Feeling Needed

About a month ago my dog Jasmine suffered some kind of spinal injury. We aren't quite sure what happened but it was so bad that she almost completely lost the use of her back legs. She could barely stand or walk and was clearly in severe pain. At one point Jasmine spent two nights at an emergency vet hospital. It was a pretty terrible time in our household.

Deciding against surgery, Eric and I waited to see if Jasmine would recover with pain and anti-inflammatory medication alone. We were not sure if she would ever regain full use of her legs and wondered if this was what the rest of her life was going to be like (she's almost eleven) and whether or not the humane thing would be to put her down.

Eric and I had never been through something so difficult. The thought of losing our happy, silly, faithful Jasmine was worse then actually losing her. We agonized over what might happen. And we waited.

Eventually she got better. And pretty soon it was (almost) like the whole indicent had never happened. Jasmine regained strength in her back legs and when her course of medication ran out she seemed like her old self again.

But Jasmine will never be quite the same. She could very easily re-injure herself which might possibly lead to permanent paralysis. From now on we have to carefully monitor her physical activity which is hard because Jasmine has always been extremely active - she just loves to hike and swim and run and tumble.

I am so happy to have my little Jasmine back. I'll take every extra second with her that I can. It's interesting to notice that since this incident I've felt a tremendous amount of gratitude from her. She spends a lot of time in our presence - not being overly needy but definitely needing us. I think that Jasmine is quite aware of what she went through and feels lucky to be here with us. I feel the same way, too.

My Attitude of Gratitude of the Day:

I am thankful for the love that I feel in my home every single day - morning, noon and night.

I love my family!