Life happens....

Wow, I haven't posted since the New Year, oops. January just flew by and I have been spending February trying to play catch up from last month.

Lily got sick last month (well, she had been sick since September, it just all came to the surface in January) She spent a week in the hospital and three weeks with home health care visiting to help us take care of her PICC line they had to put in. (Lily has battled with kidney/bladder issues since she was born although she wasn't diagnosed until she was almost 4.)

On her third week of home health care treatment, Sidney our Dog got sick. Taking care of Lily and a dog that couldn't walk or control her bladder or bowels was a tough one. Then one morning I carried Sydney outside to potty and when I picked her up blood was pouring out of her. I called the vet and he said it sounded like kidney failure; we said goodbye to Sydney that day. The next day Lily's tests came back clean and three days later she was taken of her meds and her PICC line was removed! One of our nurses said that dogs sometimes take sickness from the owners, we are so grateful! We don't know if that is true, but that thought sure does feel good.

The doctors will continue to treat her to make sure the infection stays away, we are seeing a Native American Shaman;I am getting ready to Feng Shui the heck out of her room... oh, and we are praying... a lot! We figure we are going to cover this from all sides:-). The Shaman tells us that she can heal herself and he is working with her to teach her how; it is so empowering to see her take ownership over her body. He also thinks that Sydney gave her a huge gift. :-)

This has been an interesting time, and I am so blessed that I was able to be there with her in the hospital day and night. I feel so fortunate to have the family and friends that take such good care of us and more than anything I am so grateful that she is going to be fine!

So what does sickness mean? One thing it means is that we need to teach Lily (by example) to focus on what she wants rather than what she doesn't want. Through this process we found a lot to be grateful for and what mattered most was not the silly stuff it is easy to get annoyed or offended by. We got to be close, to tell each other how much we love each other and being grateful for what we have instead of what we don't. We got to let resentment go, to let anger go, to let grudges go; all those emotions do nothing to promote happiness and good health, which is after all the goal right? Here is to acceptance of yourself and others, what a gift that is!

Leigh