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Most people have experienced some sort of allergy over the course of their lives. Even if you are not severely allergic to nuts or bee stings, tree pollen and other types of seasonal allergies likely aggravate your sinuses and cause your eyes to water and itch. As uncomfortable and annoying dealing with allergies can be, imagine being allergic to just about any and everything in the air. For one fifteen year old girl from Maine, that nightmare is a reality.
She was living a normal life just two years ago, but one day Martina Baker woke up and was shocked to see that her body was covered in red itchy hives. They were even in her throat and so her mother rushed her to the hospital where she was treated and released.
From that point on Martina kept having recurring allergic reactions but what was causing them remained unknown. She found herself in the hospital several times a week for months on end and despite visiting numerous doctors, specialist after specialist could not tell her what the issue was.
When an immunologist from Massachusetts diagnosed her as having Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or MCAS, Martina finally had the answer she was looking for. Now she could finally understand her condition, deal with it properly, and hopefully get her life back to as normal as could be. MCAS is an illness that causes people to become allergic to virtually anything in the air that is not oxygen. There are hundreds of different scents and smells that will trigger an episode, including cooking oil, smoke, perfumes, water and heat.
Since her diagnosis, Martina has changed her lifestyle drastically. She wears a face mask most of the time and especially anytime she goes outside or in public, which is rarely. Having such a severe condition has also led to her losing a lot of friends, it’s hard for them to understand and has left her isolated. Her family has had to adapt too, they now cook outside a lot, don’t do laundry with detergents, and only use vinegar to clean.
After awhile Martina started to become depressed and forlorn. Her life had been turned completely upside down out of the blue and she couldn’t even leave her house without fearing a severe allergic reaction. When her mother heard about a service dog program that trained dogs to detect the release of histamine in the body and thus warn their owner of an imminent allergic reaction, she knew it was exactly what Martina needed. The only thing that stood in the way was the high cost of such a specially trained dog, they were $10,000.
Knowing that the dog could save Martina’s life in more ways than one, her family set up a GoFundMe page to help offset the cost and spread the word. Soon after they had raised the money and now Martina has her service dog, a boxer mix named Kiva.
When Kiva first arrived, she was accompanied by a trainer who helped Martina and her new dog understand one another. Now when Martina is about to have an allergic reaction Kiva will kiss her around the mouth and physically prevent her from walking into the allergen.
At night Kiva checks on Martina, even when she’s sleeping, and knowing that her dog is by her side and constantly on the alert has made all the difference in the world for everyone in the family. Perhaps the most meaningful thing of all to come out of this is the friendship that Kiva and Martina have quickly developed.
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