Week 6 of Quarantine
April 19-25, 2020
April 19th
It's Sunday and that mean's we spend our morning worshiping our Risen Savior online with Poppy and Bro Jerry. I am loving all of the social media posts of people sharing their churches online services. I have even been able to go back and listen to Bro. Todd at Immanuel in Shawnee as well. After church we spent the rest of the day enjoying our last few hours of freedom before Spring Break was over and we were back to teaching, zooming and completing school work. We played Yahtzee, Battleship SHOTS (thanks GiGi and Grandpa) and Phase 10 for most of the afternoon.
Playing Battleship SHOTS! This game is really cool!
April 20th
It was a rainy way to start our week back to school but I was still able to get all of my miles in on the treadmill. It was not as many miles as last week but 1.5 miles a day is still a great goal for a workweek. The kids got back to school work online and it was all new material so it was a little deeper but not as many assignments as the previous weeks. That was a good balance and the kids did really well getting back into it. Natalie started working on her FRIENDS Lego set! She did such a GREAT job with very little assistance.
It was so neat for her to use her iPad for the steps to build her Legos.
Locally
Governor Abbot opened all State Parks for use during the day but with us having to teach all day this was not conducive to our schedule. Hopefully we will find time to go hiking in the very near future... before it is TOO HOT!
April 21st
It was just another rainy Tuesday and the kids did all of their school work while Chris and I had a day full of zooms, teaching online and working with the kids to get their school work done. In the evening, when we let the dogs in after dinner, we noticed Abbey was not walking very well at all and her back legs were almost dragging the ground. She had cancer tumors on her and we noticed a new one had developed on her back leg. She was not well at all. In fact, she was so bad Chris called the Vet right then to schedule an appointment. Abbey had scared us like this before but never this bad. We made the appointment for Friday even though they had an appointment time on the following day. That evening was very sad and surreal as Chris and I came to terms with the possibility of saying our final "Goodbyes". I did NOT sleep well at all this night.
April 22nd
After a very long night of worrying and crying about Abbey, I got up and did my miles after my early morning Zoom meeting. We decided even though it was hot outside, we would go to the track for a mid-morning workout. I ran over 2 miles with Natalie and the boys played baseball. We came home and Abbey seemed to be doing a "little" better but her legs and walking were still terrible. We kept her in the house as much as possible but she was beginning to not eat. We knew this was near the end. The kids loved on her all day and eventually she asked to go outside and stayed their over night. It was another long night of worrying an anxiousness.
April 23rd
It was another long day of Zoom meetings and department meetings for both Chris and I, which was good as it took our minds off of Abbey and our situation. Abbey still seemed to be doing better but was very lethargic and not moving much but would come in and out of the house, which was better than the day before. The kids were keeping hope, she would recover, like she had so many times in the past 3-4 years.
April 24th
After another long and tiring evening of trying to cry myself to sleep, I got up and faced the day. Abbey was still here, despite me praying for The Lord to take her on His own. The kids let her in bright and early at 6AM and she was sitting in Chris's huge recliner in our media room. That is where she stayed ALL DAY. She did not move hardly at all and as the hours passed, we knew this was our last day with Abbey. We hugged her and loved on her as best we could and then said our goodbyes and took her to the vet.
She was miserable the entire day.
One last picture with Natalie and Abbey!
We love you Abbey!
She could barely walk at this point and was so tired.
A family friend who lives in the neighborhood agreed to watch the kids at the track while Chris and I took her to the vet. This was supposed to work out like clock work so the kids would not have to see or deal with this situation. When we got t our family vet of many year, we noticed that no one was allowed to go in due to COVID precautions. We waited only to find out that Chris made the appointment with the wrong vet. Luckily, they let us been seen anyway. The Vet came and got Abbey from the car and while she examined Abbey, I went back to get the kids since it was just too hot to stay at the track for over an hour and since Susan lived with older relatives, the kids could not go to her house. This is such a weird time and hassle.
I brought the kids back to the vet in Conroe and that is when the Vet told us all of the things wrong with Abbey. She had 10-12 cancerous tumors on her body as well as skin diseases that had caused all kinds of issues on her skin and fur. She has had seizures since she was 4-5 years old and had in fact, been diagnoses with doggy epilepsy back in Shawnee in 2011. She had 1 or more seizures each week fo this quarantine... THAT WE SAW. Who knows how many she had on a regular basis since we are teaching all day. The main concern was the seizures had caused neurological damage to her spinal cord which in turn delayed her walking and back legs. The brain just wouldn't signal to walk. The vet said we could do surgery and incisions to help but at that age she didn't even know if it would help. We knew at that time, today was the day we would have to put her down.
The next hour was a very heart wrenching time for all 4 of us as they allowed us to go into the vet for the process. The kids got to say one last true goodbye to Abbey but they were so heartbroken. We all were. The kids gave her hugs, kisses and said goodbyes and then the nurses took them to the lobby while Chris and I stayed in the room with her. We watched as the anesthesia numbed her and then the euthanasia made her heart stop beating. It was gut wrenching. I just stared into her eyes and kept saying "I'm sorry Abbey". I know she is no longer in pain and is in a better place but this was so hard. I would NEVER WISH THAT EXPERIENCE ON MY WORST ENEMY! It was just awful. We got in the car and just cried some more before driving home. And then none of us could even fathom going into the house. My entire married life was with that dog. I didn't even know what to do.
Natalie just cried and cried and cried!
One last lick for Daddy!
The rest of the evening was tears, tears and more tears. Oh and comfort food. I was pretty useless during all this but I knew my job as the mom was to feed my family so I got in the kitchen and made their favorite, spaghetti. It was the most quiet dinner we have had in many, MANY years! We love you Abbey and already miss you! You were an amazing dog and my best friend! Rest in Peace Abbey!
April 25th
We didn't get much done. None of the four of us slept well and we all tried to take our minds off of it but it was not working. We decided to go up to the track to get in some miles in. Aunt D'Ann, Chris's sister, called and said she was passing through town and wanted to come and visit. We met in the driveway and had our first family social distancing experience. It was no fun! We wanted to hug Aunt D so bad! But thanks for coming Aunt D! We love you!
Social distancing picture!
This was a VERY hard week for us and we never dreamed we would be dealing with this tragedy and loss of life during this whole deal of a world pandemic. But life goes on... and so will we!
But through it all, we know that GOD is still in CONTROL and HE IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! We will continue to look to HIM for answers and continue to pray for this situation and those it is effecting!
Even in the midst of all of this...
GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME!
Check out our COVID Adventures:
The Prequel- December to Mid-March 2020
Week 1: March 15-21
Week 2: March 22-28
Week 3: March 29- April 4
Week 4: April 5-11
Week 5: April 12-18
Check out our COVID Adventures:
The Prequel- December to Mid-March 2020
Week 1: March 15-21
Week 2: March 22-28
Week 3: March 29- April 4
Week 4: April 5-11
Week 5: April 12-18
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