuring her with each fall that comes with each uncontrollable seizure. No medication out there will take away her seizures but will limit them to a few per day.
Tali was born on June the 3rd in Seguin Texas. A healthy baby girl...or so they said. At age one she started to have seizures. The doctors didn't know why. Mom searched for a doctor to tell her why Tali was having seizures. After many doctors, alot of test, and alot of seizures, mom did find one doctor to tell her that, with the markings on Tali's body and the MRI testing, Tali had Tuberous Sclerosis.
Tali, at age 2 1/2, has lost her ability to talk and drink out of a cup. Along with other things at that age due to seizures. As the years have gone by we have had a lot of Speech and O.T. therapy.
Tali at 15 years old, found out that she had three tumors in the brain. Doctors have tried all seizure medication. None work to stop them. The Ketigenc Diet, which did work, but had to stop because it became to dangerous. She was eating rocks and other objects. She didn't understand why she couldn't eat. Doctors have tried the VNS. It also worked to stop some of the seizures but became infected with MRSA. This ate the skin around where the VNS was in her chest so when she had a seizure and fell, it popped the skin open and you could basically take it out, which the doctors had to. Which started a series of surgery's on Tali's neck to get all the infection out. Now Tali has a paralyzed vocal cord.
Tali now at 17 years old has recently had another VNS put into her chest from a different doctor and found out that the 3 tumors were actually tubers. The tubers have shrank over the past 2 years and now there is only one small tumor left. Although, another challenge has come Tali's way, a 3cm tumor is in her right kidney. In a couple of days Tali will be seeing a specialist to see if surgery is needed, the tumor will shrink on its own, or if medicine will need to be taken to shrink this new tumor. Things are still very new with this new challenge but when the tumor on her kidney gets to 4cm and starts to give her problems we will have to remove it. As of right now we have to monitor the tumor every 3 months.
Tali's doctors recommend her to get a seizure alert dog because in her past neither a medication or device has taken away her seizures and an alert dog could help out tremendously since she has all types of seizures that or uncontrollable that will always have a part as well as affect her daily life.
Tali has to raise a total of $13000.00 for a Seizure Alert Dog. When we got the packet we were overwhelmed by the information it contained. There is a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, a lot of commitment. I was hesitant, and so Paul and I talked about it over the course of the next week. We concluded that all the work and effort that getting a service dog entailed, and all the work after getting a service dog was far outweighed by the benefit of having this 'special friend' for Tali. We signed the papers, got them in the mail, and began our journey of fundraising....which is where we are now.
As we travel on this journey, I want to be able to share with you the happenings. There are so many who are supporting us in this effort...by prayer, encouragement, financial help, and lots of hope for the best dog ever for Tali. I can't tell you how much we appreciate all that everyone has given to us in their desire to see Tali get this special service dog. I thank you for taking this journey with us...and that you will enjoy the pages here as we travel together.
Tali was born on June the 3rd in Seguin Texas. A healthy baby girl...or so they said. At age one she started to have seizures. The doctors didn't know why. Mom searched for a doctor to tell her why Tali was having seizures. After many doctors, alot of test, and alot of seizures, mom did find one doctor to tell her that, with the markings on Tali's body and the MRI testing, Tali had Tuberous Sclerosis.
Tali, at age 2 1/2, has lost her ability to talk and drink out of a cup. Along with other things at that age due to seizures. As the years have gone by we have had a lot of Speech and O.T. therapy.
Tali at 15 years old, found out that she had three tumors in the brain. Doctors have tried all seizure medication. None work to stop them. The Ketigenc Diet, which did work, but had to stop because it became to dangerous. She was eating rocks and other objects. She didn't understand why she couldn't eat. Doctors have tried the VNS. It also worked to stop some of the seizures but became infected with MRSA. This ate the skin around where the VNS was in her chest so when she had a seizure and fell, it popped the skin open and you could basically take it out, which the doctors had to. Which started a series of surgery's on Tali's neck to get all the infection out. Now Tali has a paralyzed vocal cord.
Tali now at 17 years old has recently had another VNS put into her chest from a different doctor and found out that the 3 tumors were actually tubers. The tubers have shrank over the past 2 years and now there is only one small tumor left. Although, another challenge has come Tali's way, a 3cm tumor is in her right kidney. In a couple of days Tali will be seeing a specialist to see if surgery is needed, the tumor will shrink on its own, or if medicine will need to be taken to shrink this new tumor. Things are still very new with this new challenge but when the tumor on her kidney gets to 4cm and starts to give her problems we will have to remove it. As of right now we have to monitor the tumor every 3 months.
Tali's doctors recommend her to get a seizure alert dog because in her past neither a medication or device has taken away her seizures and an alert dog could help out tremendously since she has all types of seizures that or uncontrollable that will always have a part as well as affect her daily life.
Tali has to raise a total of $13000.00 for a Seizure Alert Dog. When we got the packet we were overwhelmed by the information it contained. There is a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, a lot of commitment. I was hesitant, and so Paul and I talked about it over the course of the next week. We concluded that all the work and effort that getting a service dog entailed, and all the work after getting a service dog was far outweighed by the benefit of having this 'special friend' for Tali. We signed the papers, got them in the mail, and began our journey of fundraising....which is where we are now.
As we travel on this journey, I want to be able to share with you the happenings. There are so many who are supporting us in this effort...by prayer, encouragement, financial help, and lots of hope for the best dog ever for Tali. I can't tell you how much we appreciate all that everyone has given to us in their desire to see Tali get this special service dog. I thank you for taking this journey with us...and that you will enjoy the pages here as we travel together.
HOW CAN A SEIZURE ALERT DOG HELP TALI?
improve safty and security at home, in public and at school
helps improve behaviour, by lending support to the child as they cope in highly stressful situations and offers more freedom to parents by allowing them to shop and not worry about losing sight of the child or the possibility of the child becoming a flight risk
helps improve communication
helps parents and families educate others about Autism and Seizure alert services dogs and the benefits a service dog has made in their lives
the dog can act as a companion, offering unconditional love and friendship
the dog can provide increased safety, preventing the child from bolting into traffic or other dangerous situations
and the dog can provide independence, allowing the child to walk down the street without holding a parent's hand.
the dog can sense up to a hour of having a seizure. Therefore she won't fall during the seizure but sit before it starts.
__________________________________________________
Why is the cost for a Seizure Alert Dog Service, so high?
Regardless of who trains your service dog, the fee is the same. There is so much work put into these animals by their trainer and foster homes, that the cost seems very small in comparison to all the dog offers. Some of the things included in the $15,000 training is the: purchase cost of the dog, food, veterinary care up until the dog is transitioned into the new families home (approximately 18 months to 2 years), complete training of the dog to ADI standards, training for parents in the care and handling of the dog, training of the child and dog together as a team, a training manual for ongoing reference, leash, collar and identification jacket, certification and identification allowing public access, annual follow-up visits to ensure that the team continues to work well together, ongoing telephone support as required throughout the working life of the dog.
<THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP FROM
THE RADICKE FAMILY>
Information:
www.4pawsforability.org
(937)-374-0385
karen4paws@aol.com
taliradicke@yahoo.com
cyndyradicke@aol.com
helps improve behaviour, by lending support to the child as they cope in highly stressful situations and offers more freedom to parents by allowing them to shop and not worry about losing sight of the child or the possibility of the child becoming a flight risk
helps improve communication
helps parents and families educate others about Autism and Seizure alert services dogs and the benefits a service dog has made in their lives
the dog can act as a companion, offering unconditional love and friendship
the dog can provide increased safety, preventing the child from bolting into traffic or other dangerous situations
and the dog can provide independence, allowing the child to walk down the street without holding a parent's hand.
the dog can sense up to a hour of having a seizure. Therefore she won't fall during the seizure but sit before it starts.
__________________________________________________
Why is the cost for a Seizure Alert Dog Service, so high?
Regardless of who trains your service dog, the fee is the same. There is so much work put into these animals by their trainer and foster homes, that the cost seems very small in comparison to all the dog offers. Some of the things included in the $15,000 training is the: purchase cost of the dog, food, veterinary care up until the dog is transitioned into the new families home (approximately 18 months to 2 years), complete training of the dog to ADI standards, training for parents in the care and handling of the dog, training of the child and dog together as a team, a training manual for ongoing reference, leash, collar and identification jacket, certification and identification allowing public access, annual follow-up visits to ensure that the team continues to work well together, ongoing telephone support as required throughout the working life of the dog.
<THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP FROM
THE RADICKE FAMILY>
Information:
www.4pawsforability.org
(937)-374-0385
karen4paws@aol.com
taliradicke@yahoo.com
cyndyradicke@aol.com
