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Cherokee's Story

Happy 15th Birthday Cherry!!

"Angel in the Sky"

By: Jennifer Adkins


There is a star in Heaven
and on it is a place,
that's been reserved for you since birth
a place meant for your name.

This star has watched you through the years
but it could not stand alone,
it rested high on angel wings
awaiting your trip home.

You slipped away, I held you close,
your soul flowed through my heart,
I felt your last breath through my tears
I felt your pain depart.

Tonight I looked up to the sky
and there for me to view
was one lone star shining bright
your name was shining too.

You were my angel on this earth,
you're my angel in the sky.
Wait for me, someday you'll see
our names shine side by side.

Happy Birthday Sweet Monkey Butt!!!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

2 years ago!!

"Teach Me How To Breathe Again"

By: Lindsay Eckert, Copyright 2000

Constricting pain,
Blackness, Death.
Two years now to the day,
And I still haven't exhaled that breath.
The breath I took when I knew it would be the last time
The last time I ever smelled your fur.
I simply cannot let that go,
The last memory I have of you.
The last living part of you on earth.
To exhale would mean vanquishing a soul.
Sitting, blue in the face, eyes rolling back into my head, thinking
"Really? Two whole years?"
Two years is quite some time.
730 days
17,520 hours
1,051,200 minutes
SIXTY THREE MILLION, SEVENTY TWO THOUSAND MINUTES
3,784,320,000 seconds.
But compared to it all..
how long is that really?
Two years is a split second in the history of the forever,
Yet those two years are a long time when you cant breathe
When you want to die
When you want to cease existence.
But I will keep holding that breath,
If I let it go, we both die.
A person can forget a lot in those short simple two years.
The sound of your tags hitting the metal bowl,
How utterly amazing your ears felt every single time
The wet doggy smell that would remain
no matter how much shampoo we used
Two years it's a long time.


Dear Sweet Cherry,

It is almost hard to believe it has been 2 years since I last petted your fuzzy ears. I miss you every day!

Love,
Mommy

6 Years ago, we learned what IMHA was!

Sept 10, 2002

Wow Cherry, it was 6 years ago tonight that Daddy and I picked you up from Mt Laurel Vet just thinking they would give you a prescription to make you feel better. Never could we have imagined that when we got there, they said we needed to take you to U of Penn for a blood transfusion or you would die. They had copies of your records and a referral and off we went.

They said it was IMHA. All we could say was what is that?? They explained that for some reason your immune system was killing off your red blood cells and depending on the cause, they might be able to fix it!!

You needed to stay there for 5 long days!! So many tests!!! They were able to rule out cancer/tumors, tick borne disease, poison and not vaccine related since you were on a 3 yr series and actually were due for shots. They shaved you and poked you and you were brave through it all!!

The first 24 hrs they had you hooked up to IV's to keep you hydrated. Started all the tests and did xrays and an ultrasound.

The 2nd day was the transfusion and the start of prednisone. You looked so pathetic in your stall!! I was happy to lay down next to you and rub your furless belly!!

On the 3rd day when Vet called to say they tried 29 different foods and you turned you nose up at them all, we told her that you never ate plain dog food. She got a pound of turkey lunchmeat and was thrilled you ate 3/4's of it before you needed a nap. The steroids had kicked in!! When I got there to see you, you were standing up and your tail was wagging!! It was like night and day!! You looked better already!!

Day 4 showed some blood in your urine and needed a 2nd drug cyclosporine, and they wanted to keep you one more day to make sure you would be ok on both drugs. It was so cute when Daddy and I came to see you that you came and said hi to both of us, ran back in the cage for your chewie, and started to run for the elevator!! How you howled when we left you behind!! But we knew you would be home the next day!!

Day 5 You came home along with a million pills to take!! We needed a chart to keep it all straight!! It was the start of your 6 month recovery!!

Thanks to the Vets that gave us 4 & 1/2 more years with you!!