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THThree months ago, Mom woke up to a large amount of blood in my kennel. She yelled for Dad in a way he’d only heard once before, when her ankle was broken. He didn’t look at me first—he just threw on last night’s dirty uniform (because everything was still in the pockets) & called our Assistant Chief, then the ER vet while we loaded into the car. I was lethargic but looked okay, except for me, lethargic is 100% not normal. X-rays showed a mass they feared was cancer. They expected my family would let me die, saying it’s too risky, it’s probably pointless, would be very expensive, & I would end up dying anyhow if it was cancer. Giving up was not an option for us. It was also not an option for Chief Runnels and AC Turner, who supported us the entire time. With guidance from Dr. Parsons-Doherty of @pearlandanimalcancer (who we only knew thanks to Jason at @ProjectK9Hero), we successfully got emergency surgery at the very last moment, as blood tests showed I was bleeding out and wouldn’t make it much longer. Our faith paid off because the mass wasn’t cancer. It was an ulcer that had bled into an artery, filling my stomach with 400ml of blood. Dr. Hinton and her surgical team did an amazing job, for which we are eternally grateful. After 3 blood transfusions & 3 nights in the hospital, I was able to come home where I was on kennel rest for 6 weeks. For most of this time, I battled very bad diarrhea, and no amount of Mom’s chicken and rice helped. Turns out a bacteria in my intestines had gone toxic, so antibiotics and probiotics helped me get better. My parents spent a lot of time talking & stressing about my poop! It’s finally all good now, and I’m gaining back the 20+ pounds I lost. My parents are definitely traumatized—I can’t even yawn these days without them worrying about me. But I’m a tough boy. I walked myself into surgery and I walked myself out of surgery. I recovered, then recertified as a scent detection dog and went right back to work! Thousands of texts, comments, & prayers kept us going. I haven’t met another K9 handler whose department would have supported them the way mine did. We are blessed to be #KleinFamily. 💙🐾
@thek9quinn
