Our emergency vet ortho. (a great guy from Ireland... crazy story but we lived close to his sister while in Galway) has stated to us that we have some good news and bad news.
We will give both at many different angles because some good does not match up with other, and vice versa for bad.
Good news: Maggie did NOT have an FCE or blood clot/spinal stroke. This was a 99% chance of her having that. The vet went in and did a Milogram which is a dye test that runs down her spine and would display a ruptured disc of any sort.
Bad news: No disc really showed up... which meant the clot/stroke.
Good news: This Dr did not believe it was a clot... so he did a CT Scan while doing the dy etest again...
... and it showed a different angle of a ruptured disc that repaired itself right after it happened.
MORE Good news: A ruptured disc is better than a stroke!
Bad news: the disc DID hit her spine which left her paralyzed BUT NOT ENOUGH TO PUT HER DOWN. Her spinal chord and nerves will have to repair themselves gradually.
Good news: as of TODAY, she is able to move her legs slightly more than yesterday and the day before... she's eating well and drinking well.
Bad/good news: most dogs cannot control their bowels/urination when this happens because they cannot feel these things BUT Maggie has control of them. The vet said that she is practically doing it herself.
THAT'S OUR GIRL!!!!!!!!
Bad news: Most dogs have to have rehabilitation and the best rehab center from where we live is at the University of Tennessee.
Good news: Maggie is doing so well that the vet does not believe she needs rehab!!!!
Bad news: Maggie cannot be with us through Thanksgiving.
Good news: She will probably be able to walk by Sunday/Monday!!
SOOOOOOOOOOO... with all of that to say...
She WILL be able to walk again and possibly even a 100% recovery since disc protrusions are less harmful it seems than strokes.
Maggie will be home with us soon and her recovery time for this is MUCH LESS than the stroke thing. She can be back to normal in just WEEKS or at most a couple of months!!!!!!
This is AWESOME! Either way... she isn't going to die! God wants her to live on and continue blessing.
So to everyone... thank you for your prayers and calls and emails and text messages and love that we have received.
Seriously? We have received several HUNDREDS of these ways of communication JUST FOR MAGGIE! It's crazy. Not only does it show us that people love us but they love our Maggie too.
Leslie
and I found out yesterday afternoon that our dog (like our daughter to
us... weird we know) Maggie had something rare (but becoming more popular lately) happen to her.
Maggie and I had been playing earlier
downstairs and like normal we were running and jumping and playing. We
both ran upstairs and I went to study a little in the office like usual
and Maggie always lays down next to me. I went to grab her a blanket to
cover over her and she then couldn't move.
Her back legs gave out. We took her to the vet and an Orth Surgeon
Vet looked at her. He said she either has a slipped disc (unlikely) or
an FCE (extremely likely) which is basically a spinal stroke. It is a
blood clot that hits at any moment in any dog for no reason at all (not
health related, not activity related, not food or allergy related,
etc...) and paralyzes them almost completely or just the back legs.
Providentially, Maggie's back legs are it and not all 4. Her chances
are 50/50 to have the clot pass or not. If the clot passes then she has
up to an 80% chance of regaining her legs back.
So the best
chances are that she will never run again but drag at least 1 leg and
the other will have somewhat strength but not enough.
They've told us that in the WORST case scenario, they'd have to put her down.
This is EXTREMELY rough for me and leslie. Truly is. It sickens us.
God
has used Maggie for people and kids and some friends have even said
that God has taught them a thing or two from her. She's a great dog. She loves everyone. She's more than most people are. Most people suck... unlike Maggie.
She's a big chocolate lab and basically our life outside of me and Leslie and Jesus.
So...............
please just pray. We need our girl. She cannot see us for a couple of
weeks due to the anxiousness that she might get for it and that was
reduce her chances right now. So she has to remain confined in a kennel
until they can know more for sure. It could possibly take up to 6 months
to know as well.
This just sucks. REALLY sucks.
Like... we are freaking out. IT SUCKS!!!
I haven't cried in 7 and a half years and yesterday broke the record. That's how bad it sucks.
So just pray. We know it sounds crazy for a dog but we don't give a crap!
So, as many of you know, Leslie and I just had some birthdays. And as many more of you know, when you add them up you get our anniversary! No, that was NEVER planned... purely providential luck ;) And as many many more of you know, we LOVE our anniversary more than just about any other date.
And this year... we turn 5!!!!!!!
5 YEARS!!!!!!!!!
Now, to many this is not much. We have actually even talked to people who just do not care at all about it being 5 years.
Who wouldn't care that two people, especially in today's American society where everyone is getting divorced after 1-2 years and marriage is becoming obsolete, had been together for 5 years so far and can't wait for 25, 50, 75 or Lord willing 100!!!???
But to us...
it's miraculous.
Only God will bring His children together and KEEP them together IF they are willing to let Him lead and IF they are willing to obey.
So for us, we wanted to celebrate our 5 glorious years in style.
So we rented a huge yacht, some major pop and rock artists of today, and loaded it with tons of food and drinks, and invited all of our friends and family...
okay, just kidding.
But we do want everyone to celebrate with us for persevering and letting God lead.
So...
on June 10th (friday)... here's to 5 years!!!! and MANY more.
we love you all! soli Deo gloria!
the jows
[ps - the 5th year, according to tradition, is the WOOD year. you celebrate by giving something wooden to each other. and hopefully many of you will see what we gave to each other. truly only God could have brought these gifts to us]
Hey everyone! Did you ever expect to hear from us again?
Well... today, we wanted to tell you about a friend of ours who NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT! We love her dearly and she is doing God's will in Spain as of right now and soon to be in Germany!!!
Her name is Brittany Grant and she was on our squad. She needs the body to work harder now than ever before in support. Not just prayerfully but financially.
A quick announcement... we are OFFICIALLY PAID OFF with our trip account as of today!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!
So, as a quick way to do it (with a formal one coming soon not via the blog) we want to say "THANK YOU!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!"
We could not have done it without the servanthood and dedication of all of you, our supporters not only financially but spiritually as well. We are even OVER the original trip required amount of $27,600.00! We unfortunately will not receive that amount but we do not care. As long as our account is paid off, then we are incredibly happy.
We love you all! Thank you so much! Please, if you wish to, continue to support AIM and the many ridiculously risky and grace-filled missionaries that they send out each year.
This video below was sent to us from a beautiful couple that we adore very much.
The crazy thing about this video is that Leslie and I could have SWORN that we knew some of these people in the countries. Symphony, if you're watching, then look at those kids! Remember any??
