Monday, October 22 with Melissa and Chauncey in Memphis

Today we met Army Veteran Melissa, her service dog Chauncey, a large handsome golden retriever,   and her friend Joe. We found a great spot in a park and once again were blessed with perfect weather. It was so easy to get good shots of Chauncey because he was such happy dog and glad just to be outside.  After Paul was sure he had good shots, we had a chance to talk about her special relationship with this wonderful dog. 

Melissa went into the army in 1992, after several years went into the National Guard where she remained until 9-11.  On 9-11 she was heading to the first day of a new job when she heard on her car radio that the Twin Towers had come down.   She never started that day, instead she re-upped into the service again, later deploying to Iraq. She served in a hospital unit and saw the horrors of war on a daily basis.  In 2004 she was medically retired. 

I asked her what life was like before Chauncey and like so many other vets with PTSD, she was totally housebound. This was due to panic attacks that could be triggered by many things outside of her home. She told us she couldn't go into a convenience store for milk without having a panic attack. A cardboard box along the road meant a possible road side bomb. So she stayed at home with the depression that comes with isolation.

She had heard about the great results service dogs were having in managing PTSD symptoms and started searching online for an organization to help her. She became discouraged after finding most organizations required a 3-6 month stay and training period or that the organization served only veterans with physical disabilities.

`She was ready to give up but decided to call one more- K9s For Warriors in Florida. One of the founders, Sheri Duval listened to her and said "Send in your paperwork NOW", she did and was accepted to their program. After communicating back and forth with their head trainer, a trained service dog was thoughtfully chosen for Melissa.  In June of 2012 she started the three week training period at their facility where they "fine tune" the training to include the Veterans own personal needs and symptoms.

Something unexpected happened during their training period. While training with Chauncey, she suddenly realized after the first two weeks, that she was no longer stuttering. Melissa said that every aspect of their training was life changing. This organization also treats their veterans to an array of special events from makeovers to massages.  Every veteran we have talked to that has gone through this program has raved about the treatment they received and more important, how special it made them feel.

Even though Melissa and Chauncey have only been together for 5 months, Melissa's life has changed dramatically.  I asked what was the most life changing and she said that she is able to go out into public again. With Chauncey giving her confidence and watching her back she has regained her life. She is a full time student now and said everyone on campus loves Chauncey.

She has a website http://fightingptsd.org/ and if you want to know more about her life and also find an excellent section defining PTSD and TBI - check it out. Looking at Melissa and Chauncey, we have no doubt their future is bright. Thank you so much Melissa and Chauncey for spending time with us today- we really loved meeting you - oh and Paul wants to thank Joe for helping with the photos and making it more interesting for Chauncey with all his "ringtone special effects"- they worked!