Pawsitively Fred

Oh 🇨🇦, my home and native land.. True, North, strong and free.. #CanadaDay2022 #dogsarefamily #dogsoftwitter #proudtobecanadian

@Penny_Lane_Pup @createurownart Me too.

@Penny_Lane_Pup @createurownart Oh, congratulations sweetheart! I just LOVE a happy ending! Or happy new beginning? It’s all good 👍🏼

@MayleePup @createurownart She’s such a great girl! So happy fur her!

@SeonaidAngel Sounds like a perfect day! Enjoy! 🥳

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Tia ❤️ 🎂 🎈 My girl is 7 today, she brings so many smiles, laughter and naughtiness to every day. New toys, steak for dinner and her favourite walk today ❤️❤️

Today is a perfect day to look up and listen to the birdies 🦆🐦‍⬛🕊️ Be kind. Be good. Share your cookies 🍪

@thedogOpus Same to you!😘

A woggle in three parts! Happy Victoria Day weekend to all my Canadian pals! Hope everyone has a fun weekend 🙂🇨🇦

The look we give Mom when the task at hand requires zero dogs but we want to help anyhow!

Clara was ADOPTED dis morning! She’s off to a great family with 7 kiddos and a German Shepherd sister! 🩷 We will miss her gentle spirit and sweet disposition! Go live your best life, baby girl! 🩷🩷🩷🩷 #adopted

Lots of babies this morning on our hike! I was very respectful!❤️ #SaturdayMotivation #NatureScenery #DogsOfX

Well that will teach them for going away right!?!😜🤣

All smiles when they see you! Love that! Have a great weekend Deke!❤️

Same to you!

@JackAndTimos So sorry for your loss! Sending ❤️

Jack 🌈 07/07/2013 - 05/14/2026 My Jack is gone. Part of me went with him today. Thank you for all the love, support, and kindness you gave us through this journey. He won't be forgotten. #JackItalianRescueDog 🐾

Males watching the female orioles feeding!🥰 #backyardbirding #birdmigration2026 #BirdCanada #Orioles #NatureScenery

You might think this nest belongs to a hummingbird, because it is so small, but you can tell that it belongs to a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher as it uses lichen as a key nesting material.

@doodledog412 So cute!🥰

I was the only sister in my litter! 🐶#ThrowBackThursday

Today, in celebration of Hospital Week, I was invited to tour Centennial Hospital and meet with team members! Have a great evening everyone! ~ Deke🐾 #TherapyDog #PawYouNeedIsLove #HospitalWeek

@sampson_dog ❤️

The MRI/DTI Results Don't Change Me — It Explains Me! My Journey to Discover. Mom here: For years, I have lived with symptoms that now finally have names and imaging findings behind them: The aphasia and word-finding difficulty, slowed processing speed, cognitive fatigue, challenges in visual integration, audio and visual overstimulation, motion sensitivity, photophobia, sensory overload, attention deficits, planning and cognitive flexibility challenges....and more. None of these findings are “new.” In fact, many have improved over the years. What is remarkable to me is that much of that improvement happened without meaningful medical guidance early on. Instead, while living with some of the most complex and debilitating symptoms of post-concussive injury, I made the decision to study neuroscience because I needed to understand what was happening inside my own brain. I needed answers that doctors did not have. Brain injury medical science had not evolved enough. I firmly believe that the university experience itself helped reorganize and strengthen neural pathways. The constant cognitive demand, adaptation, repetition, problem-solving, and persistence forced my brain to keep building new routes forward. Over time, I became a high-functioning professional living with an invisible injury that still impacts me every single day — but one I have learned to navigate with precision, structure, and discipline. People often see the keynote speeches, the travel, the advocacy, the policy work, the laboratory risk assessments, the roundtable discussions, and assume it all happens effortlessly. It does not. I manage my life fiercely and intentionally. From booking the exact same airplane seat every flight, to ensuring I have a rental car instead of risking inaccessible rideshares, to carefully controlling schedules, breaks, recovery time, stimulation, and cognitive load — every decision has a purpose. Those systems are not preferences or luxuries. They are how I remain effective. Receiving these MRI/DTI findings feels like finding the final missing piece of a puzzle I knew existed all along. For years, I was staring at an empty space in the picture while people insisted there was nothing missing. Nothing wrong. Nothing there to find. And then suddenly, the piece appears. Not because the injury is new. Not because the struggle was imagined. But because technology finally evolved enough to see what I had been living with the entire time. There is a strange mixture of validation, grief, relief, anger, gratitude, and peace in that moment. It is difficult to explain the depth of finally seeing your reality reflected back at you after years of carrying it alone. My sweet husband was the only human who who saw my struggle, who I could be completely candid with, who supported me and stood beside me in complete belief and support without question of doubt. What gives me hope is not just for myself, but for others. For the students told they are lazy. For the professionals masking cognitive fatigue every day. For the people navigating brain injury silently while appearing “fine” to the outside world. Advanced imaging matters. Research matters. Understanding matters. And regardless of what changes are possible (or not) through therapy, from here, I am okay. I have learned how to build a meaningful life alongside these challenges. I can manage all this because of my support system - my service dogs and my amazing husband. I had Theo and Sampson who helped me in the early years, I have Pax now, helping me navigate travel, environments, and daily function. I have Marshal Jim, whose steady support allows me to conserve energy for the work that matters most. And I have an insistence and drive that has never weakened. I will continue doing this work. I will continue advocating. I will continue challenging systems, questioning assumptions, and changing policies where change is needed. Justice and equity are not passive pursuits for me. They are relentless ones.