I have been sick and it has been a long time since I felt well enough to blog. I've been out of work since the first of the year battling Crohn's disease and Dysautonomia. With Crohn's I've lost almost 25 pounds and the drug used to treat it, specifically Remicade, is not working. Dysautonomia is a disorder in your autonomic nervous system, the part that regulate heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and digestion. Those parts of my body are totally confused. Consequently, I'm having a tough time digesting anything on two levels and that seriously sucks. BUT, the good news is I have been handed off to Stanford in Palo Alto so they can try to fix me . I see them in August. This has given me hope as has my dog, Agatha.
Two weeks ago today, we woke up in the middle of the night. Aggie couldn't walk and we were sure she'd had a stroke, but it turned out she broke her neck. We're not sure how it happened so we don't know if she jumped off the bed or fell off onto the floor. Because Aggie is an heiress, meaning she has unlimited access to medical care for her entire life, we headed out to UC Davis who has the best veterinary care in the states.
Between me and Aggie a bathroom was almost always needed and at UC Davis they only had two for humans and one was broken. I took up residence in that bathroom and know every tile out of place.
After a ton of tests on the Agster and I seriously mean a ton, the verdict came in; only surgery could help her. I love my dog with all my heart and am probably obsessed with her. I inherited her from a wealthy friend who set up a foundation in Aggie's (and her sister Bella's) name so I told the vet to do what she thought best. She opted for surgery.
Hours later Aggie was out of surgery and her prognosis wasn't good. Since I'd already set up a prayer chain on Facebook for her, I updated everyone on her condition.
Two weeks ago today, we woke up in the middle of the night. Aggie couldn't walk and we were sure she'd had a stroke, but it turned out she broke her neck. We're not sure how it happened so we don't know if she jumped off the bed or fell off onto the floor. Because Aggie is an heiress, meaning she has unlimited access to medical care for her entire life, we headed out to UC Davis who has the best veterinary care in the states.
Between me and Aggie a bathroom was almost always needed and at UC Davis they only had two for humans and one was broken. I took up residence in that bathroom and know every tile out of place.
After a ton of tests on the Agster and I seriously mean a ton, the verdict came in; only surgery could help her. I love my dog with all my heart and am probably obsessed with her. I inherited her from a wealthy friend who set up a foundation in Aggie's (and her sister Bella's) name so I told the vet to do what she thought best. She opted for surgery.
Hours later Aggie was out of surgery and her prognosis wasn't good. Since I'd already set up a prayer chain on Facebook for her, I updated everyone on her condition.
It was a long week. Sometimes she was better but most of the time she was worse. We prayed, our Facebook family prayed, and we all waited. At first, Aggie didn't know us and we were terrified. One vet said she would never walk again. Another vet said that maybe there was hope. My husband and I felt like yoyos. Without going into all the details we were heartbroken. One week after surgery, UC Davis let us take her home. She didn't do anything but lay in her bed. We changed her diapers every few hours, changed her bed, and made sure she was clean as urine can cause bed sores. We fed her by hand and did passive exercise as often as possible. It was scary seeing her laying there. I couldn't imagine she was happy.
Then one day after she came home, Aggie raised her head and crossed her legs. This sent me into tears and I had to run and get my camera. This was my dog and she was not happy. (She crosses her legs when she's mad.) If you look closely, you can see the urine behind her. This was Aggie's way of telling me to change her pad. Yeah yeah yeah, everyone laughs, but like I say, "I know my dog." When Aggie licks her lips fast it means she is thirsty and when she licks them slowly, she wants food.
I hadn't had this much exercise in months.
I once read somewhere that people wished other people would stop offering thoughts and prayers when there is a tragedy. I believe in the power of prayer because I've seen it work in miraculous ways. To me, there is nothing more powerful than a solid prayer and a thought of goodness from a human heart. God is listening.
I hadn't had this much exercise in months.
I once read somewhere that people wished other people would stop offering thoughts and prayers when there is a tragedy. I believe in the power of prayer because I've seen it work in miraculous ways. To me, there is nothing more powerful than a solid prayer and a thought of goodness from a human heart. God is listening.
Two days later she sat up. The prayers and thoughts of light kept coming. I could see Aggie getting stronger. She wanted to live and most of all she wanted to walk.
Today, with little fanfare, she walked. I was cleaning up a poopy mess so I wasn't paying attention to her. It wasn't a normal walk, it was side to side, a hiccup here and there and then she fell down on her sister's bed and went to sleep, but it was a walk. I don't have a picture because I was too busy crying and screaming for the husband.
The last three weeks have been a lesson in courage and the biggest take I can get from all this is: Aggie doesn't know she's not suppose to walk. She just did what came natural and that meant sleeping on her sister's bed. I can learn a lot from my little white dog.
God Bless my Facebook pals and a skilled surgeon who thought her skills weren't good enough for the Agster. You changed Aggie's life.
Happy 4th of July!
The last three weeks have been a lesson in courage and the biggest take I can get from all this is: Aggie doesn't know she's not suppose to walk. She just did what came natural and that meant sleeping on her sister's bed. I can learn a lot from my little white dog.
God Bless my Facebook pals and a skilled surgeon who thought her skills weren't good enough for the Agster. You changed Aggie's life.
Happy 4th of July!
RSS Feed
