Say a Little Prayer for Sadie

Hello, regular readers of Six Inches High and Rising. Sadie's mom here. Many of you know that Little Miss Sadie May has not been feeling very well lately. Several weeks ago, she would yelp out in pain when being lifted and did not act as peppy as usual. As her Ma, I knew something was really wrong when she wasn't that interested in S-U-P-P-E-R. She went to see her friends at Case, and they prescribed an anti-inflammatory medicine. She had a full blood screen (results looked "great," according to Dr. Knight) and she even had acupuncture. Despite our best efforts, Sadie epitomized the poky little puppy.

My friends who know me well know that patience is not one of my virtues, and my four-legged babies are my everything. I neither have nor want human babies and I make no apologies for that inclination or for spoiling Sadie with three beds throughout the house, long walks around the park, expensive gourmet dog treats and a basket full of toys. She's my friend and constant companion.

So seeing her not feeling well, not being her perky little self, really had me worried. Her Uncle Jeremy opined that perhaps she had lost her mojo. And it did seem that way. Although she is five and no longer a high-energy puppy, she is the equivalent of 36 human years, not exactly over the hill. And a mama just knows when something is not right.

So yesterday, I took her back to Case, where she saw the compassionate Dr. Knight again, who had examined her previously on March 18. She said, "This is not the same dog as the last one I examined." She was very stiff and tense in her neck and back, exhibiting signs of pain. Dr. Knight immediately suspected degenerative disk disease and referred me to a specialist, a veterinary surgeon who does three to five disk repair surgeries a week.

The surgeon, Dr. Paul Shealy, made the same conclusions after examining Sadie. Today she is undergoing a myelogram, a test where dye is injected into her spine to determine if there is a disk problem and, if so, where. If that test shows a disk problem, she will immediately go into surgery. She will have a long recovery - about four weeks - but the good news is that these surgeries have a high rate of success and for the "long-low" dog breeds, bassets have the lowest incidence of recurring issues later on down the road.

While I hate for her to have to go through a back surgery, I am relieved to (hopefully) have a clear diagnosis and I am grateful that such a specialist has a practice right here in Savannah and for the caring folks at Case, who saw to it that Sadie got into see the surgeon as soon as possible yesterday. Their well wishes for "Sadie Girl" along with the good thoughts and prayers of folk all over the world (literally! Hi GrandMum and GrandJohn!) are very much appreciated.

Because those thoughts and prayers aren't just for Sadie - they're for me, too. So do us a favor today when you think of it. Say a little prayer for us.