Its amazing how fast life can change and it’s generally never the things you were worried about. As my mentor used to say to me 95% of the things you worry about never happen.
Well these last two weeks have been an example of life happening.
I got to the office early on Monday morning and my fiancé Helene told me that my little Jack Russell Daisy wasn’t well and was still asleep in the bedroom. Now I know what you might say, so yes my dogs are spoilt and sleep on the bed, deal with it. Anyway I rushed to the bedroom and Daisy was lying on the pillow and almost non responsive.
Panic flooded my body, I picked her up and rushed through to the office shouting to Helene that Daisy was dying. Even worse I had two back to back interviews planned for my radio Show and Podcast and I couldn’t cancel. Helene immediately sprang into action and put Daisy in the car and raced off to the vet.
I started my first interview with my heart racing and my stomach in an absolute knot. During the interview messages started coming through on my phone. Daisy was critically ill, she had chomped on some lamb bones which she had dug up from goodness knows where. The bones had splintered and pierced her intestines, she was bleeding internally. Emergency surgery was needed and it was dangerous considering her condition and her age, she’s almost 14 years old.
Frantically I messaged back, do it now, do whatever it takes to save her life. In a cold sweat I finished my first interview and waited for the second one to start. I finished the second interview and got down to editing the first one, my head was all over the place and I couldn’t concentrate. Memories of all the special times I had had with Daisy were running through my head, what would happen if those times were thing of the past?
Eventually after what seemed like a life time the vet phoned me, Daisy had made it through the surgery and was now in recovery. The vet told me she was cautiously optimistic but that if Daisy made it there was a long road to recovery ahead for her. Later that day the vet called again and asked if I would mind if she took Daisy home and slept with her in her spare room? That way she could monitor Daisy every hour or so. I said absolutely whilst at the same time dreading the bill for that kind of care.
Fast forward to the next day when I was told I could collect Daisy after 5pm once again I was warned of the long road to recovery. I picked up my very forlorn daisy and armed with antibiotics I went home to prepare for her recovery. I won’t bore you with the details but that first week was an emotional roller coaster with another race back to the vet because of a fever and spike in temperature.
I took Daisy back to the vet after the prescribed time to get her stitches removed, the vet was amazed at her recovery. Now two weeks later she is running around again like a mad thing playing in water puddles and turning herself into the mud monster, she is eating well and has fully revered from her ordeal.
So what’s the point of this post you ask? Well for me life is about looking for the lessons and the learning from any given situation. What I learned from Daisy’s experience was.
- There are loads of good people in the world, my vet Jana being one of them. She is absolutely dedicated to her work and has a depth of knowledge and compassion that astounds me.
- When giving the choice people will generally do their best, Jana gave me a discount on what was a rather hefty bill and didn’t charge me at all for the night of special care.
- Don’t take anything for granted, embrace each day and each moment, as my mentor used to say truly suck the marrow out of life.
- Kindness doesn’t cost anything, sprinkle it everywhere.
- Develop an attitude of gratitude for what you have in life no matter how small and seemingly insignificant.
- Love truly can heal all wounds.
Until next time I’m off to play with Daisy and the other dogs.