Service Dog cardiac alert+response in action WITH BP readings

Sunshine is my seizure alert service dog in training, and she has in recent weeks begun to alert to cardiac events as well. I take my blood pressure every morning, as I have a 4.2cm ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm that requires close monitoring. In addition to having PNES seizures with paralysis, I also have a connective tissue disorder, which affects the production of collagen, which makes tissues elastic. This means that should my blood pressure get too high, I could have a fatal cardiac event - specifically a rupture or dissection. The connective tissue disorder makes the rupture/dissection medically "unpredictable".

I take my blood pressure each morning and transmit that reading to my cardiologist (that photo is in the video). Since I noticed that Sunshine began to "paw" when my blood pressure was too high or too low, I began having her sit with me as I do my reading, then later, Is have her check me before I ran the machine. For almost two weeks she's been on target, pawing when my BP was high. I've also noticed that after petting her for several minutes, my blood pressure goes down. Apparently she has noticed this, too!

Today she didn't paw me. She looked me in the face with a "locked look" then immediately put her head on me in a "deep pressure therapy" position. The reading was high, as you see in the photo, and I wasn't too surprised because of her reaction. For the next ten minutes she gave me focused DPT while I filmed, out my machine away and took a photo. After she abruptly jumped off, I decided to test my BP again, and it was in the normal range.

To anyone still reading, I'd like to explain why service dogs are so needed by people like me. I can't walk around with a BP cuff 24/7. And I can't be taking a baby aspirin ten times a day. Sunshine knows when it's high, and she comes to me and helps lower it. When it's too low, she paws me, and I know to check it and then I do something to raise it. Keeping my BP in the normal range is the difference between life and death for me. As I explained, I have an aneurysm almost right in my heart that could easily rupture or dissect, causing instant death. I have a history of trauma, I have CPTSD and trauma-related seizures and paralysis. Things in my life are upsetting, and it's be natural for one's BP to rise as a result. But mine can't.

Service Dogs aren't toys. When you see one in public, assume it's doing a job that's saving a life. Because mine is. And when you talk to it, or try to pet it, or make kissy noises or try to get it's attention somehow, it's like sending a meme to a surgeon during an operation. And pretending to have a service dog when you don't puts actual service dogs AND their handlers in harm's way. Please don't do that either. It's not cute. You could save a life by being respectful of service dogs.

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