My Best Friend Almost Died Today

Last night, my best friend almost died.

I had to rush my 12 year old Husky to the emergency room where they found his spleen had ruptured and he needed surgery.

Thankfully, he made it through the night but needs a couple more days at the hospital while he recovers.

But, let me back up to a few hours before the emergency situation.

Yesterday, I listened to an outstanding TED Talk that got me inspired to start writing. I wrote a story I had been procrastinating on. You can read that story for yourself here: https://qr.ae/p2GUoK

I finished writing that little story around 8 pm last night. Within minutes of publishing it, my wife expressed concern that our dog, Elvis, seemed weak and was falling a lot. She checked his gums and found them pale.

Terrible sign.

She said, “He’s dying. We have to get him to the vet right now.”

I grabbed my wallet and we ran out into the rainy Mexico City night, me carrying Elvis, my wife booking an Uber. 10 minutes away.

With each minute, Elvis was getting weaker and weaker in my arms. My wife and I getting more and more scared. Finally, the Uber showed up.

But, there was a problem.

The driver refused to let us in with the dog so he cancelled and drove off.

Frantic, we stopped a neighbor from our apartment building at the gate and begged her to drive us to the vet. She did. Meanwhile, Elvis was sinking deeper into my chest with each passing minute, his movements becoming smaller and smaller, his breathing shallower and shallower. Traffic was heavy but we made it there in about 12 minutes.

The staff immediately took Elvis back. After what felt like an eternity, they called us into the office and said it was very serious. Something was really wrong and they’d need to do tests. So, we waited another hour for x-rays and blood tests. It was at this point that the tears started to flow. The reality that this may have been my last day with my constant companion of the last 8 years hit me hard. Finally, they called us back and informed us that the x-ray revealed that his spleen had masses on it and had ruptured. They needed to do surgery which would start after midnight. They told us to head home and they’d call with updates.

Around 2 in the morning we got the call that the surgery had been successful. Huge relief.

Finally able to relax a bit, we managed to sleep for a few hours.

Today, we went and visited Elvis. He was still drugged up and couldn’t even lift his head. His abdomen was shaved and a huge incision with stitches stretched across his belly. There was a huge amount of relief along with the worry.

While it appears Elvis will pull through this incident, this sadly marks the beginning of the last chapter of his life. Dogs who’ve had their spleen removed like this might only live a few more weeks or months.

The next few months are going to be some of the hardest of my life but I’m going to write about it and savor every single moment I get with Elvis.