Never Give Up

Rescuing dogs saved my life. I’ve rescued quite a few really sick dogs and got them the medical help they needed then rehabilitated them at home. Their will to live and perseverance in the face of adversity gave me the will and determination to get through the darkest hours of my life. 

When I was fighting Covid Elmer came to mind. I started running a high fever and we couldn’t get it down. My breathing was getting difficult and Richard took me to the hospital and I was immediately admitted. I was texting my friends and family before I lost consciousness. I didn’t remember but I texted Elmer’s adopter, who I’ve stayed in touch with all along. 

April 18, 2020

“Please send my love to Elmer. I’m going through what he did. All that pain and suffering and he sat there so nicely and let me do all those treatments over and over again. I need my kindred animal spirit energy. I’m in the hospital ICU from fighting Covid and it’s attacking my lungs big time. Almost killed me. I need his strength and protection please.”

Elmer was a 2 month old puppy that I rescued from MDAS with, I thought, just a bad skin condition such as mange. After the typical treatments didn’t work we took him to multiple vets, then specialist, and he was diagnosed with vasculitis. A very, very painful rare immune condition that causes inflammation of the blood vessels. He had painful lesions all over his body. I would give him medicated bathes twice a week. The high doses of prednisone caused diabetes so I then had to give him shots twice a day and check his blood sugar. Pricking him wasn’t easy because the blood didn’t flow properly to his ears so sometimes I would have to do it multiple times. Then he got multiple infections and he needed heavy duty antibiotic injections but I had to give him fluids at the same time so his kidneys wouldn’t shut down. He would just stand there and let me do all these treatments to him. My hands would shake and I would cry because I didn’t feel confident in my abilities and I didn’t want to hurt him. Week after week and month after month we dealt with each condition he developed and got it under control.  He remained the sweetest, most playful, loving, affectionate puppy you could ever imagine. Once he was completely stabilized a wonderful couple adopted him. 

As I lay in the hospital and all the  months and years following in my long recovery, I think of Elmer and I know if he could not only survive what he did but remain loving and happy so could I. His will to live and recover give me hope for myself. 

Never give up. We push through in the face of hardships. Life is precious and things do get better even if it’s ever so slowly. There’s so much to live for if we look around and take notice. Focus on the good things and just get through the rough patches. 

I’m still dealing with quite a few long hauler Covid symptoms but I’m getting better. I’ll save that for another post. It’s frustrating and exhausting but I think of Elmer and all the dogs I’ve rescued and remind myself if they can do it so can I. Animals have such amazing spirits and we can learn so much from them. They overcome physical, emotional, and mental anguish and just want to love, play and be with us. If they can do it so can we!!!!