Musings Part 2

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Preparing for a new puppy has churned up lots of memories of past puppies and other animals that I have shared my life with so far.  My Maltese Terrier Snowy came to me in 2007, in a most unusual way.  In the Summer of 2007 my ex husband  and I sent our yourngest daughter to her cousins in Vancouver for the holidays.  Chloe who was 14 at the time spent three weeks in Summer Camp in the USA and returned to Vancouver to spend a few days with my Mum.  Precious Grandma/Grandaughter time.  Following a day out they were involved in an horrendous car crash.  My Mum was killed outright and Chloe was severley brain injured and in a coma.  I got the call at 3am Irish time (on my birthday)  A call that changed and turned our families world upside down.  Her Father and I arrived in Vancouver Children's Hospital 24 hours later.  Chloe was on life support and in a coma.  We were told her injuries were very severe and it was touch and go for the following 48 hours.  As we had lost a baby to Cot death some years previously I made no deals with God.  I told him that I could not lose another child.  I put my grief for my Mum on hold and put every ounce of my being into willing Chloe to live.  Prayers and positive good wishes came to us from all over the world.  Many miracles occurred during those first weeks.  I am sure that my Mum was right there fighting with us for Chloe's survival.

 Coming out of a coma is not like it appears on the TV or the films.  The person does not just wake up and say hi!  It is a long and dreadful process to watch.  Each time Chloe did something new, from squeezing a hand to opening her eyes were miracles.  The Doctor's and nurses were all amazing.  Watching Chloe in those early weeks was like wathing someone with Altzheimers in reverse.  She did not know where she was, she called me Grandma constantly and was very confused.  She was unable to move her body and had to be tube fed.  Bathing her required eight people to hoist her and lower her into a tub.  I changed diaper after diaper, lifting her large 14 year old body until my back ached.  For three weeks she was in  critical care and then she was moved to a Rehabilitation Hospital.  Our family, her Dad and two sisters were with her all the time.  Six weeks later she was having physiotherapy, music therapy and speech therapy on a regular basis.  She was strapped into a wheelchair for an hour a day and we wheeled her around the corridors.  We discovered she could see when she said to her sister one day' Look where you're going you're wheeling me to the Therapy room'  There was a big sign saying 'Therapy room' ahead.  We rejoiced. We rejoiced over the tiniest of things, when the tubes came out and we could spoon feed her.  When she used a bed pan we jumped for joy because it felt like we had won the Lotto.

Chloe couldn't understand where she was or what had happened to her.  I needed to motivate her to want to walk, to have a purpose and a reason to go home to Ireland.  The Doctor's made a big poster which hung at the end of her bed.  It read'  My name is Chloe Harris, I am in Sunny Hill Hospital in Vancouver and I'm going home to Dublin, Ireland when I'm better.'

Up the road from the hospital was a big Pet Smart Superstore.  I passed it every day.  One day I went in and bought a big poster of puppies.  I put it up in her room. I also bought a dog buggy and some puppy toys.  I told Chloe that when we got home we would be getting a puppy and that she would need to be able to push it in the buggy so she would have to learn to walk again.  I reminded her that I have MS and that I had spent some months in a wheelchair some years ago and had, had to learn to walk again.  We hauled her out of her bed every hour over one weekend and walked her up and down the corridor.  We focused on the puppies and kept talking about them.  Over three days  we were able to ditch the wheelchair and by that time I had found a breeder in Ireland on the Internet with a Maltese puppy.  When the Doctor's and nurses came back in on the following Monday they couldn't believe Chloe was walking with a frame.

We brought her home after three months.  Chloe went to the Irish Rehab Hospital for a further nine months and I collected her puppy who came into the hospital every day.  Chloe is 18 now and back in her old school.  She is an Independent young lady.  Still with some memory and processing problems but a major miracle.  Snowy was part of that miracle.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

What an amazing story!  Chloe is obviously a strong young woman, supported by a strong and loving family.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thank you again for a lovely post. I am so glad Chloe is doing well and am sorry about your mother. What a nightmare to get that horrible phone call. It is amazing what the promise of a dog can do!