A Sad Tail X 2

Yes, I know that I spelled tail wrong, it was on purpose.

My first sad news is that our dearest Monte had to go find another family. She had an aggressive streak that was getting worse instead of better. She would growl occasionally when an adult would just calmly pick her up, staring right at you. Kind of eery. Also, her play had become rather aggressive with the kids and they were getting scared of her. We tried to redirect and correct these behaviors, but knew that it was going to be an uphill battle. I think her breeding was just such that she was not going to be the best family dog. I did not want the kids to become scared of dogs, so she is no longer in our family. She could be the sweetest thing, but that was becoming less and the aggressive more (and yes, this was beyond normal puppy play or aggression). We fondly wish her the best, on a farm in the country... We have since become the proud pet parents to 3 Betta fish, one for each child - no aggression so far;)...

My second is that one of my big fears came true, Doodle had a seizure at school on Tuesday, in the cafeteria, with all the other 1st graders during lunchtime. She has grand mal seizures and typically lets out a rather loud and animalistic noise when this happens and she did that again, which seems to be what scared everyone. She had an aura and had raised her hand to tell one of the lunch monitors that she did not feel well, but the lady did not reach her in time before she fell off her seat and cracked her head very hard on the floor while seizing. It is hard for me to even write that, it makes my heart ache for her and want to prevent this from ever happening again. She did not vomit afterward, which is fortunate, and the only positive. This is the first seizure that we are aware of that I have not been there to hold her through. It has been a big struggle for me to cope with, the fact that I simply cannot be there with her all the time, and that all I can do is prepare her to deal with this with grace and humor if at all possible.

I worked from home yesterday and went to the school for some classroom games and the first group of kids I had (4 of them) for a riveting game of Word-O, a little boy asked me if I was Doodle's mom. When I said, yes, he said that it was really scary yesterday at lunch when she screamed and had the seizure. I reassured him that I was sure it was scary and to let him know that it was scary for Doodle as well and then further asked if they had any questions (their teacher had talked to the whole class after it happened - Doodle had left school), they didn't. I asked them what they should do if they are in a different classroom without their normal teacher and she should have a seizure, they all said, go get an adult. I then also asked them that someone should stay with her too to keep her from being scared. They all said, yes they would. I think my visit was a good one and I am glad that I went in, it seemed to help her as well.

The nurse, who knew she had epilepsy, sent a note to all the teachers via email and explained how her seizures looked and what they should do specifically. I was relieved that she did this.

I get really bummed and then try to regain perspective. This could be so much worse. She could still be in an orphanage in Cambodia where she would have no access to medical care and she would likely be mistreated for being "crazy" and "possessed". I can't fathom she would be nurtured and loved much. I cringe at the thought.

All in all, I am still thankful that life is this good...
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