
{"id":2088,"date":"2008-03-13T07:22:30","date_gmt":"2008-03-13T15:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2008\/03\/13\/recently-up-and-going-out-and-abroad\/"},"modified":"2008-03-13T07:22:30","modified_gmt":"2008-03-13T15:22:30","slug":"recently-up-and-going-out-and-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2008\/03\/13\/recently-up-and-going-out-and-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Recently: Up and going out and abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/recently0313081.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/recently0313081.jpg\" alt=\"&lt;br \/&gt; Marianne Principe has reclaimed her life with Journey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s help. Photo by Valarie Schwartz.\" align=\"left\" height=\"216\" width=\"161\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>By Valarie Schwartz <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At first it seemed to her Dogwood Acres neighbors that Marianne Principe was an assistance dog trainer, as they were seen walking each morning. Usually the first with a greeting to others walking along, she clearly had her sight, though the beautiful Golden Retriever, with its harness and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do Not Pet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sign, was obviously an assistance dog.<\/p>\n<p>Assistance dog, indeed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Journey\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has been assisting Principe with her balance since going to live with her in October 2006, providing her with stability since her equilibrium was suddenly robbed in January 2005.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It happened in an instant,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Principe said. She was fine one second and the next she was so dizzy she had to lie down \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and ever since, she has not been able to get up without severe dizziness. She frequently must keep her eyes closed during conversations to control the vertigo and nausea that sweep through her body as the result of an infection-damaged vestibular nerve. The only way to correct it is through a risky, low-success-rate surgery.<\/p>\n<p>She stumbled upon the treatment that has brought her back a life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d getting Journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a typical recovery after one year of physical therapy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Principe said of the diagnosis of vestibular neuronitis. After a year, she was no better, and as she continued therapy a new test became available that indicated she had experienced all the recovery she would have. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In most cases, the other nerve compensates for the damaged one, but that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left of the damaged nerve sends out erroneous, distorted messages that confuse the brain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It leaves her spinning and nauseated.<\/p>\n<p>She may seem familiar to many after working for 12 years as the nutrition department buyer at Whole Foods. She tried to continue her job there, which was also the center of her social life, but it was more than she could handle.<\/p>\n<p>Life became PT, and when she could watch with out feeling sick she found comfort in television shows like Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I watched his show to be entertained and uplifted,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said warmly. Then one day, he did a show on assistance dogs, which led her to New Life Mobility Assistance Dogs in Moravian Falls (www.nlmad.org), where she was matched with 4-year-old Journey. New Life only uses \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shelter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d dogs that are screened, and those passing the criteria are trained.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Getting Journey was life-changing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Principe said as he dozed at her feet. He gets her up and out every morning and evening, which has given her a harder workout than physical therapy ever required. And because she has him to hold onto, she can now run her own errands and get herself to and from doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appointments through the use of E-Z Rider.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found a whole lot of quality of life. E-Z Rider service is unsurpassed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Her life will change even more in two weeks when she and Journey hop on a few airplanes and fly to the French Riviera for three months, where they will live with her son, Shepherd Dobson, as his first child is born, making Principe, 56, a grandmother.<\/p>\n<p>A recent trial run for the trip proved successful.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We spent three hours at RDU and flew to Philly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He loved every minute of it. He loved the baggage carousel the most.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Journey has his European Union passport and a microchip. For both, it will be a first trip to Europe, though Principe, a California native who lived in 12 states before moving to Chapel Hill in 1989, has been to India twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This whole trip to France is an incredible gift,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>But not as great a gift as Journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an angel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing about him that I would change. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfect in every way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><em>Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valriekays@mac.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Valarie Schwartz At first it seemed to her Dogwood Acres neighbors that Marianne Principe was an assistance dog trainer, as they were seen walking each morning. Usually the first with a greeting to others walking along, she clearly had her sight, though the beautiful Golden Retriever, with its harness and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do Not Pet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sign,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}