Betsy was a real animal lover herself and knew Mary quite well because one of her many animals was often in for something or other! Mary had just asked Betsy if she should give Bernie some Pepto Bismal; that and Kaopectate were staples in their house! “I don’t know, Mary” said Betsy, “it may not just be an upset stomach. Maybe you should bring him in and get an x-ray. “ The thought of bringing in her baby was not only disturbing because it might mean there was something serious wrong but as well, she knew it would cost her big time.
Mary reluctantly drove over with Bernie to the vet and was glad she did. The x-rays showed there was something there. Dr. Ross hoped that it would work its way out of Bernie. It was hard to tell what was in him. The vet was sure it was not metal or you would see that. So the doctor had sent Mary and Bernie home with two injections for his stomach for inflammation and something else.
These two antidotes helped him through the day but the next morning Bernie was not better and in fact seemed worse. He was lethargic, lay around, and wouldn’t eat or drink no matter what treat they tried to tempt him with.
It was Saturday morning of a long weekend. What Mary dreaded most was coming to pass: they would have to drive to Windsor to an emergency clinic opened there when everyone else was closed. This was a holiday weekend and Mary and Robin knew they had to do the inevitable. So with Robin seated next to her with Bernie in his lap Mary drove to Windsor.
It was 8:30 at night and the place was packed! There was a big German shepherd that sat beside Mary and Robin who had cut his forehead opened. It had somehow affected his eye sight so he looked like an oriental version of this beautiful breed. His eyes slanted upward and out. Mary had thought perhaps this dog was unusual and it was born this way but the young owner pulled out her phone and showed her pictures of this big baby. He was a most beautiful creature and his pictures show normal eyes. The cut had somehow given him this pronounced look.
On the other side of Mary was a young man with a cat in a cage that hadn’t eaten for a week and drooled out blood and water. Mary had a bad feeling for this cat. The next day Mary learned from the sobbing young man that he had to put his cat down. It was a sad place to be at times just as any hospital is when people are sick.
It took about four hours to finally get in and see the one vet on duty. During that time Bernie had lay on Robin’s lap looking more and more uncomfortable. The little man who greeted them was kind and nice and suggested taking x-rays again to see if what was in his stomach had moved since yesterday when they had been at Dr. Ross’s office. Nothing had changed. Despite this the vet wanted to give Bernie something like Barium and a laxative. He would take a look the next day to see if the material could be more visible and what should be done.
Nothing changed overnight and Bernie was even more sluggish and uncomfortable the next day. The long trips to Windsor were beginning to wear on Mary. She was already getting to her limit doing all the driving during the regular week. Now during this stressful time she was forced to drive under duress. She was not a happy camper. It showed! Robin was good about her moods but was upset himself because Bernie was his dog, his baby, and was beside himself with concern.
The vet had wanted them to wait until evening the next day to come back with Bernie. Mary was stressed out waiting for evening to come and so prayed all the while. Finally at 7pm they drove the long lonely concessions back to Windsor. As Mary had suspected nothing had changed, at least in a positive way, for Bernie was now in pain when the vet touched his bowels. “I think the material might be in his intestine judging from the pain Bernie is in”, said the vet,” An endoscopic search might not be affective. We may have to operate.”
As Mary and Robin had driven down to the office that day they had prayed for wisdom. They realized this was guidance from God and so decided to forgo the endoscopic treatment and go for the more evasive operation. Later they were glad they had listened because the vet who operated said he had to open Bernie in 3 areas of his stomach and bowel. The endoscopic method would not have retrieved all that Bernie had ingested because the material was a rope attached to plastic which had partially passed through to the intestine but was pulling and tugging inside of Bernie. No wonder he had been in so much pain.
The first day they went back after the operated they had hoped he could bring him home. However, he hadn’t eaten and was still doped up on pain medicine. They had come down and sat with him in one of the examining rooms. He was pitifully sad and his big brown eyes were sickly looking. It wouldn’t be a good thing to bring him home even if they wanted to. So Bernie stayed another day. The next morning, despite Bernie not eating as yet, the vet decided Bernie would be better off at home with his family and might recover better there.
Bernie overheard Mary and Robin in the outer office the next day when they arrived to pick up their baby. He cried and barked and cried. The office had been so full of people and dogs it was exploding with the heat and panting animals. One pit bull looked at Mary vacantly as he lay sweating in the hot sun coming through the big windows of the building. There was no room to shield him from the rays of the sun. Mary was relieved he was just in to get his nails trimmed. He was traumatized enough because of the pressure cooker he was enduring.
It took over an hour before Bernie was ready to go with pills, liquids, blankets, and other paraphernalia. Despite the bill being over $2500 Mary and Robin were relieved because they imagined it would be over $4000 dollars. Of course, this accounted only for the operation and they had already forked out over $500 the first couple of days! But it seemed worth it to look into their baby’s eyes and see his sweet countenance. He was not well enough to walk to the car so Robin carried him and gently stroked him all the way home. At the house Bernie was happy to roll up on the floor in a blanket and sleep off the evening after Robin struggled with him to get down all the medication the vet had sent them home with. The good news was he had eaten a little of the food and so Mary was glad of that.
The next morning, after 6 days of worry and concern Mary, heaved a huge sigh of relief. She sat crying listening to the praise music she had on. God had come through and answered her prayers for Bernie. As Mary sat in thanksgiving she shared her joy and appreciation to those who had prayed for Bernie in an email :
Bernie met me in the living room at 6am this morning. It was dark and all I could feel was the swish from his wagging tail! He rubbed his nose up against me and nasally snorted out "good morning". I was so delighted and gave him a big hug. He had to pee so I carefully lifted him up and carried him out into the backyard. I watched as he took a long, long pee then turned to come back in. You can imagine how even more delighted I was when he looked at me as if he was hungry. So I opened the can of dog food they gave us to encourage him to eat and put his two different pills in some food and in a flash it was gone. He wanted more so I gave him just a little extra plus two syringes full of his other medications. He will be on all this stuff for 10 days. He still has a catheter in him and we have to take him to the local vet today to get it out. They left it in just in case we had some emergency last night. But thanks to everyone's prayers our little man looks as right as rain.
Hey Stephen please let Lynne read this email, Okay? Thanks to you all!!
Love Mary
Mary sat reading over the email and sent if off to her two sisters and friend. She felt perhaps everything was going to be okay. There may be tough days ahead because Bernie had to be catered to. But Mary was grateful to her God who had walked with Robin and her as they had prayed during this stressful time. Despite Mary feeling the driving situation had not been resolved as yet she was content to let the problem go for today and enjoy Bernie’s good health. Besides dealing with Bernie an agent was coming with a client to look at the house today.
Mary looked around her and realized she better get herself moving with all the day held for them. Sending her email off to its destinations she got up and began her day. She smiled as she glanced at Bernie her bear that was rolled up on the floor quietly sleeping now. He certainly had come through like a bear, thought Mary. He was one in more than looks, too. Bernie was a real little bear alright and had fought back and now here he lay, hibernating like one!
