Woman Helped Through Painful Incurable Illness By Her Dog

Tracy Priestly from Lincoln has been helped through her battle with fibromyalgia thanks to her beloved Australian Kelpie, Jammy, and their love of dog agility.

Tracy, aged 41, has had fibromyalgia since she was 16 years old but was only diagnosed six years ago. She started competing in agility 12 years ago in order to keep her dog active and she soon started to see the health benefits herself.

Known as the silent condition, fibromyalgia is a long-term disorder that causes pain all over the body, as well as fatigue, sleep disturbance, aching and stiffness. Tracy explains: “If you saw me you wouldn’t know I had a health problem. I have aches and pains that come and go for no reason, and they can last a few days or a few months.  All you can do is learn to pace yourself and know your limitations – I take medication but there is no cure. Agility helps keep me mobile and makes me get up and about my dog keeps me going.”

Tracy suffers with migraines and all different types of headaches which are related to fibromyalgia and now has Botox injections into her head and neck, which has worked really well and has had great results.

Tracy continues: “Jammy keeps me active and needs lots of training; exercise is really important, so he keeps me going even when I’m having a bad day, I just have to know when to stop and rest. All the hard work is worth it to compete with my dog at the International Agility Festival.”

Tracy will be competing in the Kennel Club International Agility Festival for the first time this year with her dog Jammy. The Festival, which takes place at Rockingham Castle in Rockingham, LE16 8TH from 7^th – 10^th August will see the duo compete alongside around 2,500 dogs from around the world.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary said: “Tracy’s story highlights the range of benefits of having a hobby such as agility. Not only is it good for your dog to keep active but also it improves mobility of the owner.

“The International Agility Festival is the largest agility festival in the world. Anyone can enter their dog in the show and it’s a fantastic event for both competitors and spectators alike. We wish Tracy all the best for the festival.”

The International Agility Festival will be held at Rockingham Castle in Rockingham, from Thursday 7^th August until Sunday 10^th August. Around 2,500 dogs of all types, sizes and experience levels will compete across 15 agility rings, with dogs jumping and weaving their way around the various courses. For more information on the festival, visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk/agilityfestival.

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Posted by chesliepickett on Jul 31 2014. Filed under World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.