Silver Lining After a Very Tough Day

I had one hectic day! Traffic was unbelievably heavy and I had to meet clients in several cities so it all seemed excessive. I was gone from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and that made for a super long day of being away from home and my dogs. I let everyone out and was getting things ready for dinner when I noticed my one dog was licking Stanley's ear. I bent down to see what was up and it was completely swollen from the inside out and filled with blood too. I immediately called our veterinary hospital and they were fitting us in at 8:30 p.m. so I planned to pick myself up dinner on the way. That soon changed. When I was harnessing Stanley to go to the hospital he started screaming in pain. I started crying in worry and the both of us a mess. He seemed to have whatever was going on in his ears on his body and possibly inner parts of his legs too! Stanley has a host of health issues, for one we have no idea why he doubled in weight. We have done every diagnostic tests along with x-rays and ultrasound and nothing can explain what is going on. This situation was a true mystery.

Once at the hospital they had to take him in the back to properly hold him due to the pain he was in. It was all very sad for everyone because our veterinary hospital is like family to us and I genuinely feel their love and care for my pets. Well, he was bruised all over, his red count was down. No infection though. So he was loaded up on pain medicines and antibiotic. Just in case something else came up. I didn't get home until after 10:30 p.m. to realize I hadn't eaten the entire day but a protein bar in the morning! Wow! Talk about being exhausted and hungry.

I got Stanley settled and I had some fruit and a protein shake for dinner. In the midst of all of this I received a package from my niece in Arizona. Some of my favorite smelling soap by Zum, a chapstick and card. This meant the world to me and I truly appreciated her thoughtfulness. She has no idea how perfect the timing was too! It put me in check to be thankful and appreciative for all that I have in my life despite today's upset. I'm grateful that I have such a wonderful niece. Every single day I appreciate having such an amazing group of veterinarians and staff and Primary Veterinary Care in Long Beach. I love my pets more than words can ever express. I appreciate my home to keep us safe and sound. I'm lucky to have such stamina when not eating. I wanted to let you know that part of thriving is overcome adversities too! Thriving is that despite when everything crumbles you can still propel yourself to overcome and conquer tough days. In doing so, if you can find reasons to be thankful that is the extra hug you can give yourself when you are doing it all alone too!

Since this post, Stanley had rough week of recovery, swelling and red blood count dropping. I'm happy to report by Christmas Eve he improved. Red count increasing, bruising gone and pain gone too. I'm truly thankful to Dr Nguyen, Dr. Cuervo, and all their amazing staff for their love and kindness towards my Stanley. The night before he was outside by mistake when I was taking my shower. We are wondering if a wild animal got him because he had very curious scratches on his back end. I tucked in that night so I don't know how I missed it, but right now we are all speculating what could have happened. Just truly thankful that this pup is all better and back to playing with the others and having a fun dog life!