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I assume everyone here loves dogs. If you don’t, you can kindly leave. 

My family rescued a little Schnauzer-Cairn Terrier mix in December. We brought her home right after I got sick and she’s been a fierce companion ever since. 

Wow, how refreshing. Isn’t that a nice, tidy, straightforward story? 

Yeah. That’s because that’s not really the story at all. 

Yes, we brought home a dog and yes it was after I got very sick. 

It’s the intricacies that really turn this sweet tail (lol get it) up a notch. If we’ve learned anything at all on this blog, it’s that life rarely goes as smoothly as we’d like. (Thinking about making that the tagline of this website, lmk what you think in the comments)

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So let’s begin!! 

Her previous owner named her Caroline and we wanted to honor that so we ended up with Liney.

Our second day at home with Liney, my family wants to go to brunch. We’re not sure how she feels about her crate and don’t want to scare her, so we put her in our spacious laundry room with a baby gate blocking the exit so she can see out. This way she won’t feel trapped, but she’s secure. 

Lol no. This little 15 pound dog can jump over 3.5 feet. We did not know this. Because who would. We come home to an escaped dog, and havoc = wreaked. 

We later get the vet records which reveal to us this dog, whom my mom picked due to her exceptionally calm demeanor at the adoption event, was on doggy trazodone. Her angelic personality and air of independence was solely the product of drugs. … Unsure what to do with this information, we set up a facetime, put Liney in her crate, and walk out of the back door. 

Oh no. Bad move. Barking, crying, jumping, cage biting, etc. She put on quite a show; could get paid good money for that theatrical tantrum. 

Liney has extreme separation anxiety, camouflaged by the drugs and the many people at the adoption event. 

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So here we are. A new dog we cannot leave alone for a fraction of a second and me. Following this stellar introduction of a stellar dog, let’s back up and look at the whole picture. 

I’m on Christmas break from my Senior year of college in Los Angeles. My mom had been with me the last month of the Fall semester because I was essentially the semi-walking dead; a few minutes from the hospital at any second. With absolutely no idea this was only the tip of the iceberg, we expected a full month at home in Oklahoma with nothing to do would help me bounce back and I’d be on my way. Wrong again. I went back to school for my Spring semester and it was already not going well. I quickly knew there was no way I was going to graduate on my own this semester. 

Cue ‘Mom Hero’. Mom Hero came to live with me for the semester so I could graduate, enabling me to go to Physical Therapy school on time (we all know how that turns out). 

But if you’ll remember… We now have a dog. Who cannot be alone. For one minute. Nay, for 15 seconds. 

Mom Hero had no choice, she was determined to come to LA which only left her one option. Load up the car, load up the dog, and hit the open road. All 1,493 miles of it. 

After two long days driving, Mom Hero arrives in Phoenix to stay with great family friends. While getting ready for bed, her suitcase was open on the ground. Starting to gain some independence, Liney was out of sight for a moment! A small victory to celebrate. Until Mom Hero realized some pills were gone… there was some white powder on the ground… Liney was chewing… 

This culminated into a trip to the Phoenix animal hospital at 3 am. A call to US doggy poison control informed the vet that Liney needed to be admitted for a minimum of 48 hours. 

But Mom Hero is trying to rescue her increasingly ailing child!! (me) And needs to make it to an important doctor’s appointment in LA tomorrow!! 

So Liney got her IVs, got a patch for the road, and was transferred to the Los Angeles animal hospital for her second stint in rehab. 

Thousands of dollars later, Liney is poison free and Mom Hero has arrived to save me. 

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Fast forward five months to June 2018. By this time I’ve received a diagnosis of Lyme Disease and started intense bootcamp treatments, graduated by the grace of God and Mom Hero, moved back home to Oklahoma, and medically deferred Physical Therapy school. And every step of the way, Liney was there. Like really, physically there at all of those things because she is still traumatized and needs her velcro humans or WWIII will begin (we’re working on it, up to 10 minutes being gone!!). 

I’m careful to not let Lyme define me. I think it can become dangerous when an illness is allowed full reign of mind, body, and spirit. Holding onto things that are quintessentially ‘me’ keeps me grounded; while Lyme is at the forefront of my life right now, it will not always be and when it is, it is never the only part of my life. 

That being said, IVs and Tick Borne Diseases are arguable very large and, at this time, defining parts of my existence. 

My family jokes that Liney and I are bonded because we’ve both had stints in hospitals and IVs. We have very demanding needs that require intense care (physical and emotional). 

We’ve both been rescued by Mom Hero. 

We are true soul-sisters, meant to accompany each other.

Oh, I forgot one thing. Liney went to the vet for her annual teeth cleaning and blood work. They called us the next day because something came up on her blood work.

She’d tested POSITIVE FOR A TICK BORNE DISEASE.

You cannot make this up. 

MY DOG AND I HAVE MATCHING TICK BORNE DISEASES

So that’s the story of how my dog and I are LITERALLY THE SAME. 

I love her lots and she truly is my best friend. 

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There’s a lesson in perseverance within all of this, but I’ll let you you tease it out. 

When you’re dealt some difficult cards, there’s nothing to do but to keep going forward. You can’t give up on a sweet rescue dog, you can’t give up when you’re fighting Lyme Disease. So you just grit your teeth and keep putting one paw in front of the other. 

Until Next Whine,

Christina 

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