Simon is letting me take the blog this month. June was busy for him. He apologizes for writing, but he's been busy rolling in the grass, eating bugs, and running around the yard full speed.
Anyway, thanks Simon. There's something I wanted to share.
There’s a note that keeps popping up on my desktop. It says
“A lesson in love: uveitis.” You
might be wondering what on earth that means, but I know, exactly.
Let me explain.
We got Simon in February from his foster family. We picked him up on a bitterly cold day
in New Jersey. We (Ian, Anna, and I) were
told he had played hard with his brother, and irritated his eye outside in the
snow. Okay we said. We’d made an appointment with the vet to get
him checked over, so we’d mention that to them as well. The vet gave us ointment, told me to monitor
his progress.
The eye refused to get any better.
It wept. It looked
cloudy, irritated. The vet was
stymied. They sent us to Cornell University
Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, CT to see the Dr. Seth Eaton, an animal
ophthalmologist (I had no idea such people existed, but there are three, yes, three
our tiny state of Connecticut alone, FYI).
Dr. Eaton was great.
He asked us questions. He and his
staff were amazing with Simon, kind and caring.
He queried us as to where Simon came from, (North Carolina). He began to piece together a diagnosis and
what was causing the uveitis in Simon’s eye.
He did tests, (not too many).
He prescribed medicine, (not too much).
Uveitis, in case you don’t know, is an inflammation of the
uvea or colored front layer of the eye (I may have gotten that wrong, but essentially an inflammation of the front layer of the eye). It
seems the uveitis itself wasn’t the diagnosis, but a symptom of something else
that Simon had, perhaps something systemic.
Evidently there is a parasitic bacterium called bartonella
that is rampant in the south. Dr. Eaton
called his friends who are vets in North Carolina, and they confirmed that they
are seeing tons of cases of bartonella.
We began to treat Simon for bartonella.
So after months of expensive specialist visits, even more
expensive treatments, pills, drops, we are clear (we just got a clean bill of
health this past Tuesday. Simon
celebrated with a cheeseburger). So,
while I have to say that we love Simon, I love my husband even more for being
so supportive.
So that note on my desktop?
What it means, for me, is that even in difficultly, you can learn to love more. From the first moment we got him, Simon was
family. We loved him. There was never
any question as to what lengths we all would go to in order to insure his
health, comfort and happiness. I’m not
sure when it happened, but it did. The
uveitis showed me that family is family (four pawed, or two footed) it doesn't
matter. And we go out of our way to ensure
that the ones we love are well cared for.
It’s like Yoda says, “there is no try, just do.” With family, “there is no question, just
love.”
