When Belle started to favor her rear end, we got worried. When she stopped eating, we loaded her up and took her to the vet. After checking her and running bloodwork, he found that her white blood cells were through the roof. He gives her a shot and sends her home with a bottle of antibiotics. Before too long, she appears to be feeling better.
Then she starts to favor her rear end again. Her appetite starts to go bad. We plan to call the vet in the morning. Morning comes and she can't walk with her rear end. At all. I rush her to the vet instead of calling. She is taken straight to xray. The head vet comes in, finds out that she is there and runs back to xray to take her over. The xrays are ready. It's not good.
A disk is just ruined in her spine. She is completely paralized in her rear. She can't even pee. Her bladder is huge, it so full. She would have to go to a neurosurgeon for surgery to fix it. Or we can try a conservative treatment. That means he will drain her bladder for her and give her a round of steroids. We opt of that because honestly we can't afford a neurosurgeon.
The waiting game begins. A man in the waiting room offers his prayers for Belle. And we wait. For six hours I sit at home and image the worst. I'm not ready to let Belle go. What if the treatment doesn't help? We would have to put her to sleep. I cry. I pray. I worry. And I wait. Then the phone call comes.
She can wag her tail, says the vet. And I think she is feeling some pain in the legs. I want to keep her overnight and run more steroids. We will know for sure in the morning.
My son and I go to visit. We take her the blanket she likes to sleep on. She wants to go home. She has never spent the night at the vet's before. But we have to leave her. And the wait begins again.
Family members are calling now. How is she? So we tell them. They all take hope. They all pray. And we stay up almost all night worrying. Wondering, will it work? God, please let it work.....
Morning. The phone rings. I anwser. It's the vet's office. I hold my breath and hear the words...."come get her. She can finish her rehabilitation at home. She still can't walk yet, but she can use the bathroom on her own. And she was rolling around on the grass this morning. It's going to talk several weeks, but it looks good."
I hang up. I sit down. The tears of relief feel good. I start calling the family. She's coming home. I call my husband. You have a puppy dog to pick up.
In four more weeks, I will be giving birth to my second son. I am so glad that Belle will be here to welcome him home, like she was when I had my first son.
Oh, the journey is not over yet. We have to get her fully well from this, and even then the xray's showed that she is in the beginning stages of arthritis in her back, not to mention hip disease. But we will cross that bridge when we have too. Right now we celebrate.
BELLE IS COMING HOME!!!! BELLE IS COMING HOME!!!! BELLE IS COMING HOME!!!!!
