Page 980 - Total War on PTSD

ACLs reworked. His arthritis was acting up...so he was limping a bit...and Christine asked why he was limping. Well, she ended up asking us to come by the house, which we did that very day. She had me sit on the front porch while she went inside. She opened the front door and nine puppies came charging out of the house. Maggie came along and crawled up in my lap. The others came and visited with me and then went off to do their own thing, but Maggie found my lap really quickly. I decided that Maggie picked me and Christine said she was mine and for us to take her right home. I have known Christine for 10-15 years, and she's like part of the family. My oldest is going on 30, my youngest is 24 and Christine is 29 so she's kind of like one of my kids now. I try to help her out when I can...that's what family does. Her giving me Maggie was, I think, her way of wanting to pay me back.
I'm okay when I'm outside. When I'm not around a huge crowd I'm usually okay. When I get into a building, that's when I have problems. The doctor told me it's because I can't see a ready avenue of escape. Sam knows when I get tense. When I get that way, he leans against me, and he takes his paw and paws my leg. So, I take that as a clue that we need to go outside. Whenever he does that we just go out, and everything seems to work out perfectly. When I have anxiety attacks and I get kind of angry, and my chest hurts, he tries to jump on my lap and licks me in the face. That's something I never taught him to do...he just does it. He's been by my side constantly for the past 10 years...so I guess I never really thought about what he does on his own versus what he was trained to do. He just knows what needs to be done and does it. I don't have anxiety attacks as bad as I used to. I said something to the doctor a while back about whether he thought I still needed a dog, and he told me "If it ain't broke don't fix it. If having the dog with you makes you calmer and keeps you on an even keel then it's worth it. Sam gives you something that most people don't have, and that's a sixth sense. It's a sense in your mind that
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