First, I just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone for keeping Ein in your thoughts.

Second, I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Lucas and I have both been fighting a cold, so I've been lazy/bad about keeping up with all the forums I post at/my blog/etc.

Ein is completely back to normal. I found a vet that would do a payment plan (and is the main guy that started a local rescue group, which I thought was cool) and made an appt for Wednesday morning. By Tuesday morning, he had already gotten back to his normal potty routine and hadn't had any problems keeping down his bland diet. So I called and cancelled his appointment, but asked if they could hold on to the fax from the emergency clinic, just in case. Tuesday night, we tried his regular kibble for dinner and he did fine.

I'm so greatful that he wound up not needing surgery. Lucas' mom is a retired groomer and she suggested that he might have just had a hairball that he needed help passing. I'm not sure if that was it or if he had a virus or what, but I'm really glad that we didn't rush into surgery that he would have had to recover from.

It's funny how something like this can have a huge impact on your life, long term. When we were home that night trying to rest while Ein was getting his fluids in the hospital, we were talking about how expensive the surgery was going to be. Lucas even went so far as to say, "They're asking us to spend enough money on surgery to buy three more corgi puppies. I know you can't put a price on Ein emotionally, but there has to be a line somewhere." When we went to pick him up, a man came in with a shepherd mix. She was an outside dog that had been shot in the chest. The owner heard the shot and ran out to call the dog. Apparently, he knew the shooter, who told him that the dog deserved to die. (I only overhead bits and pieces, so I don't know the whole story.)

I started to tear up as I realized that Ein was lucky compared to many dogs that go to the emergency clinic, because Ein was coming home that day. It could just as easily have been him with a gunshot wound. And if that was the case, would we have been talking about how expensive surgery was and whether or not we could afford it? I doubt it. I think we'd have been too focused on doing anything necessary to save his life to even think about the financial aspect.

It affected Lucas, too. On the way home, he said, "You know we just paid for Ein all over again." (vet bill was $700) He looked at Ein and patted him on the head before saying, "I'd do it again if he needed us to." It was so easy to focus on the bad (the cost) because we were just taking for granted the fact that Ein was alive and was going to be okay. But once we were faced with the harsh reality that it could have been different, we realized that the bad could have been much much worse.

Ever since then, I've noticed a big change in my outlook. When something bad happens or I get mad about something, I've forced myself to take a breath and ask "is it worth it?" In the grand scheme of things, is it really bad enough that it's worth the time, energy and effort of being upset? Then I force myself to either think of something good instead, or think of a way that the situation could be worse so that I realize how lucky I am despite the "bad" thing that I'm upset about. Sure, it's a pain in the butt that paypal didn't tell us our new bank account wasn't verified, so they charged the old/empty bank account. But when I made myself think about it further, I changed my outlook. A $25 overdraft fee isn't wonderful, but it's much better than paying $1500 for unnecessary surgery, right?

Sorry to ramble on. Just something that's been on my mind alot lately. Never thought that Ein being sick could turn me into a philosopher of sorts, but it has.

As a bonus for listening to my ramblings, I realized that I haven't shared any pics of Ein yet, because everytime I post, I'm at work. So here's my baby.