Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Miracle and a Faceplant

Two interesting things happened to me today and they both involved a little orange pomeranian named Molly. 

Molly arrived with a group of dogs from a rural shelter a couple of weeks ago. She's a tiny orange thing with perfect fluffy triangles for ears and great big expressive eyes that are hard to ignore. Molly also has congestive heart failure (big deal) and a thryoid condition (not so big a deal.) Her time will be limited due to the heart failure, but her interest in living and exploring has shown no signs of flagging. 

Last week, Molly sustained a back injury that left her paralyzed in her back end. She just suddenly couldn't walk. Three times we visited the vet and three times I came close to putting her down. Three times, however, I saw in her eyes she was not ready to give up, so I decided to give her this week to get literally get back on her feet. On the advice of the vet, we have administered pain meds, done physical therapy and last night started swim therapy (more on that later.)

This afternoon I returned home and invited all of the dogs out into the yard with me. I  left the front door open so the shy, old and slow ones could meander out at their own pace and waited for everyone to conduct business. A few minutes into the action, something orange caught my eye. It was Molly. The dog who had not walked a step since Friday had walked out the front door, down the driveway and found a patch of grass upon which to relieve herself. I felt like I had seen a miracle, like the whole world should have burst into song, like balloons should be released from the heavens. I cheered, I jumped up and down and I told Molly she was one strong cookie. I truly had just about given up hope for Molly, but she hadn't given up at all. 

So, tonight, it was back into the jacuzzi tub for Molly's swim therapy. I bundled her into her life jacket, placed her in the tub and pulled her around by the handle on the vest encouraging her to move those back legs. She hated it just as much as she did the night before and paddled away from me. I reached to guide her back and that's when it happened. Both of my feet simultaneously slid out from under me on the wet floor. In rapid succession, my knees hit the tile, my ribcage crashed into the side of the tub and I executed a perfect faceplant into the tub full of water.  

It took me a moment to right myself and cough up the water I inhaled on the way down and figure out I was all in one piece. Then I did the only sensible thing a person can do in situations such as this-  lay on the bathroom floor and laugh. 

Luckily, Pam was right there to rescue poor Molly and to join me in hysterical laughter, but we are both really sorry there was no video camera involved to record my shining moment for posterity or at least for YouTube and some exposure for the rescue... 

All in all, it was a big day for me and Molly and even though my back is already telling me I will be paying for my little spill, I am still grinning from ear to ear at the sight of a little orange dog on four feet. 

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