My husband and I became impatient with my son for not paying attention to the training with the dog. Having health challenges myself, I wasn’t vigilant enough to notice that my son might be having petit mall seizures during the day when we thought he wasn’t paying attention. I should have known better. I asked him and he said he was fine each time. But that’s all they ever say. I don’t think the person is really aware when they have laps of consciousness. I watched, but didn’t see. Some families refuse to recognize that a member could be having mini seizures. Several people I know had them from TBI. We attributed his lack of response to the puppy as still being consumed by his ailing Pekinese pal. Our little Pekinese did pass away, two weeks ago. We had the cremation ceremony and everything was done to bring closure for my son. Then his attention drifting away from Freja and his failure to give her the necessary commands frustrated us.
Other mothers and caretakers should note. With all my training I believed him when the neurologist told me that my son’s seizures from the traumatic brain injuries were under control. That neurologist prescribed medication and it seemed to be working very well for John. I didn’t remain vigilant. I thought he was fine and maybe had the few seizures, the doctor suggested slipping through at night. I was happy and confident that everything was going to be as great as possible. They only see them in neurology and psychology once every 3 to 6 months. He has a different neurologist now. I was surprised when she told me that my son had a very low dose of the seizure medication and we needed to check the levels in his blood to see if it was adequately helping him. So we did go get the blood levels checked and are awaiting the results. But I’m beating myself up, as all mothers do, for not knowing what was going on and for being impatient with my son. If he gets adequate seizure medication the training should be easier. Those little laps of consciousness so easily go on noticed or attributed to lack of motivation. The person with TBI can’t control the mini lapses of consciousness even if we yell. So be smarter than me and find out if your veteran has adequate medication. It’s too easy to blame the injured person.
We have discovered that Freja loves to play ball and Frisbee. Her passion is Kleenex or any paper product. I have allergies and usually have a Kleenex in my pocket. Freja knows that and always has her SNOUT IN MY POCKET to extract the Kleenex and run with it across the room. She is a good eater. The problem is she eats everything, including paper towels, plastic bags, rubber balls, stuffed animals, Frisbees, clothes pins and rocks. I don’t think she’s swallowed any rocks. Luckily we have a three person team to catch her and get whatever out of her mouth. A positive effect is that you lose weight running around with your puppy.
