Our dear Cooper – a big sigh of relief

We almost lost our dear 11-year old boy Cooper yesterday. First thing in the morning he usually helps Don get the newspaper, but yesterday he wouldn’t get up. We checked him over and discovered his gums were completely pale. Don rushed him to the vet, then to the surgery clinic, where it was discovered he had a mass on his spleen and it had ruptured. He had bled out so much that at one point they couldn’t find a pulse or blood pressure. It was a very difficult day for us, as there were many times that we thought we might lose him. Fortunately he took the good path at every critical juncture, and we thank those that sent good thoughts/wishes/prayers for our boy– it really worked.

Cooper came back home to us this morning after having major abdominal surgery yesterday in which they successfully removed the spleen and stabilized him since he had lost 2 1/4 liters of blood. As you can see from the picture he is a real trooper, and a very strong boy. Next to him is a very relieved and proud “Dad”.

He wasn’t ready to leave us yet, and we are not ready for him to go! There is still a lot of frisbee catching left in our boy. He is getting anything he wants, and he has been taking full advantage of it, even asking for thigh massages. 🙂 We love you, Cooper!