It's been a rough week for the Kaisers.

On Saturday night, as I left French Creek, I checked my voicemail to hear the voice of my dear boy saying, "Missy, I pulled my back at work and now I'm at the ER." What?! My freakout instantly began. This was my first time away from Timmy and for the last year and a half, I was paranoid that something would happen to one of us while we were apart. So, my first thought when I got that voicemail was, "this is why I didn't want to leave him!" Thankfully, God showed me right away how I was playing into the devil's games. I said a short prayer outloud, where I reminded myself - and God :) - that He loves Timmy more than I do. As soon as I got reception again, I called my boy. He was okay. He was on drugs and he was going to go home. Also, he wouldn't be able to work for a few days - and I was okay with that. Marti got me safely home where I gratefully rejoined my boy and my dog.

Then this afternoon, when I got home after work, Timmy and I noticed that Jessie was freaking out. She was licking her mouth non stop. She was licking the base boards and the floors. I thought maybe she ate something off the floor that tasted gross; she refused to drink water. I gave her some ice cubes. I know she loves them, but she swallowed them without biting. Her belly was growling really loudly, like when I had the stomach flu. She was hacking and belching. Then we noticed that her belly was swelling. So much for staying calm, Timmy and I start freaking out without wanting to let on to the other how freaked out we were. We call our vet; they gave us an appointment for Friday 9am - well, that's no good. So, Timmy goes online. He reads that dogs sometimes lick the floor when they can't find grass. They eat grass when they are trying to induce vomitting. So, we take her outside. She is eating the grass like some starved child - the only word that kept coming to mind was "desperate;" she was eating as if she were desperate for this grass. Timmy and I are worried. I tell him I want her to see a vet today and ask him to call his parents vet. I stay outside with the dog. I petted her and I prayed for her. She continued to eat, hack, and belch. Timmy was gone for a while and I was worried. He eventually came down. Timmy tells me that he was online again and he read about this condition called bloat.. Of course, this condition is fatal if it isn't addressed in an hour or two. The vet that Timmy called (not ours or rather what was ours) told us to come in right away because it is such a serious thing. So we went to the Old Marple Vet Hospital.

On our way there, Jessie threw up all the grass she ate. She seemed much better almost instantly but we still went inside. Within a few minutes they took Jessie away and it was three hours until we got her back. Thankfully, she didn't have bloat - a xray showed that right away. They did notice an obstruction of some sort, but they said it could just be gas. I thought maybe it was the dead bird :) Either way, she got some more needles. We left with more drugs to add to her existing medicine cabinet, and she's on a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days. We were really grateful for Dr. Lee who seemed to actually care and who listened to us. The staff there was great. We have found a new vet. Can you imagine if it were that thing and Jessie died because the other place told us to wait? If this condition is the second leading killer among dogs and is especially common in the deep chested dogs like my Jessie... My goodness, I don't want to think about it. She is home, safe and sound, sleeping on my side of the bed while I type on Timmy's side. Unfortunately, Timmy still had to go to work. But I don't have to go in early tomorrow, so the morning will be time for Missy, Timmy, and Jessie to cuddle in bed together - ah man, what's become of me.

My heart goes out to all the people we saw tonight who weren't as lucky as we were. There was one girl. She looked my age. She came in crying. She was quiet as were the two guys you came with her. She kept crying and smiling at the dog - I think they were putting the dog to sleep. As soon as I saw her, I started crying. All I wanted to do was hug her. I don't remember ever wanting to hug a stranger so much. Then there was the family that came in with the beautiful husky. They weren't sure what was wrong with him, but he was so lethargic that his back legs were giving out. A short time later, they were joined by the rest of their family. Again, a 20something woman came in crying, and I started to cry again. Then the saddest - two woman came in. One of them holding a dog wrapped in a towel. Just as I started to cry again, they brought Jessie out and she "attacked" me. I needed to see her. All this sadness was too much. I needed to see my doggie. Later, Timmy told me that the dog in the towel didn't make it. That his family found him in the tub. Apparently his trachea collapsed; it's common among his breed.

Jessie's sleeping with me tonight. I want her to be close. Man, if I am this way after having a dog for two weeks, I don't know if I can handle parenthood...or maybe that's why I can handle parenthood.