Barking Embarkers

It’s story time! For those who are new here, I have kept a record of Chloe’s and my adventures during our travels! I write and publish these about a year after they happen, for various reasons, but mostly per my grandma’s advice. And I don’t know about you, but you ALWAYS listen to your Grandma’s advice- they know. Here we Go! Brace yourselves, it’s time for an enticing, incredible, thrilling and heart wrenching: A Tail of Chloe Rue (I know its tale, I just can’t help it).

Traveling healthcare is kind of a dream come true. It was for me anyway, to open my camper door to the ocean, or jump outside into South Carolina sunshine. It is important to know that it isn’t all chestnuts and biscuits, because life will throw curve balls our direction at the plainest moments and what matters most is how we duck, dive and dodge those curve balls, with the leash to our adventure dog in our hand held tight.

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This was honestly a tough post to write! I love sharing the crazy stories and the wonderful adventures; but this was a not fun adventure! So here is a trigger warning for anyone who has lost their dog recently.

Shattering Glass

About a year ago one of the most terrifying moments in my life occurred all due to a glass jar of peanut butter. I had the opportunity to live with my grandma for a period of time, and while I lived with her I fell in love with her preferred peanut butter. It is one of those fancy brands, where you stir the oil into the peanuts before you can use it? It comes in a glass jar.

It was almost Thanksgiving, and I was moving from a beautiful state park outside of Portland to some private property right outside of the city the next day. I had everything ready to go; and I was so excited to take on this next adventure!

Well I was working the day before I had to move, and I had one last patient to see. I had left the peanut butter out, and Chloe in her young adorable hungry curiosity knocked it down. It must have hit the ground just right, because the glass completely shattered, leaving the delicious peanut butter goods exposed. And against her better judgment, Chloe ate it.

If you know me, you know I don’t leave Chloe alone for very long, if ever. So within the hour I had found out what had happened and my heart completely stopped. I checked her paws and throat for glass, with no signs of bleeding or cuts. She had clearly eaten quite a bit of peanut butter but I was not sure if she had consumed the glass or not.

Chloe has health insurance that costs us about 40 dollars per month. In my opinion she is completely worth it, and it’s funny how her insurance is always better than my own! I called my mom in a very pretend calm state asking for her advice, and she said to get some x rays, take her into the vet just to be safe! I figured ah, we have insurance for a reason, why not!

Vet Number One

We pulled into the vet’s office with a very low tank of diesel. I have Chloe’s shots saved on my phone which was a lifesaver in this scenario as I could easily email the receptionist all of Chloe’s information. They wanted to see the culprit, so I showed them the shattered glass, that still had the label barely hanging on. They recognized that the peanut butter was not poisonous for Chloe; and also recognized that she would need images done.

The wait was the most painful part. Chloe was happy as a clam, unsure of where my anxiety was stemming from while I was pacing, just waiting for the moment for Chloe to vomit blood, or have glass suddenly expose itself from her throat or any number of horrific things that can happen from eating glass!

The x ray results finally came through and it was apparent that Chloe had somehow successfully swallowed oodles of peanut butter with shards of glass. The peanut butter was protecting her esophagus and stomach but it was important they didn’t progress into her digestive track. So, it was time to find an on call surgeon on a Friday night in Portland Oregon.

The Longest Drive in my Life

Have you ever heard of Dove Lewis? I had not when the Veteranarian from our first clinic recommended us to them. They are in downtown Portland and a very successful, massive animal hospital. They also had an on call surgeon! Chloe and I were recommended to go to them, where they would be able to help Chloe.

Unfortunately, my truck was nearly out of diesel. It was the first time in a long time that I decided I needed to use the spare tank of diesel in the back of my truck. It was high traffic time in the city, and as large as the Super Beauty Truck is, she also does not have sirens and I needed to move fast!

Chloe and I raced through the curving backroads of Portland, driving at least twice the speed limit. I have this ability to respond to stress instead of react to it; and in this case, it meant turning that hour long traffic nightmare into a thirty minute breeze.

I was on the phone with my sister and my mom at the same time, and I was driving as if my little girl, my little dog’s life depended on it- in this case, it truly did.

Dove Lewis Hospital

I was met in the waiting room by a warm receptionist, who asked oodles of questions while the waiting room around me was packed full of dogs, humans and cats. Chloe LOVES cats, but must have understood the situation because she sat kindly, waiting for our next instructions. They were able to take Chloe back right away, and I was left waiting with the pain and stress that accompanies waiting rooms.

There are two important things to know about me. I had not eaten that day since my bowl of cereal that morning and I was SO hungry. It is also important to know that I am absolutely someone who eats when she is stressed. And that is how I found myself receiving a pizza delivery from Papa John’s in the waiting room at Dove Lewis Hospital. And that is how I ate an entire pizza, while watching a dog brought in while bleeding from his face, consuming pot, an encounter with a porcupine and a few others like Chloe who were mostly just sitting for politely, waiting for their turn with the doctors.

Finally, it was time to talk to the doctor. She was very kind and explained the options at hand. They could attempt to remove the glass via her throat; but chanced cutting her throat. They could let it pass naturally and pray it didn’t cut anything but didn’t feel that was the best option. Or they could perform surgery, and remove the glass from Chloe’s stomach. I immediately opted for surgery, as the safest option in this situation.

I remember trying to explain what Chloe meant to me in my life. As someone who travels alone, having Chloe as my companion changed everything. Sometimes I look at her and know she gives me a better quality of life than what I ever knew before her. And sometimes I’m shocked at how sweet and kind this little animal is to a human like me; and it reminds me to be kind to myself too. I couldn’t explain this properly though, and I am not sure if the vet really understood what I meant when I emphasized that Chloe means everything to me.

Chloe underwent surgery, and I was encouraged to go home and pick her up tomorrow. No news was good news but I would receive a call after her surgery.

Waiting

I had kept moving forward, strong as an ox until I made it back to my truck. That is when the panic set in, and the anxiety took over to attack me. Panic attacks are terrifying. It truly feels like you are having a heart attack, and it’s literally painful. I knew what was happening, and I found my way back to my breath and figured out how to keep breathing. The only way to bear the unbearable, is simply to bear it.

After I had collected myself, I drove back to my camper without Chloe for the night and finished packing for the move the next day. My new place was considerably closer to the animal hospital (10 minutes from down town!) And they mentioned they might need her for a couple of days.

I waited, and it felt like an age before the call came late that night that Chloe had successfully made it through surgery. She had the intubater removed and though they were slightly worried about pneumonia, given the amount of peanut butter she had eaten, they were able to remove all the glass.

Recovery

Recovery is such a simple word, but there is so much more to it than just a simple word. The veterinarian bill cost around 5,000 dollars. In the world of veterinarian life, that means you have to pay that out of pocket and then insurance will reimburse you later. I coughed up the credit I had to pay, and hoped insurance would come through soon. They did, and in the end we only had to pay 250$. The x rays, the surgery, and the overnight hospital stay- all only cost 250$ after insurance. Pretty sure the best human health insurance couldn’t say that!

Chloe came home the next day, in a very drugged up state! She wore a cone initially, but she does much better wearing my t shirts tied up! She had stitches and we made an appointment with a familiar vet (that we used in Portland the year prior) to have them removed on time. In the meantime we had small walks, a mini ramp to my bed, and I lifted her onto the couch and into the truck.

Chloe had a long road ahead of her, and she had a long wound across her belly. Her scar is still there, and though we did plenty of scar tissue massage you can feel exactly where they had to incise into her little stomach.

The removal of the stitches resulted in a great fear of white coats, that we have been working on continuously ever since! She healed very quickly with our walking regimen and cognitive rehab tactics; so they had to rip out her skin! She was screaming with four people holding her down while I fed her string cheese and told her about dairy queen and dog parks and daycare and bones. It was the worst part of this whole ordeal to be honest; and definitely impacted my little girl.

Chloe also gets more anxiety now than she did before her surgery. It might just be natural aging, but we haven’t been back to a big daycare since, as she was sensitive about her stomach for some time. We worked with a behavioralist (who is AWESOME) right up until COVID hit, which also helped Chloe in recovering from her surgery. We noticed some changes in her learning capacity as well, where she forgot how to recall, lay down, and drop items. It took a solid year for Chloe to get back into her full life and personality.

Upon reflection, I have learned a number of things from this crazy event! First, I can eat an entire pizza when I am stressed- it’s almost impressive. Second, NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER buy peanut butter in a glass jar and if you do, NEVER leave it out. Last, health insurance for your pet is 120% worth it! In 24 months of Chloe’s life it had already paid for itself.

Truly, I did learn so much about how much Chloe means to my life! It was incredibly fortunate to have such a well known and established animal hospital like Dove Lewis, with on call surgeons available to help nearby. Despite this awful part of our traveling adventures, I know that God has a hand helping us move forward and I am incredibly grateful to have my furry companion by my side to keep on chasing adventure.

This post is a heavy one! I promise to share a fun post next week, and our next adventure tale is a great one! What’s your experience with veterinarian services on the road? Has anyone else hugely benefitted from doggy health insurance? I hope your week is wild and wonderful! Keep dive duck and dodging any awful things and many happy trails and happy tails to you all.

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