My poor old dog is continuing on a downward spiral and I have been questioning if I am doing what I need to and/or should be doing to help her through this last stage of her life. I was able to make an appointment with the wonderful vet that we saw last month and took her there today. He understood my questions before I even had to ask. She can barely get up and move around at this point and I wonder if I am just prolonging her agony by enticing her to eat and walk around outside a bit. We talked about “quality of life” vs. “quantity of life”. He told me about his brother who is dying from cancer. He is only in his mid 40’s, has a wife and 3 young children, and is a doctor himself. He has been fighting the disease with all that he has and has the best care, but the cancer has a hold on him. My vet said that he is going to visit his brother for the next week and realizes that this will probably be the last time he sees him. He talked about how quantity does not equal quality and how his brother has been able to do so much with his life, even though it is being cut short. He said his brother has done all that he can to try to get well and that I have done the same with my dog. He looked her over and encouraged me to try increasing the dosage of one of the medications, which I will do. She may improve again for the short time she has left. The whole conversation made me think of how important it is to live each day at a time to it’s fullest and a prayer that I try to say every day to keep me grounded  – God, help me just for today to do Your work, Your will, Your way.

I Found God today in the wisdom of the vet and the reminder of how we should live each day to the best quality that we can.