AUTHOR’S PREFACE of CHEWY: A DOCTOR'S TAIL
Numerous books on training dogs, diet and medical care are available. Here I provide only my unique perspective on service dogs as both the patient and a doctor. After my car accident, I survived with severe brain damage, many surgeries, and a service dog.
As my body and mind were hijacked for years, I subsequently lost my house, job, wife, and identity. My memory was so affected I could not remember my address without looking at my driver’s license.
What I have regained is my unique voice as a scientist and a doctor. Further, I have seen many advancements in my own condition after eight years with my dog. Canines have brightened and enhanced the lives of many other severely injured patients in unimaginable ways. I hope to convince you to obtain a service animal for yourself or a loved one. These superheroes need to be on the staff of hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. They are true physician extenders.
This book has three sections. In the first one, I recount my strange and marvelous rehabilitation with my dog. People have a vague understanding that dogs can help with diabetes, seizures, and guiding the blind. They do much more than that. The public is surprised and delighted when they learn the extent of aid that canines can provide.
A very short list of aid my service dog provides are as follows: Chewy has decreased my depression and suicidal ideation while increasing my socialization and language skills. He certainly relieved my desperate isolation, increased my mobility, lessened my chronic pain. Overall, these “treatments” have lowered the medical cost of my traumatic brain injury.
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