Thursday, December 1, 2011
How Far She Has Come
As I read the comments for the From Zero to Twenty blog post, I was somewhat surprised. There were many well wishers and congratulators offering OBP kudos for Luna’s success in her tear production and eye health. It really got me thinking.
I guess we should be more proud of this than we are. When Luna started as a zero, we just sort of expected that in no time she would be fine. That we would just find the right vet, follow the prescribed guidelines and before we knew it, she’d be fine.
So, while that is what we did and this was the end result, we really hadn't taken any time to reflect or evaluate just how amazing this result is or how far she has actually come. And since we just assumed our efforts would pay off, it never even crossed our minds that she was "beyond repair". So, we never then appreciated her progress.
Thinking about how far Luna has come, what popped out first was a memory of her first trip to the dog beach. The boys were so excited,but she was a nervous wreck. The boys ran scampering down the boarded walkway and thumped down the steps leaping down the oversized last step down to the beach itself.
Then there was Luna. She anxiously coursed her way down the boarded path, screeched her brakes at the top of the steps and then reluctantly forged her way down the steps feeling each step as she plopped down them. When she got to the very last step which was a good foot and half from the beach, she took a leap of faith which did not pay off. She immediately face planted into the sand. This caused her whole face (eye balls included) to be covered in sand. She was a mess. She was frantic. She couldn’t see, was covered in sand, completely uncomfortable and at the time she still did not trust us very much.
Anyway, since her eyes were so dry getting the sand off them was a task in and of itself. We did manage to wash away the grit and she ended up having an ok time but it is definitely one of those moments that sticks with a person.
There was also the growth that she had on her eye that needed to be removed. And there was also at least 10 different combinations of eye meds that we tried until we found the (DUH) winning recipe. We kept spreadsheets so that we could track of it all. Now we have the routine memorized. We used to have to go back to the eye vet every 3 months. This visit they told us that they won’t need to see her for another 10-12 months! That is truly incredible.
Thanks to the OBP readers for their support and positive commentary in pointing out some of the things that we simply have taken for granted in the OBP household. Without your kind words, I likely would not have taken the time to reflect and be proud of the improvements little Luna has made.
