FOTP: Kindness

This will be a fairly short blog post, and there will be no pictures, as I am writing this on my lunch break at work!

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have read that today is quite a bittersweet day for me...tonight is the Jasmine Star photography business seminar that I have been SO excited about since I bought my ticket...I've been "meeting" other attendees through our group Facebook page, and can't wait to soak up all the photographical wisdom, experience, insight and love tonight!

However....

Yesterday I had to take She-Ra back to Dr. Wang at the Nashville Vet Specialists.  The infection in her front paw took over with a vengeance this weekend - by Sunday, her front leg was twice as large as the other, and quite warm. Monday morning I woke up, and found she had licked a hole in the leg.  You read that right.  Obviously, I was pretty upset.  She-Ra and I loaded up in the truck.  When I went to get the update from Dr. Wang after work, it was determined that She-Ra would stay over night and Dermatology would perform a biopsy (biopsies?) today with She-Ra under anesthesia.  They let me take her out for a walk and sit with her for a little, and then they took her back. 

Torture.

They will perform the biopsy after 3 today, which means that as I am supposed to be getting crazy excited about meeting a photographic rock star, I will also be wondering how in the world my girl is.  And I will be waiting and watching my phone for the call that will let me know she woke up from anesthesia, and just how bad (or not bad?!) the infection is.

FOTP??

I am choosing to focus on the KINDNESS that the employees at NVS have shown She-Ra.  When I dropped her off in the morning, the vet tech who has been with her from the start (Meredith) was there to greet us.  She-Ra perked up, and loved all over her.  Meredith, in kind, was loving all over She-Ra.  I love Meredith.  Dr. Wang always sits on the floor when she is talking with us, and again, She-Ra LOVES her.  And yes, I love Dr. Wang too.  Becca took her back last night, and said repeatedly how great a dog She-Ra is, and how beautiful she is.  (I just met Becca, but now I love her, because She-Ra IS great and beautiful!)  They let me know that I am free to call in the middle of the night to check on her if need be (or just because!), as they are staffed 24/7.  In this very scary time, I am comforted that She-Ra is comfortable with those caring for her, and so very grateful for them!

As my friend Kimberlee posted the other day - "every single person you see is struggling with something and to them it is just as hard as what you are going through" (Nicholas Sparks, Dear John).  I hope that you can find and focus on some positive aspect - however tiny - of whatever it is you are going through.

New Feature: FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE (FOTP)

As many of you know by now, my girl She-Ra {Princess of Power!} has developed an immune deficiency disorder.  While it is mostly under control thanks to medication, we discovered a new infection a few nights ago in one of her front paws.  Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal - and it still may not be - but for the moment we have to investigate if this is a sign of a bigger problem.  I called and left a message with a tech at the Nashville Vet Specialists, asking for our Dr. Wang to call me at work to let me know if I needed to bring She-Ra in.  NVS had taken in some of the dogs rescued in Operation Sweethearts, so I didn't want to pester the vet unnecessarily.  At the end of my work day, I still had not heard anything, so I called back.  Turns out that Dr. Wang had indeed called. Now I RARELY leave my desk.  Apparently she literally called in the two minutes I was not at my desk to answer my phone, so a co-worker answered.  And said that there was no one in the office by that name.  Dr. Wang had asked for me using my boyfriend's last name.  Boyfriend and I have been together for 6 years, so when they call me Mrs. S at the vet, I don't think twice.  It happens all the time.  It never crossed my mind that calling me by his last name would make me miss a message.  It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be at my desk to answer the phone!  So at that point, it was too late to drive all the way back home (1 hour) to pick She-Ra up, and then to drive her back in to see Dr. Wang (another hour).  Dr. Wang suggested I try to get She-Ra to my local vet.  Which closes at 5PM.  It was 3:45, I had an hour drive to the house, and then I had to get to the local vet.  Sheesh.  My extremely understanding boss let me bolt, and I hit the highway.  And hit traffic.  And got stuck behind a semi.  And I tried not to cry.

Are you wondering about my "focus on the positive" yet??

It was when I got stuck behind the semi that I tried to force myself to calm down and take a deep breath.  I do honestly believe that all things happen for a reason, so I repeated that outloud a few times, and then turned on the radio.  I switched it to WAY FM, a contemporary Christian radio station.  The band Red greated me with their song "Not Alone."  And at that point I smiled.  It's a song that has - no joke - been on each time I've had to drive She-Ra to/from the vet.  And here it was again.  A few minutes later the local vet called to let me know that they had a sister clinic that was open until 7PM, and that our local DVM happened to be there that night.  I'm not making this stuff up, folks. 

So there's my FOTP point for this entry: I am not alone.  You are not alone. 

For some people, this is a cop-out that Christians use when people are going through a rough time..."God is with you" sometimes just doesn't mean anything to a person in the midst of hurt.  I can only say that yesterday, it brought me back to a place where I was ok.  Where I was reminded that I am not, in fact, alone.  I have friends and family who have been supporting us along the way (a friend kept my other two dogs while I took She-Ra to the vet, so they didn't have to spend 18 hours alone), and I have a God who notices me sitting in traffic stressing about a dog....

....my beautiful dog, if I do say so myself :)

"I am with you.  I will carry you through it all...I won't leave you, I will catch you.  When you feel like letting go, you are not, you're not alone..."

~ God, via Red