this weekend has been one of the toughest i can remember. im running on one hour of sleep since i woke up saturday morning so this will most definitely be brief. the husband was on the ms150 (hes headed home now) all weekend so it was me and the kids. we tackled soccer saturday morning and the bellaire ffa ag show saturday afternoon without a hitch (we even had to bring snacks for the team!). saturday night was whole different story.
for those of you who know us, you know how important our dogs are to us. they are our 4-legged family members. we have been put through the ringer in the last few years with our family..kevin lost his dear sydney the day after we brough dalton home from the hospital in 2008. i lost avery in a routine teeth-cleaning procedure due to a heart defect that should have been detected prior. then there is sullivan..baby puppy. she had been the tiniest gangliest dog for the bulk of her life. we ran tests, gave her meds, etc with our vet and they were at a loss. she weighed 7lbs 8oz the bulk of her life and she should have weighed atleast 11. long story short..when avery died we did an autopsy and found a parasite in her called heterobilharzia..a toxic parasite that is transmitted through water and snails and it virtually undiasgnosed until death. our amazing new vet read through averys autopsy and immediately went to work. tests, ultrasounds, consults with texas a&m, research, etc..diagnosed, given horribly strong pills that made her sick as a..well..dog..and bam she was well. gained over half of her body weight in 6 months. we were elated..and relieved. the death of avery allowed us to have sullivan remain in our lives. vet said avery would have died within a year and puppy would have within 6 months.
saturday night sullivan started acting strangely..pacing, hiding..very uncharacteristic of her. then she got very sick. i will not go in to the ghoury details..but my bedroom and the kids playroom looked like a murder scene. no sleep for me. stress. kevins phone was off so his battery wouldnt die. im so lucky i have my parents who are always there..no matter what time day or night. i was on the phone off and on with my mom and dad from 1130pm until 630am. dropped the kids off at my parents at 730am and rushed puppy..who was now in a severe state of shock and couldnt so much as drink water..to the er vet. grim diagnosis..she bled out all over the waiting room bench. i had to make a life or death decision without my husband there.
puppy has fought her entire life..from breaking her leg in half at months requiring a plate and pins..to the heterobilharzia..she has never given up. i knew i couldnt give up on her..even though i feared the worst that it was a repeat of the hb. regardless..she deserved the chance. she loves the kids..they love her (today has been super tough on them). i walked in the triage room to tell her i loved her and to keep fighting and she looked at me and wagged her tail. i knew right then that i had made the right decision.
i got a call fro the vet at around 630 that puppy was stable..temp was up..bp stablized..no more bleeding or vomiting..she was sitting up and wagging her tail. i almost fell to the floor..the adrenaline that had kept me going was gone.
we are by no means out of the woods..but i know i made the right decision. she could have given up last night. the vet said based on what she saw she thinks puppy had an internal intestinal bleed out (hge) and they see it but the dogs are often too far in shock from the massive blood loss to be saved puppy could have lied down last night and left..but she refused. she knows the kids need her..she knows without avery i need her. she knows how much kevin loves her (he said when i finally talked to him that he would have done the same thing). she knows wally and tuesday are at home and they need their alpha female. my fingers are crossed that tomorrow brings more good and she keeps advancing tonight. i want to get her to her vet so that he can examine, treat, and take care of her. mostly i want her home.
thank you puppy..i hope you know how much you mean to this family.
i think avery is sitting in heaven watching down on you..and she wont let you go until she knows we are all ok.
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