Sam the beautiful all-black German Shepherd Dog: The Hospital

Sunday, August 29, 2004

The Hospital

Well, guess where I am tonight...at the Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos. I've got pneumonia. I was restless all night long and I tried to tell Mom that I was really sick, but she doesn't know me well enough to understand my language. But this morning, when I wouldn't eat again, she got pretty worried. I didn't eat yesterday either and even the most delicious treats in the world just didn't appeal to me. I was drooling a lot too, kind of a clear saliva out of my mouth.

Well, Mom didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if I was just traumatized by all of the changes or if I was actually sick. She decided to take me for a short walk and see if that improved my attitude. But I felt so bad that all I could do is cross the street and flop down on the cool shaded grass of the neighbor's house. And then I just couldn't get up. Luckily Mom had a friend along for the walk so the friend stayed with me while Mom went back to the house to call the Rescue team. She called Linda and Kelly and they sent over Betty, who lives nearby, to check things out. After about an hour on the grass Betty got me back into the house but I still felt terrible. I was holding my head up because I was having trouble breathing and taking short shallow breaths. I felt awfully hot but Mom and Betty didn't know at the time that I had a fever.

Then Kelly came over and she knew immediately that I was pretty sick. She could tell I was hot and she spread cool wet cloths on me and wiped my ears and nose and tummy. She and Betty got me into Kelly's car and Mom and Kelly brought me to Adobe. I got bumped to the top of the waiting list because of the urgency of my condition. The vet checked me out and immediately suspected pneumonia then confirmed it with a chest x-ray. It could have been something worse, so Mom was relieved. But I've got to stay in intensive care at the hospital for a few days. Mom is going to come to visit me each day.

Kelly called to check on me tonight and sent this email to Mom:

I spoke to Dr Durenzi & Sam is doing fine, his white count is up a bit, but not unusual for his situation. I'm glad we got him in when we did, poor guy. They have him on oxygen to help him breath better. Thank you for being so aware that something wasn't right.

This is quite a bit for a older doggy to have to go through all at once. Dumped by my family at the pound, 10 days in a cage without a clue of what is going on surrounded by other dogs and all of their germs, rescued but then I come down with pneumonia. I know things are going to get better soon though and even during all of this I have been a very good dog. I've never growled, or whined, or complained. I have cooperated with everyone and everything, even when that nice doctor stuck that nasty thermometer up my rear end (I had a fever of 105.1 no wonder I felt so crummy!). So if I can be a good dog in the worst of circumstances, I can be the world's most outstanding dog in the best of circumstances!