We knew he was sick- but we didn't know our eleven year-old Boston Terrier was dying, It was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Tthe first answer to prayer was when the friendly voice on the phone said, ""Bring him in!""
There was something in her eyes that told me God had led us to this place, where this doctor was on call, on this particular day. There was comfort in her voice when she told us the sad news. Barney had diabetes- and probably for some time, and his kidneys were shutting down. For all her caring, Dr. Bryan was firm when she laid out our options- either commit to following her plan of diabetic maintenance IF he responded to treatment, or put him down right then, My husband and I looked at each other with tears close to overflowing. There was only one thing to do.
He made it through one night, then the next , with Dr. Bryan calling daily with reports showing slight improvement, though he wasn't 'out of the woods yet."" .
We picked Tuesday to visit him. He was somewhat alert she had told us on Monday morning, so we were going to take his favorite blanket and toy so he wouldn't feel so alone in an unfamiliar place. God had different plans, Dr. Bryan called Tuesday morning to say we could take Barney home on a trial basis. First she would school us in giving insulin injections and outline his new dietary requirements. The port for the drips was left in his leg in case we had to bring him back- otherwise we would bring him in for a follow-up on Thursday, when she would remove it.
We didn't have to make an emergency run, and Thursday we took him for the scheduled follow-up. When we picked him up a couple of hours later, there were happy tears all around to hear that his glucose level was lower than it had been yet, and both kidneys were functioning at 100%.
Barney's still somewhat confused. He's been nearly blind in both eyes for some time now- cataracts. But it appears that while he was so sick, he lost what little vision he had, so he's still 'exploring' what was so familiar to him just last week. The important thing is that we are still singing God's praises for giving us more time with our little one, and leading us to the one who He'd appointed to carry out this miracle.
So thank you Dr. Bryan for working through Memorial Day weekend to check on Barney- not to mention those 'middle-of-the-night"" visits you made as the crisis was peaking. And thanks to all the staff who just naturally have the touch of love and caring as they carry out their hands-on duties. I know- because I've seen it with my own eyes.
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