Thursday, April 30, 2015

For The Skipper and To Lasting Friendships

I made this tile to display in our house for Skippy the other day.  This is a Winnie the Pooh saying and I think it speaks volumes about how we felt about our boy.  




This candle and holder are from our friends Kelly and Chris. 

Who would have known that 10 years ago we would have moved to MA and met our first friends in the state in a matter of hours.  Then we all moved out and continue our friendship.  We want to say thank you for all you have done to memorialize Skippy (candle and dinner).  You were there from the first day we bought Skippy home and I'll never forget Kelly looking in our sliding glass door and Skippy looking back out at her.  Kelly said, "Who is this?," and so began a love affair between Kelly and Skippy.  Our wedding was made much easier because you both welcomed him into your home for the week and took very good care of him.  Joe and I always felt that you thought of Skippy as our son and always found a place in your hearts and homes for him.  And Kelly, never forget how he tried to escape and jump out of your car.  Once again many thanks for being there through all our trials this year.  It means a lot to know that we have friends we can count on in good and bad times.  Rosemeade lives on.



Wednesday, April 22, 2015

In God's Hands

On March 27, 2015 we lost a special member of my family, Uncle Matt.  He battled many years with Alzheimer's.  His memory will live in all of our hearts forever and we each have a special moment that we remember spending with him.  He is now in God's hands and watching over each and everyone of us.







I wanted to do something special to honor his memory as well as give my Aunt a present that would make her smile.  My Aunt was his angel on earth for 51 years and her example of love is an inspiration to live up to.  For the month of April my Operation Write Home cards have been made Uncle Matt's honor.  Uncle Matt had many hobbies and interests as well as serving in the Air Force.  So my cards are varied to his hobbies, interests, love for my Aunt and the Air Force.

Uncle Matt keep quacking and I hope you enjoy these cards.  You'll always be loved and remembered by all you surrounded with your generous and kind soul.

Until we meet again.....


On the day of Uncle Matt's viewing he sent us a rainbow.


Uncle Matt shines down some light from Heaven onto us everyday.
This should have been in March package, but got forgotten.




 

Monday, April 13, 2015

In Memory of Our Sunshine

Skippy Von Beagleman, the blog's mascot, passed away at 10:56 last night in my arms.  Joe and I ask for a little peace and respect at this time.  Please feel free to leave your comments.  Skippy will always be my sunshine and when the sun is shining I will think of my little puppycakes.


  Skippy Von Beagleman

June 11, 2004 - April 12, 2015

Make sure you get sleep since you haven't slept in 10 years



Thursday, April 9, 2015

Everyday A little Better


Skippy is about 90% better.  I talked to the vet on Tuesday and she is also very happy with his progress.  Also, Dr. Peters would like him to be confined and quiet for 3 more weeks.  Skippy does not know a confined life in the least so we can't do that because we know he would find a way out of confinement or destroy something.  His medication is getting weened down starting tomorrow.  Last night his batteries finally ran out so he got about a half hour sleep and he may have slept through the night.   However, he is back up and down today.  All good things to come.  Truly feel like we have been given a miracle and are blessed to still have our little boy around today.

Tuesday afternoon


Monday, April 6, 2015

Never Give Up Hope



The title of this post is something that we all need to remember.  I was not ready to tell the world about this story until today.  Plus I know a lot of you know what was going on and asking.  I think that my faith was tested strongly these last couple of weeks.  I told Joe yesterday that I think we are being taught a lesson this year and that lesson is that you never know what someone is struggling with at that time in their life.  Someone may come across as sad, angry, miserable, unfriendly, etc. when in reality they may just be having some personal struggles that they are in their own world.

Not sure when, but about 3 weeks ago our little boy, Skippy, would yell out in pain whenever he was touched on his chin or so we thought this was the source of pain.  It started very mildly and we didn't think there was any reason to be concerned.  However, on Friday, March 27 the pain was seeming to get worse and he was not acting like typical Skippy.  On March 28 I went to a shower and Joe said that something was wrong with him and didn't know if he would even survive the car ride to PA for my Uncle's funeral.  So on Monday, March 30, I took him to see the vet.  The dog jumped out of the car and ran for the door like nothing was wrong.  The vet asked the problem and Joe and I both thought it may be a bad tooth or a splinter in his throat.  The doctor could not be certain of the problem, but he cried when she touched his neck and throat.  The only way to be sure what was going to was to do some x-rays and sedate him.  Well I did not want him to be sedated and asked if there was another avenue we could take.  She said that we could put him on pain pills to see if that helped and if not he would need to come back.

So on Tuesday morning we loaded up the car and Skip seemed to be better.  We asked him, "Do you want to go see Aunt Cindy," and immediately got excited so we thought the pain meds were helping.

We attended the viewing on Tuesday night and went out to dinner afterwards.  We got back to my sister's house and Skippy seemed a little off but still a little better than Monday. Knowing how people get when on pain meds that is what we assumed was happening with Skippy that he was just having a reaction to the pain medication since he never had anything wrong in his life before.  He was restless all night on Tuesday and would not sleep just kept walking around the room and finding new places to try to sleep (however, this is normal for Skippy to not sleep).

On Wednesday morning I got up and took him for his walk.  I knew something must be wrong because there was a dog barking in a yard and he didn't even go up to the dog or react.  So Skippy and I got around the block and he stopped to take care of business.  After cleaning up and walking about 5 steps Skippy looked up at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen.  Then he fell over.  I went back crying to my sister's house, but once again all of us were in agreement that it was the medication.  Once in the house he was ok, but off balance and still had an appetite.  My sister looked up the drug and said that unbalanced is normal, so yeah it was the drug.

We went to the funeral and when we got back Skip could barley walk.  We got all our stuff loaded into the car and left.  We stopped at Wawa for some food and to let Skippy out.  As soon as we put him on the grass he rolled down the hill and was unable to get back up.  The rest of the trip he just laid in the back and, of course, would not sleep.   Joe and I decided not to jump to any conclusions and stopped the pain medication.  We thought that Thursday would be a good day for him to rest and get acclimated to being home. 

How wrong we were.  On Thursday morning he was still walking around.  He decided to go down in our laundry room and tried to jump up on the sofa and missed.  After this Skippy seemed to go down a little more.

By Thursday night Skippy was totally paralyzed and couldn't even lift his head.  These are some photos from Thursday night:  Joe and I were saying our goodbyes to our little boy who we thought had some good years left in him.  We could not believe what we were seeing and that this little active boy was giving up hope.  We never thought that our good bye would come this quick without a little warning. 






So Friday morning came, I put Holy Water on him,  and we had a decision to make.  Joe told me he did not want Skippy to suffer any longer.  Also, Joe thought that Friday when he left for work that he would never see Skippy again.  I did not want to do this alone so I called the vet and told them the symptoms.  The receptionist talked to the doctor and she said to bring him in for a recheck at 5:00.  So all day on Friday I gave Skippy the best last day he could possibly have in his condition.  He still had his appetite and wouldn't sleep.  So I laid on the floor with him and cuddled, went down memory lane and told him how much he meant to us and that he was loved.  Joe and I made sure that Skippy had the best life possible and those that know Skippy know that he is a spoiled little boy.   My sister was also going in for some medical testing and I was worried about that also (tests came out fine), but I did tell her it is Good Friday and there can't be bad news today. 

So we loaded Skippy in the car in the way back so he wouldn't roll off the backseat.  Joe and I couldn't believe that we were on our way to put Skippy down.  No one can prepare you for this.  We were extremely early for our appointment so I waited in the office and Joe spent quality time with Skippy out in the car since I had all day to do this already.

NEVER GIVE UP HOPE.....something to remember.  The doctor came in the office and immediately knew what was wrong with Skippy.  She took one look at the way his front legs were and said he slipped a disk in his back.  She felt around found the disk and said he had swelling all up and down his spinal cord.  Dr. Peters did this with no x-ray needed.  So she suggested that we put him on steroids and a muscle relaxer.  Dr. Peters told us that him getting better was in our hands.  We had to nurture him back to health and keep close supervision on him.  The vet also told us that she had a dog in worse shape than Skippy, but came back into the office running.  I couldn't believe that he was coming home with us nor could I believe that we had to go to CVS to get him pills.   The predication was that by today he would start to look and feel better.  However, in good all Skippy fashion you can't keep him down long he was up and moving again on Saturday even though he couldn't stand on his own for long.


Saturday

Easter Sunday was a miracle.  Our little boy was up and moving on his own even though still a little wobbly. Joe took him in the woods and he ran away from him.  All day he was up and down the stairs and looking real good.

Sunday

 So today Skippy is still taking meds, but is eating and drinking on his own from his bowls.  He is about 75% better.  Keep Skippy in your thoughts and prayers.......never give up hope.  We are still waiting for him to get some good sleep, but I don't think that our pup will ever totally relax since he is afraid that he will miss something.

Here is a card that I made to thank his doctor for the hope she gave us:



Sorry for the long post, but I thought that anyone with a pet would appreciate knowing that sometimes the right vet will do the right thing.

  

Friday, April 3, 2015

Easter Blessing

Happy Easter to everyone.  Here are my Easter cards for this year. Hope you have a blessed Easter with your family.