Thats right. The entire month of October is national Adopt-A-Dog month so I'm doing what I can to help spread the word for future Octobers as this October is almost over.
As someone who occasionally fosters and one who has seen the inside workings of shelters, this is a subject close to my heart.
Here are a few of the stories regarding dogs that have been "rescued" and the fabulous pets they turned out to be:
Punky came to Wendy by fate. She was a sighthound/shepherd mix. Her owner had fallen on hard times and been forced to move in with her sister who's dog constantly attacked Punky. In fear that Punky would be seriously injured or killed, her owner gave punky to a family she knew from work. After a month the new home dropped Punky at the local Humaine society because she was chasing their horses, they did this without notifying the owner. For reasons unknown, 24hours before Punky was set to be euthanised the shelter called her original owner and notified her of Punky's impending doom. She set out on a mission to find a foster family or home for her dog. Completely randomly she was able to get ahold of Wendy, someone she had never met before, and Wendy took Punky in. As I was Wendys babysitter/dogsitter I spent plenty of time with this odd-yet-cute looking dog with the sweet and hyper personality. We had her for 2 months before finding her the perfect home. Her new name is Missy, she has been with her adoptive family for a little over a year now and wendy still gets the occasional Email/pictures from them. Last we heard they were looking to adopt another "brother" or "sister" for Missy.If it wasnt for people like that who had big hearts and open minds dogs like Punky/Missy would never have the opportunity to experience a loving forever home. Please remember the homeless pets out there when you decide to get a pet of your own.
Meet Sugar. Before I tell you about Sugar I will have to explain a little more about Wendy and me. Wendy got the idea to start a website called FACES to help educate on the homeless animal plight. It is still under construction and not nearly as big and thorough as we would like it to be once finished, but it still gets its point across. Shortly after she created it, she moved near me and I jumped in to help her with it. I created a myspace to compliment it and help get the word out. And on the myspace we joined lots of groups and began to spread the word. One of the people in those groups who was a friend on the FACES Profile emailed me about a dog that he had been told about and he gave me all the contact info for the person who had brought the dog to his attention. I got in contact with this person and was then told the whole story.Sugar (nameless at this point) had been abandoned when her owner had moved out of his house and just left her in the backyard. After he moved, sugar had 9 puppies. a couple of the people on the street were watching the pups and occasionally leaving food for the dogs, but they still were not being fed on a regular basis and had no shelter. One of the neighbors who had known this man kept trying to get ahold of him but was continually blown off, then he noticed that the puppies were slowly disappearing. He got another woman involved and she (karen) was the one who brought Sugar to my attention and who gave sugar her new name. Sugar was too far away for me to be able to take in myself so I contacted Karen and gave her all the info of all the contacts I had in her area. I found some possible transport options and sent her advice on how to screen potential foster homes and adopters. I also helped screen some myself. We found a rescue to take in the two pups who were left but could find no one to take in sugar. Karen decided to take sugar in and foster her herself. Things were going well until Sugar got sick. She was coughing and wheezing, the vet said Pneumonia. Then Karen got the call. The pups had distemper and one had died. She emailed me scared and upset. Her dogs had begun showing signs of Sugars sickness and she was afraid they all had distemper.
I hopped online for info on distemper and how to treat it holistically. The news on symptoms was devastating; distemper is often misdiagnosed as pneumonia. She brought sugar in to be tested. Distemper was the result. After weeks of holistically treating, and many vet visits Sugar was clear. Unfortunately two of Karens own dogs were not as fortunate and died due to distemper.
Sugar now lives with Karen permanently, and while she doesnt cover the ache of losing Patches and Bitsy completely, she still holds a special place in Karens heart. I still get updates and emails from Karen regarding Sugar and she is doing very well. That skinny dog in the picture is not recognizable as the happy, healthy full of energy dog that Sugar has become today with Karens love and kindness.
Meet Squishy. He is the pink hairless puppy next to the shepherd mix. Thats right, puppy, he was less than 3 months old when this picture was taken. He was a BIG puppy. and a sick one. Squishy came in to the Orange County shelter with his brothers and sisters. He was the only one sufferng from demodectic mange and the shelter didnt want to deal with it. They also didnt want the expense of finding out wether it was demodectic or sarcoptic so the decided to hide the puppies and put them to sleep quietly without ever giving them the chance to be adopted or taken in by rescues. One of the volunteers there found out and made the puppies VERY public. two rescues stepped in and took the puppies, all but squishy. No one wanted to deal with his medical issues. Sammy and Wendy were working with a rescue at the time and the rescue asked them if they would be willing to take in one more. A specail needs puppy. Of course, they said yes. So Squishy came to live on the sanctuary that had become Wendy and Sammys home, and got his name.with much love and daily holistic treatments Squishy began to grow hair and to resemble a normal dog again. He also got puppy energy and started acting like a normal healthy dog. When Sammy and Wendy had to move due to unforseen circumstances another foster person for the same rescue took Squishy on and fell so in love with him that she ended up adopting him herself. He lives a very happy healthy normal doggy life thanks to everyone that had the heart to take him on and give him tha chance he deserved.
If you would like to learn more about Adopt-A-Dog month you can go here:
American Humane
If you would like to learn more about the pet over-population problem and how you can help, go here: Anyway, on to the topic at hand. I do have a tendency to ramble, don't I?...
About a year and a half ago the doctors finally figured out what had been causing my ovary pain for the 2 years prior and I was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS for short. PCOS is a condition that causes your eggs to attach to your ovaries once being released from them, rather than going down the fallopian tube and into your uterus for fertilization as they are supposed to. Once they attach to your ovaries they form cysts all along the outside, sometimes "popping" which causes pain. Notice the difference in a normal ovary versus a PCOS ovary as illustrated in the picture below.
What causes this, you say? Well a hormone imbalance. For whatever reason my body started producing too much androgen (which is a male hormone kinda like testosterone) this imbalances the estrogen and causes things like my eggs not dropping all the way. It can also cause Insulin problems, leading to diabetes, along with shrinking breasts, hair growth over face and body, a deepening of the voice, etc... Fun, huh? So along with the possibility of becoming "manly" I also had to deal with the added blow that I would most likely never have any more children. Though I had planned on being done with the four I had this was still a deep emotional blow and shock. It is one thing to hypothetically say "I'm done" but still leave yourself open to the choice of having more if you choose it, it is another thing to hear that mother nature has decided you are done for you. Women with PCOS have an extremely low chance of getting pregnant naturally. Some fertility treatments they have available can give you a 10% a month chance... Not great, huh? So basically for me, someone who wouldnt think of doing fertility treatments when I already have 4 wonderful children, can kiss their chances of pregnancy goodbye. Like I said though, I had no intention at the time of having more children but still knowing I now couldn't whether I ever wanted to or not, was a hard blow. Only someone who's been through it can ever really understand, but that was a very sucky day.Upon talking to my significant other about the results and how it sucked, I learned that due to medical complications he had been told years before that he had a 1-3% chance of getting someone pregnant. Add that on to the fact that my treatment for PCOS was birth control pills that are specifically made to help balance out the hormone imbalance of PCOS to keep the side affects of it (IE- becoming guy-like) at bay and our chances to ever have a baby (not that it was in our plans in any way shape or form) were pretty much in the negative percentile.
OR SO WE THOUGHT.
In July, I took a pregnancy test. My period was extremely late and I had symptoms such as increased sense of smell, nausea at dinner time (I never get morning sickness, its always at dinner time) and extreme fatigue. But that was not unusual, PCOS often affects your body so that it thinks you are pregnant and so you experience syptoms wihtout ever being pregnant - in fact, thats how I got diagnosed in the first place. So I was positive it was my body fucking with me again. Lee thought it was a 50/50 chance either way. So I took a test just to prove him wrong. Then I took another. Looks like our chances of getting pregnant just increased dramatically, huh?...
Now I could bitch and moan, complain about how life's unfair, how this is horrible timing etc. But whats the point? Number one I've been given a gift and though there are those in my family and friendship circle who don't look at it that way, who have even taken to making severely harsh and incorrect assumptions, judgments and statements regarding me and this situation, I know the truth I know this is a gift and I choose to treat it as such.
The timing could be better, yes, and had we planned this which we did not (despite the accusations by some that i deliberately planned this on purpose to trap the current guy I'm with- let me pose a question - even if i was the type of person that would do something that horrendous to another person, given the facts above how would that even be possible with the low conception chances?..) the timing undoubtedly would be better. But that is not how this worked. So you take what you are given and you change your plans to suit. without whining, without complaining and without allowing the obnoxious and unfounded judgmental opinions of others to deter you.
While there were legitimate concerns about getting pregnant at this time, we sat down and have dealt with them the best we can. Plans are in place for earning more money to afford our soon-to-be- very-large family, we are looking for a place large enough to house us all, my schooling will not be deterred, my job hunt is still on and the children were handled as delicately as possible. The main concern regarding the timing was the chance the kids would feel replaced and the fact they would not get to be involved in this pregnancy the way they were able to with each other. We discussed all concerns, answered all questions and assured the children I loved them dearly, missed them obsessively and that this baby would not change that in any way. we also talked about ways they could be involved with this pregnancy such as me emailing pictures from the sonogram and them helping to pick out baby items when they come for christmas etc. They get reassured each phone conversation and that will continue until they are back home and i can show them in person they are still loved the same as they always were. While this situation is not perfect and they may still have their doubtful moments I am doing all I can to make those as few and far between as possible.
The other concern was the high chance of miscarriage 45-55% chance with PCOS as opposed to 15% chance with a "normal" pregnancy. We have made it through the first trimester and are well on our way through the second so that concern, it seems, can be put away. So now I just have to deal with the continued judgments of family and friends and all the other possible medical problems that go along with a PCOS pregnancy such as: gestational diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), preeclampsia and blood clotting disorders during pregnancy. Pregnant PCOS sufferers are also more likely to experience miscarriage, pre-term birth or to have over-size babies....
And yes, I knew those facts before ever getting pregnant as I learned them at the same time I learned I had PCOS and that I probably would not get pregnant again if I ever wanted to. So to the person who stated I got pregnant on purpose in order to trap my man so he could "take care of me" open your fucking eyes and repent in your prayers for your judgmental attitude because judging is taught to be wrong in both the mormon religion AND in the bible: Mathew 7:5 -
| Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. ^words you should print out, place on your bathroom mirror and read to yourself every day. And remember when you start being judged as a "bad mother" and given unwanted advice by people without kids (which happens to us all at some time during motherhood, whether we learn of it or not), before you get all irritated don't forget that you were once one of the worst perpetrators of that same "crime"... To learn more about PCOS go here: PCOS Facts PCOS & Pregnancy |
