tom foolery

who would have thought so much could happen in a month.

on feb. 16 we gained a new addition to our family, and a part of my heart that i thought had gone cold is once again alive. my mom and i drove to coshocton ohio - near wooster, and picked up my little Max - a 6 month old shih tzu. as crazy as it sounds, i think my dad had a lot to do with Max finding his way into my life.

i had wanted a shih tzu for a long time but i couldn't convince D that it was worth the money to buy one from a breeder. i had been having some pains in my chest and after an MRI came back that my primary care physician couldn't read, he sent me to a cardiologist. the cardiologist told me that it was imparitive that i lowered my stress level or i was going to give myself a heart problem. that night dennis said yes to a dog. i spent hours searching on the internet, but realizing shih tzu's were out of the budget range d had given me, i decided to look on petfinder. in just a few minutes i came upon max i emailed the rescue group that had him, she called me the next day, and 2 days later he was in my arms.

he has truly changed my life.

the rescue had included the american canine association papers so i could change his registry to my name - with the previous "owner's" name i started doing some internet snooping to find out more about little max's background. the rescue group had bought max at the buckeye dog auction, saving him from a life of being a stud. through my research i found out that little max was born in pennsylvania to a couple that operates a puppymill - 251+ dogs. they had been cited for the conditions of the cages they kept the dogs in and it completely broke my heart to see the pictures of the wire mesh cages, and the conditions of the auction that he was sold at. with 6 months of what i can only imagine could have been a horrible existence, d and i will make sure that little max will live in pure spoiled bliss the rest of his years. he has the sweet temperment my little lady dog had, that i was sure i would never find again in a dog. i can't believe how much companionship and joy he has given me. i can't believe he was on pet finder for 2 weeks and noone snatched him up!

shortly after i got max, i was still being seen by the cardiologist and going through with some tests he had ordered. I had an ECG of my heart done (horribly freaky) and I also had a pet scan done. The PET scan revealed that I had an almost completely blocked artery in the front of my heart, and that it was not getting enough blood. A heart cath was scheduled and i was told not to stray far from the hospital. that same day i was in morgantown at a grief counselling session. i was leaving town when i started to feel funny - i got on the interstate and nearly passed out so i got off at the next exit and somehow by the grace of God got back over to Ruby - I don't even remeber driving, or how i managed to get there. I just remember my brother meeting me at the car and walking me in - when they took my vitals, my blood pressure was 190/110 - a few days prior it had been 100/60 and it normally runs around 120/70 so it had been all over the place. they admitted me and kept me overnight - the next day i had my cath and it revealed that the PET test had shown a false positive - nothing is wrong with my heart at all! Praise God!!

i have truly had so many blessings in my life, especially lately. with the passing of my father, a huge iron door in my life was slammed shut - but these days a window of hope is beginning to open and reveal the sunshine.