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2009-07-01 12:05:00

Paying it forward

Answer: I’m glad you asked. My article this month deals with a thought and action we all might want to consider taking on a daily basis. I don’t know about you, but far too many days pass before I do what I’m getting ready to suggest we all do. Millie, our youngest dog (Lab and Vizsla mix) developed a problem with seizures last year about this time. We don’t have any idea what brought them on but if you’re a pet lover like us, it breaks your heart to watch a pet you love go through something like this. About three months ago, she had a series of seizures over a three day period. They wouldn’t stop. We finally took her to the vet and left her there so they could attend to her each time she had one. Once these quit, we brought her home. I don’t know if you know how dogs with seizures are treated but for the most part, they use Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide. It is a matter of getting the level of these drugs high enough in the bloodstream to ward off seizure attacks. Anyway, that’s what we’ve been facing for over a year now. Millie has to get her medicine (or at least we feel she does) at the same time, or nearly the same time each day to have the best chance of controlling her problems. We give her the medications at 6:30 AM and 6:30 PM. This makes us miss a few things we would like to attend (i.e., dinner with friends, games, etc.), but we feel it’s worth it if she doesn’t have to go through another seizure. Again, you have to be a pet lover to understand. Now, let me tell you about our oldest dog, Trixie (Lab and Golden Retriever mix). Trixie belonged to Dusty, our son. Dusty was killed in a freak accident in a parade on South Broadway in the Toys for Tots’ motorcycle run on November 4th, 2001. Late that night of that terrible and tragic day, we went over to Dusty’s house and picked up Trixie. She has been with us ever since, and as you might imagine…very special to us. She was only 6 months old when this happened. In the time since, she has developed a terrible fear of thunderstorms and lightening. It has become much worse the past three or four years. When the thunder and lightning (or fireworks) start, there is nothing that will settle her down…that is until this past 4th of July. Just a few days prior to the 4th, Millie had a seizure. It wasn’t as bad as some but any seizure is worse than we ever want to see. While the seizure was in process, Trixie was bending over Millie sniffing her head, her body and her tail end, licking when she could, trying to get Millie to settle down. You could tell she was concerned and wanted her little “sis” to get well soon. Then, a couple of days later, when the fireworks were in full display at Rolling Hills Country Club, Trixie got nervous and anxious and began to pace and breathe hard. She was having a panic attack. Millie got up close to her and began licking to calm her. Millie must have licked her for over an hour. Trixie calmed down more than ever and through it all, stayed as calm as we’ve ever seen her during a storm. Millie…although a pet…and in her own way…paid it forward! I have a nephew. His name is Clay. He is a very bright and polite young man. He is 8 months older than Dusty would have been…34. He has had cystic fibrosis all of his life. He had an older brother, Clint, who had the same disease and died more than 20 years ago. Clint went through much pain and suffering his entire life, but never complained once, even when it got to be its worst. There is no one who knew Clint who could ever forget how he handled this pain and the things he would say. There are a lot of things he was…but more than anything…he was an inspiration to all who knew him. In case you have never been around someone with this affliction, you can’t imagine the pain and suffering that goes along with it…sometimes just to breathe. Getting back to Clay, his health had become steadily worse over the past several years, in fact to such an extent that he was forced last November to quit the job which he had held for 10 years and which he loved. Through a series of events too involved to mention, Clay found out about the possibility of having a lung transplant shortly before he quit his job. It was the first time in his life he had hope as he had always lived in the shadow of his brother’s death. Two days after his last day of work, he and his mother went to the Center of Excellence in Denver to be tested for a lung transplant. Clay went through all kinds of tests to determine whether or not it was even a possibility. About a week and a half after they returned home, they were told he was put on the standby list for a lung transplant. The whole family celebrated. But weeks turned into months…and months went by until it had been almost 6 long months with no word. By Divine intervention (the family feels), Clay learned that he could go through the same process of testing in St. Louis. He went and was put on the list there too. Now he was on standby in two places, but he was getting worse with each passing day. He was getting so bad we were all concerned that he might not be strong enough to survive the operation and recovery. While we knew that Clay would do anything to go forward, we felt it might not be in his hands and that the doctors might end up bypassing him as weak as he was becoming. On May 17th, the call came from Denver we had all been waiting on. There were donor lungs and Clay had to get to Denver in a hurry. Once he got there, although weak, the doctors approved him for surgery. On May 18th, after 10 hours of surgery, Clay had a new set of lungs. The reports and happenings in the days that followed, of his remarkable recovery, were gifts from God. Clay’s brother had arranged for e-mail to go out each day to the family and friends apprising them of all that was going on. I guess most miracles happen kind of quickly. This has been a miracle in process for the past several weeks. For the most part, he has done very well. He is still in Denver, just minutes away from the medical team. He has to go in for tests and clinic each week for several more weeks. He will for many years be in a constant state of possible rejection, and there are all kinds of things he has to do, but he can breathe. The jubilation of our rather large family has not subsided. On Monday, July 6th, each member of the family received the following e-mail from Clay: Dear All, I feel the need to tell you what happened yesterday. We were on our way to meet a couple for dinner here in Denver. We stopped at a gas station and Mom went inside. I was pumping gas and noticed a lady had broken down in her van in a busy street right in front of me. I decided what the heck. I charged out there and some construction guy and I pushed this lady’s van up a hill into a parking lot. Sweat broke out across my face. I RAN OUT OF STRENGTH BEFORE BREATH! I felt so great afterwards. I look forward to pushing other broke down cars in the future. Ha ha. Take care now. Clay Clay paid it forward! Wouldn’t it be great to witness ourselves and others doing something each day to “pay it forward?” What a different world we would have. Better minds than mine have said, “Each of us is given the chance each day to do so.” Maybe this is how…or partially how…we get to Heaven. Or…maybe this IS Heaven. Regarding the purplish liquid that was COINCIDENTALLY making a lot of positive differences in my physical well being that I wrote about last month, the only thing I have to report is that I’ve lost another 3 pounds (14 in all) and am feeling great. I have a lab and doctor’s appointment on July 31st. I will share with you what I find in the September issue.