This is Tex, My mothers little miniature pincher- Chihuahua mix.
After a long battle with seizures and cancer her last companion German Shepard, Thor past away and left a huge hole in my mothers heart. He past away on a Friday, and for weeks she would call me every Friday in tears. I looked long and hard for a small manageable pet for my mother, with out the internet it was hard for her, so I did all the leg work, it was a few months before we found Tex. I went through about 12 Petfinder.com applications, with no response back.
I just wanted my mothers heart to heal and for her to love again and feel like she had a purpose.
We met him first at a rescue in NJ, and just knew he was perfect for her. Long story short,
When they met, My mother cried, and felt an instant bond to him, and he to her.
Tex's life before the shelter was unknown, he had lots of trust issues, but soon became my mothers savior, and best friend and baby.
This past spring I picked my mother up on my lunch break to take her to the dentist to get fitted for new dentures. She got into my car and told me the story of how Tex bit her hand when she awoke and discovered her old dentures were under his paws while he slept, and she had no memory of how he got them, and as she tried to take them back he awoke startled and bit her hand, and he bit it pretty good, her hand was swollen and red. He had a history of nipping once and a while, like I said he had trust issues.
I was seriously concerned by the look of her hand, I pulled my first aid kit out of my trunk and cleaned and bandaged it. I told her she needed to get it checked out, she insisted that he had his shots and she was allergic to the tetanus vaccine. Later that evening I spoke with her about the wound, and told her that a co- worker friend urged me to tell her that even if Tex had his shots, she could still get an infection. she promised me that she would get it looked at in the morning. I said good and hung up, an hour later she called me back and told me she was thinking about it and decided to go right then and there. even better.
I told her I would call her in the morning and check on her. I called her when I got to work and there was no answer, I assumed she had been in the waiting room at the hospital ER all night and was sleeping in.
an hour later I got a call from the hospital telling me that that my mother was being admitted, and that her blood pressure was so high that she was very close to having a stroke, they did not release her till she was in the clear, and even though she did not have health insurance, not even state assisted they kept her for 3 day's.
they then found a flurry of problems, Thyroid, anemia and the blood pressure,and the infection. After all this was in check and she was put on all sorts of life long medications, My sister helped her pursue avenues to get health insurance. part of the routine examinations was a Mammogram. After her Mammo, she was called back for re testing. they found some spots. She has also smoked since she was 15 and currently smokes 2 packs a day. her lungs were clear, but the test were unclear, she went in for a biopsy, then they also found more spots, she was diagnosed with the beginnings of breast cancer. below a level of 1. she just had her Lobectomy. and is due for 6 weeks of radiation.
Thank goodness for little Tex, We all believe he saved her life 2 times over now.
Always look for the signs, they are out there, sometimes we just don't recognize them.
