The Jebber Family Blog

Those of you who know my brother and I well, also know that we are very competitive with each other. A few months ago, Stuart boasted about having the best sangria recipe in the world. I however, was extremely confident in my friend Keri's recipe, and I challenged him to a Sangria "throw down." (courtesy Bobby Flay)
We had such a great time. Our competitive juices were flowing, and the crowd was a blast! Stuart offered 2 extremely tasty recipes, but as I originally suspected, Keri's recipe was the throw down champion! As usual, we had enough food to feed a small country, and some exceptional entertainment. The guys brought their guitars, and played some beautiful acoustic harmonies for us around the fire, while the kids caught fire flies in mason jars. It was a beautiful ending to a fantastic day! A great way to end our summer parties!

On Friday, our stunningly handsome beagle, Bailey almost died. We were extremely close to losing him. Our vet thinks he was either poisoned by rat poison or antifreeze (some crazy person left it out)...OR he went into anaphylactic shock from a bee sting or a spider bite. His body was shutting down, and he was bleeding out. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I felt so helpless as I was holding him. I could do nothing to ease his pain. When I finally got him to the vet, she quickly took him from my arms and said, "Cassie...I have to go, I have to go try to save him." And that fast he was gone...Out of my sight. Again I felt so helpless. Patrick had left work, and raced to the vet to be with us, but when he got there Bailey was being worked on and they wouldn't let him back to see him...To say his goodbyes.

The rest of the day I was given these types of updates.
Me: Hi I was calling to check on my Bailey
Nurse: He's still with us
Me: Really? Is that supposed to make me feel better? (I thought this...I didn't say it outloud)
Me: How is my Bailey
Doctor: He is stable
Me: What does that mean?
Doctor:It means he is still breathing

That night at 10, I drove past the vet and the lights were on. I called Patrick to see if he felt it would be "stockerish" of me to stop and bang on the doors. His answer was yes, so I just kept driving, but it made me feel better to know that there was someone there.

The rest of the night was miserable. I was completely guilt ridden. I was nauseated, sweating, shaking. My mind was in a swirl of fear for my little man. I would never have forgiven myself if he died this way. This horrible, painful way. If I were not there to hold him and make him feel loved. I needed him to know how much we love him.
Patrick, of course held me and tried to calm me down, but I was just sure I was going to get the call that we had lost him.

We never got that call.

First thing in the morning, I made Patrick call the Dr., becasue I couldn't muster up the nerve. I heard these words..."Really! That's GREAT!" Then I scream, "Put her on Speaker!"
The Dr. said that she was in and out of the office all night long. Each time she went in she felt that Bailey was getting better, but she was afraid to call and tell us that just in case he took a turn for the worse. She pumped his little bod full of steroids, vitamin K, antibiotics and fluids. He fought all night long, and at 6 am she said he...WAGGED HIS TAIL! We got to pick him up and it was so wonderful. Everyone! Including the doctors and nurses thought we were going to lose him, but he fought, and now he is home with us. Last night I laid with him and watched him breathe. I checked to make sure he was comfortable on our bed all night long.

We are dog people. We have dog hair everywhere, we have paw prints on the wood floors, we open up our couch and our bed for their comfort. Bailey is not our dog...Bailey is our family. And he is home...Still fighting...Still weak, but he is home!