From: "Glenn Meadows" 

The following happened to our Art Director this weekend, and now last
night...(At least it's a different thread than the typical politics
discussions).

Forwarded....2 emails....

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Hi Everyone,

I won't be in the office today. I had to put Stormy to sleep this weekend
while I was in Florence, AL... and after coming home last night (with just
her ashes in a box) I realized I need some time to let the shock set in and
get the healing process started. She was such a huge part of my life and
everything in it so this is going to be a major adjustment without her. I
loved her as though she were my child and that loss is not something I will
be able to recover from easily. The poor little thing wasn't even a year
old yet which makes it all the more shocking and unsettling.


Basically her illness came on so suddenly and violently that in a matter of
hours she was gone. Friday morning I noticed her mouth was bleeding and it
looked like a chipped tooth or she bit something and it caused the
bleeding... and heck, the dog chews on everything so that was a realistic
assumption. I took her to Thomas' that morning and when I got there I
pointed this out to him and he thought the very same thing because the
blood was only on one side of her mouth. Well, that day she was still her
normal, spunky, super-energetic, cheerful self. But at night when we
brought her home she was acting very lethargic and the bleeding had gotten
worse. She couldn't get comfortable in her bed so first thing in the
morning we would take her to the vet. Well from 10pm to 3pm she took a
drastic turn for the worse ... she started coughing up blood and her
breathing was very difficult. We found an emergency vet and he met us at
his clinic at 3am... by 4am we realized there was nothing we could do, the
vet couldn't stop her bleeding.

Looking back, I now know the doctor knew right away she had no chance, but
for my sake he did everything in his power to try to save her. That was by
far the most difficult few hours of my life witnessing my baby girl dying
and in such a horrible way with gallons of blood spewing out her like it
was a faucet . it was a living nightmare knowing I couldn't protect or help
my little Stormy.

The vet thought she must have a tumor that ruptured a blood vessel and
filled her lungs with  blood - but the x-rays were so blurred by all the
blood that he wasn't positive. After doing all we could, I had to make the
decision to put her to sleep, although there was no decision to make at
that point.

The vet asked if I would like to have her cremated, and I thought this was
a good idea. Thomas and I left there feeling so sick, heartbroken and
confused. Apparently the vet was very unsettled by her condition as well,
so later that morning he asked the guys to bring her body back to his
clinic and took it upon himself to do an autopsy on her. I am so glad he
did this because what he found was a weird bacteria strain that is similar
to pneumonia which had completely taken over her lungs making them
hemorrhage and turn into the consistency of liver. The little thing
couldn't breath anymore because her lungs weren't allowing oxygen to get in
and basically they were just mushy sacks of blood. The vet himself went out
of his way to make sure he was the one who returned her ashes to me so he
could explain all of this in an effort of reassuring me that there was
nothing I could have done to prevent this, no warning signs I missed. She
probably only had this for a day or two, but he said her case was so acute
he couldn't believe she was alive at all that Friday. He said the only
reason he can imagine is that she was so strong, so energetic and so full
of life that she kept going until her little body gave out on her. Not that
that helps any, but at least now I don't have all the guilt to add to how
miserable I feel.

This morning I noticed that my Lilly's came up and are blooming again
(which is freakish,  because they bloom once a year in early spring and
they already did that) So I guess that is where I will spread Stormy's
ashes today. As Thomas reminded me, the Lord giveth and he taketh... I just
can't figure out why in the world he would take my baby girl from me soo
darn soon!?!?!?

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know this so I don't have to explain
it when I come in, it's a bit difficult to discuss right now and I'm trying
very hard to erase those horrific images of her last hours. She was a very,
very special little girl and Spencer and I will miss her very much!!

Thanks,

Tracy

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And this morning.....

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hi,

can you please let everyone know that I will not be at work today (thurs)
and there is very little chance i will not be in on Friday either... I am
so sorry for the inconvenience this is causing.

However, as hopeful as I am trying to remain, there is a high probability
that I will lose my Spencer dog too.  I took her to an Emergency clinic at
1am, they ran tests on her, but are beyond baffled by her condition.
Basically for the time being we have to play the waiting game and hope she
can hang in there. She is still at the emergency clinic (hopefully)
resting, but scared beyond belief ... at 6:30am I need to get her and take
her to her normal vet where they will be able to run more thorough tests in
an effort to figure out what is causing the internal bleeding and then try
to stop it.

It may be too late... but please, please, please keep her in your prayers!!!!!!!!!!!

She needs all the help she can get right now!!!!!!!!

and i guess so do I.

thanks,

t

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Tragic.

--

Glenn M.

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