Celebrating Women...for the Real World
Saturday, January 14, 2006 Life's Moments

When 2006 came in with a bang (yes, a real bang. We live outside of Houston where fireworks are legal. It was crazy!!), I had a sense of peace. That almost knowing that it was going to be a good year. Then things happen and I go "huh?".

I am a very "glass is half full" positive type person. You wouldn't be able to tell from some of my posts this year. Let's see, I've posted about being sick on New Year's Day, then about my "mommy melt down", and other than that, I've been too darn busy to post much.

I want to make sure that you know how lucky I am to have SuZan as a friend. She is awesome! She's the kind of person that listens to you and is concerned about your problems even when she has something going on on her end. She is usually the one that posts on the weekends only because, well, life with 3 kids tends to make for one crazy weekend!

SuZan has had some family stuff going on this past week. I don't want to share without her permission, but just know that she has a few mountains to climb. She is going to have a challenging weekend for sure. Please keep her in your thoughts.

For all of you pet lovers out there, you will understand what I'm going through. We adopted a dog about 7 years ago. His name is Bradley and he was a rescue. He is part lab and part German Shepherd. I've always called him my "gentle giant" as he's never shown his teeth to anyone, including our Oreo who could be quite annoying during the puppy stage. We knew Bradley hasn't been himself for the past year, but we figured most of this was due to aging (we think he's about 12). For the past 3 weeks his health has gotten worse. I could tell as I watched him that breathing was difficult, if not painful. He wasn't eating hardly at all and was very listless. Having a pet is like having a child. You know when something is really wrong. I had that feeling in my gut. I called the vet yesterday, shared the symptoms, and when I made the appointment, did so knowing that I may not be walking back out with Bradley.

The vet called and suggested that we leave him overnight for testing and observation. Knowing me as well as she did she then said if the best decision is to put him down, that would be based on her findings. This would have been much easier because then I wouldn't have felt like I brought him there for "the last time". I mean, at least when I left him, I wouldn't have really known that it was for the last time (yeah, deep down I would have known).

When we got there, the vet decided on doing a preliminary exam. This lead to testing. Then they brought Bradley out to us. He was so ready to go home and he wrapped himself around the legs of me and my husband and looked at us with those trusting eyes. The vet came out to talk to us and showed us his x-rays. He has cancer. His lungs are almost completely inhabited with the cancer. She said the blood work showed that his kidneys and liver appeared to be going into failure. She said the decision was ours as to what we wanted to do, but that our dog would not get better. She said she could make him comfortable, but not better. With him hiding behind me and looking at me with those eyes, there was no way I could leave him right then! I don't think my husband could either as his eyes were red and looked a little teary.

So we took Bradley home with some meds that will make him feel better so that we can say goodbye. The vet told us we would know when its time to put him down. I wanted the kids to be able to tell him goodbye as well.

I know now that I don't think I'll be able to be the one to take him for his final visit. This is how I'm reacting to an animal, I could never imagine having to go through this with a child. My mother died from cancer when I was 19. It was easier to watch her die because she was so sick and she told us that she was in so much pain, she was ready to "go home". My dog can't talk.

I hate to leave you with such sad thoughts, but other than maybe a drunken post tonight, there may not be too many posts until Monday. Of course, on a positive note, my son is going to a formal dance tonight and has to wear a tux. I can't wait to see how handsome he'll look and hopefully I will get some great pictures to post. Got to liven things up around here!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 9:53 AM :: 4 comments

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