Update: Hannah Joy

Thank you for praying. I’ll say right away, so you don’t have to read further, that she’s ok.

You know, we’ve remained strong through all the challenges, difficulties, and craziness of the last two years…but the possibility of losing our beloved Hannah Joy, who is such a ray of sunshine, reduced us to weakness. I know there are people suffering far greater difficulties, heartaches, and losses than we are but, for us, losing Hannah Joy would have drained our spirits and felt like the last straw.

But everything is ok! Whew!

Hannah doesn’t like us to exam her EVER. As soon as we try, she moves to block us. So EJ and I thought we felt a lump but the vet was able to feel her more thoroughly and knowledgeably. I love our vet. She oozes warmth and compassion. She thinks what we were feeling was the fatty tissue from Hannah’s surgery a year ago to remove a (benign) lump.

Our greatest concern was that suddenly Hannah Joy struggled to get up on the couch and bed, and couldn’t do it without help. The Animal Shelter where we adopted Hannah Joy is just down the road from the vet and our vet often gives newly rescued animals pre-adoption exams–so she had met Hannah Joy even before we met her and is familiar with her history from that point on. For those who don’t know, our Hannah Joy and two other dogs had been rescued by the Shelter from an owner who kept them outside and starved them. When we first saw Hannah Joy, she was so thin that we could see all her bones. We took her home and loved her and pampered her, and she is now the joy of our home.

The vet told us today that we don’t really know everything animals endured before they were rescued and she sees a lot of them develop arthritis–probably from past trauma. It’s possible Hannah Joy has trauma in her past–beyond being starved–and is becoming more arthritic. She prescribed some arthritis meds for Hannah and we can give it to her when she is moving stiffly. If that doesn’t help, we can do blood work and an x-ray, but right now the vet said that she is not at all concerned about Hannah’s health. Hannah is quite young (estimated to be 6 years old now) and in good health.

Whew. EJ and I had been so worried about Hannah Joy and had prayed and prayed and prayed that God would show mercy on her and us. And He did.

The arthritis medication the vet described is actually the same as what is prescribed for humans. The doctor called it into our regular pharmacy. We actually had to make a “profile” for Hannah Joy, and she received her first-ever text from the pharmacy notifying her that it was ready for her to pick up. LOL.

We are all exhausted from the relief after all the stress, but EJ left to pick up Hannah Joy’s meds so she can get started on it. He’s also going to pick up a few groceries as well. Poor Hannah Joy is reluctant to move and is swathed in blankets as she dozes next to me on the couch.