I want to thank Dr. Elizabeth Picklesimer, DVM, (Chillicothe Animal Clinic) for her excellent care of Kayleigh, my energetic Labrador Retriever, who regular readers have gotten to know through are many journeys together mile after mile on hiking trails in multiple states. Kayleigh survived her gun shot wound from Friday and was released earlier this morning.
She is tired and has been through a lot. I think the trauma has robbed her of her personality a little too right now as she is scared to go rest on the bed no matter how many treats I lure her with. I would like to tell you it's going to get better and Kayleigh is going to return to her normal self so we can share tales from our adventures together, but news beyond her survival from the wound is not good.
When Dr. Picklesimer came it this morning to give Kayleigh her exam, she noticed Kayleigh had lots of fluids on her stomach. Dr. Picklesimer fears Kayleigh may have a cancerous tumor in her stomach area. While she is not 100%, there is a good chance, and I fear this gunshot wound my run down her system enough that I might lose my best four legged friend and about the finest dog one could have. You have no understanding what me and Kayleigh have been through together and the amount of trust we have in each other. I am wiping the tears as I type this.
She is going to need surgery to examine the area and possibly remove the tumor. I don't have to remind you times are tough, and I am not sure we are in the financial situation to offer her this treatment. I am praying we find a way, because there are so many more miles of trails I want to hike with Kayleigh.
She is resting at my feet right now--peaceful and beautiful. I have to tell you, as you may have already learned from Josh Groban (Marley and Me), there is just something about a lab that makes your life more complete. They are amazing dogs no matter how much they get into trouble. They reward every day of your life with their love and devotion to its owner.
I remember a couple of months ago when we were hiking on the Ozark Highlands Trail in Arkansas up White Rock Mountain. For some strange reason, Kayleigh injured her foot and she was stumbling to keep up when normally she walks ahead ready to protect me. We got to the point where we would walk a few hundred yards and then let her rest. I had a thirty pound backpack on, and she was carrying her doggy panniers I shared with you.
I felt so helpless, because there was no way I could get her to the summit without her walking. Luckily that day, when I discovered she was hurting, I took to the road hopeful a car or truck would come along. On the last mile, an SUV finally drove and I stopped them to see if they could help us.
They offered me a ride to the top, and I had to leave Kayleigh along side in the ditch. I leashed her to my backpack thinking she would drag it up the hill and I would be out $200 for the pack, but it didn't matter. It was Kayleigh. I could see in her eyes, and I made a makeshift water bowl for her, that she trusted that I would be back. I drove off still worried she was thinking she was being left behind.
I drove back down the mountain to find her comfortably in the shade. She never moved that backpack an inch. She was hurt and she knew after all these years I was coming back for her. It's the trust between a man and his dog, something I never understood until I got Kayleigh, who I saved from the pound.
There's the Kayleigh that protects me. My extended family has had a summer place on Table Rock Lake in Shell Knob, Missouri, for nearly 40 years. I have taken Kayleigh down to the dock to swim many times. The problem is Kayleigh doesn't like swimming. So I will jump in and get on a relaxing raft, and Kayleigh will sit on the dock watching me closely. As she sees me drifting further out, she begins to whine and then panic. She eventually jumps in and swims circles around me until I am close enough to the dock for her comfort. Then she swims back to the shore to sit on the dock to repeat the process.
So here I am wanting to protect her again, and worried I am not going to know how to make ends meet and provide her with additional treatment. The bill from the gunshot wound has set me back a little, and I want my seven year old dog to be around another seven.
Please keep praying for Kayleigh. She is my special friend who has given me a new appreciation of life, especially over the past year as we have spent time together camping and hiking giving her a new life out of the hectic suburbs of Chicago.
Here's Kayleigh getting ready to come home:
Here's Kayleigh hiking with me:
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