HOME AGAIN

I didn’t expect to be home today at 910 Stuart Avenue, Mamaroneck, NY. Bill, Simon and I started the journey home last Friday in order to follow the recommendation of Dr. Bailey, veterinarian in the Bahamas. It all started last Monday evening when Simon became ill. He wasn’t eating or drinking; was shivering and became lethargic with difficulty walking . Bill took the Hopetown ferry to Marsh Harbor to see Dr. Bailey. He gave Simon a thorough examination and couldn’t make a diagnoses although he did recognize that Simon was significantly dehydrated. He was unable to find a vein for an I.V. so he gave Simon injections of saline. He also gave us medication for any pain. We then started giving him Gatorade and water via a small syringe that I squirted into his mouth. Quite a challenge. On Wednesday he seemed the same but had a little chicken soup. However, we continued giving him water using the syringe. Wednesday night Simon spiraled down and we both thought he wouldn’t make it through the night. But he did and we were on the 8 am ferry to Marsh Harbor. Because of previous minor episodes of shivering the doctor thought he should be tested for Addison’s Disease which affects the adrenal glands. However, he didn’t have the testing materials and he suggested that we should get him to the states for the tests. With help and support from many, many people we took the 12:15 ferry back to Hopetown and made plans to fly from Marsh Harbor to Ft. Lauderdale and rent a car to drive to NY. We moved ‘Interim’ to the dock on Friday morning and were on a plane by 5:00 Friday afternoon. We arranged for the car, stayed in a hotel Friday night and started the drive Sat. morning. Everything went well except I came down with a whopper of a cold Sat. morning.

The doctor gave Simon prednisone which helped tremendously and Simon started eating and drinking. He was also fabulous in the car. We arrived home about 5:30 Sunday night and Bill went right to sleep. He did errands Monday morning and then left to make the trip back to Florida and the Bahamas. Bill is amazing. I will remain home and Bill will start bringing ‘Interim’ home when my friend Chris’ son Brendan joins him on March 29th.

You never know what fate brings to the table and certainly this wasn’t the experience I thought would happen. However, we have wonderful memories of our stay in the Bahamas and know that there are friends wishing us well both on land and on the water. We certainly appreciate their concern and are thankful for their moral support and help. I took Simon to our vet yesterday and am waiting for blood test results.

So to be continued…..