Martina Baker woke up one day to find that things were not as they seemed. Her body was crumbling around her, and doctors couldn’t figure out why. She found out later that she had an allergy to almost everything, and her life would never be the same. Read on to find out the full story of this strange disease…
Meeting Martina
Martina Baker lived a normal life in Portland, Maine a few years ago. The then 13-year-old had a typical life filled with school, friends, and family. Nothing was wrong with her health, until one random morning…
Hive Mind
One day, Martina woke up covered head to toe in hives. It wasn’t long until her throat closed up too. She was rushed to the hospital and went into anaphylactic shock. She was terrified…
A Hospital Trip
The doctors quickly treated Martina with an EpiPen. But what had caused the attack? The doctors ran some tests, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her…
Conditions Get Worse
It wasn’t long until her condition worsened. The hospital trips became common, sometimes going into anaphylactic shock three times a week, using an EpiPen every time. Meanwhile, doctors scrambled to diagnose her…
What Caused It
It seemed that all it took was a strong smell, exercise, or heat to spur an anaphylactic reaction from Martina. They thought it was stress-related. It made sense in theory…
New Year, New Martina
Martina had just started at a new school that year. Doctors theorized that the reactions were physical signs of stress, but it only took a few additional tests to disprove this…
A Mother’s Worry
He mother took the news of her child’s condition hard. “She was once an athlete —basketball was her sport. She went from that to being unable to do most of what normal teens can do,” said Martina’s mother, Loretta. But they still needed answers…
Help for Health
After eight months of doctor visits and ER emergencies, Loretta finally found the answer. It all came from the help of a woman named Crystal Goodwin. Her story explained everything…
Crystal’s Story
As it turns out, Crystal went through a similar experience years before. In a blog post, Crystal detailed all her symptoms, and they matched Martina’s perfectly. Loretta reached out…
Crystal & Loretta
After talking for a bit, Crystal explained that she was diagnosed with MCAS, also known as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. The disease matched Martina’s symptoms perfectly…
Finally Relieved
Loretta, for the first time in months, breathed a sigh of relief. “She was so open and helpful.” said Loretta, “She told us some things to ask the doctor and she said, don’t stop fighting.” With that in mind, Martina’s fight continued…
Curing Martina
With this new knowledge in mind, doctors were able to help Martina battle the disease. Her family took the sick teen to an immunologist in Massachusetts who would hopefully be able to help…
Calming the Symptoms
Working with the immunologist, Martina began to figure out what caused her reactions. Sadly, they also learned that MCAS could not be cured. The family was heartbroken…
Working Through It
The family decided to help Martina live with her new condition. First, they picked up several new medications that would allow her to survive without going to the hospital every day, more like every 6 weeks…
Leaving the House
Because she is still a teenager, she needs and wants to leave her house and visit her friends. So, to do this, Martina must wear a mask every time she leaves the house…
Chilled Out
Because she is so sensitive to heat, her bedroom has to stay frigidly cold. “I don’t know how she tolerates the cold,” Loretta commented, “she lives like a penguin.”
Clean Clothes
She’s also sensitive to soaps and scents, so her mother cleans her clothing and towels without using detergent. She also can’t use any perfumes or colognes…
A Sister’s Love
Martina’s sister, Ariana, sticks up for her sister when the two are out on the town. “She tells people to stop saying stuff or lets them know what’s going on with me” Martina lamented…
Stopping the Rumors
“I’ve told a lot of people what’s going on — at my school, my friends, teachers, even. Anybody.” said Ariana about her sister’s condition “And I tell people who say things that there’s a reason she’s wearing a mask.” But the story doesn’t end there…
Other Allergies
Martina, among these things, is also allergic to water, cleaning products, cooking oils, bleach and so much more. She was desperately craving companionship…
A New Friend
After struggling with her condition for months, Martina heard about a dog training program that might be able to help her predict her allergic reactions. The only problem was money…
Raising the Funds
The cost was high, about $10,000 for one of the specialty dogs. And she had the perfect dog in her sights, a rescue named Caiomhe. Her mom helped her get the money…
Finding Funding
Her mother used a crowdsourcing website to reach the goal amount. Within a few months, the family gained the necessary $10,000, and Caiomhe was on the next flight out to Maine…
Meeting Keeva
Caiomhe, actually pronounced Keeva, flew in from the kennel in Tuscon, Arizona. The dog, a boxer and afghan mix, would change the way she lived her life forever…
Proper Training
The dog was trained by Jamie Robinson, a dog trainer who had been in the business for 45 years. She trained service dogs specifically for 15 years. Keeva had a story of her own…
A Perfect Fit
“She’s calm, loves people, doesn’t react to other dogs, doesn’t chase cats, is focused and learns fast.” said Jamie of her star puppy pupil “Those are the major criteria.”
Training Dogs
Keeva originally worked as a diabetes service dog as well as an ability to sniff out cancer with 92% accuracy. But training for Martina would be a bit harder…
Sniffing It Out
The dog was given some of Martina’s clothing with her smell on it to get accustomed to. Then she was trained to identify a long list of triggering scents…
Keeping Up With Keeva
There was a bit of a learning curve when dealing with Keeva. The family had 5 other dogs that Keeva had to get along with, as well as Martina learning all of Keeva’s cues and alerts…
Science Behind It
Keeva can pick up when Martina is about to have an allergic reaction by the release of histamine. Keeva starts barking and Martina can prepare for the reaction…