Our youngest, "furry child with a hormone problem / dog", little boy "Huggy" was quite sick. Last week he spent two days at Angel Memorial Hospital in Boston. Jean had to rush him back up there this past Monday morning. Monday night, at the yacht club after the race, I got a call from Jean. Something went wrong. They had tried to feed him some soft canned food and he chocked, and stopped breathing. They got the food out and gave him respiration until they could get a respirator set up. I had to leave quickly, go home and get Jean and go up to Boston. We had to wait while the respirator was being set up and things quieted down in the icu. We finally got to see him for a short time and laid hands on him and prayed. We prayed for him to recover and be able to have the catscan on Tuesday to determine the problem. After seeing him we went home and got home at 1:30 in the morning. There was no call during the night or early morning, so we thought that he was stable and recovering.
I got a call at work Tuesday morning that "Huggy" was brain dead and that we needed to go right away. Jean and I were with him during his final moments when they shut off the life support. We are at a loss for words.He was our baby. We have no children and he was attached at the hip to Jean. They were truly mother and son, not a dog or pet relationship. Our loss is very deep and we are struggling to understand what happened to our four year and one month old little boy. Please pray with us for a peace and understanding of this tragic situation.
Those of you that don't have a pet as a child may not understand. Let me try to put it in terms that you can. You have two boys, one five and a half and the other just turned four a month ago. Your baby gets sick and the local doctors can't seem to diagnose the problem. You take your baby to Boston to the best children's hospital. He stays there for two days and they do some tests and rule out certain things. They send him home until catscan tests can be done the next week and the right surgeons will be available if surgery is needed. While at home something goes wrong and your son goes into a seizure and is stumbling around. You rush him back to the hospital in Boston an hour away. That night you get a call that he chocked and stopped breathing and is going on life support. You rush back up to Boston that night to be with him. He is on life support and under a mild sedation and is not conscious. You tell him you love him and that God is with him, to rest and get better. Then you go home after seeing him, not being able to do any more. The next morning you get a call that your son is brain dead and you need to come right away. You and your wife have to make the decision to take him off life support and watch him die right in front of you. This is the reason for our deep pain.
This Sunday is Father's Day and I will only have one of my two "boys" with me.
We had set up a tentative funeral service for Friday, but the weather forecast is not good. We will try for the beginning of next week. "Huggy" will be buried at Pet Memorial Park in Mansfield, where our golden retriever "Jake" was laid to rest.
Rich & Jean Canning Received on Thu Jun 12 10:07:39 2003