Hang in there @Elwood von Kiowa. You’ve got lots of support, and abundant prayers and blessings.
It’s getting dusty in here. Seriously I’m sorry for your loss. Yes dogs definitely go to heaven.View attachment 68272
Maverick took his last breath at 0032 EDT (12:32 am). The picture was taken at 12:06 am, in the quiet room at UGA Vet Teaching Hospital. He’s wearing the prayer quilt that was made for Steph when she was in the hospital. Mavi actually looks pretty good in that picture, though what you can’t see is that Steph had been trying to get him to look up by repeatedly calling his name. He had been getting less and less responsive to stimuli. You could tell, much of the time, that in his mind he knew what we were saying, but he couldn’t make the connection from his brain to his muscles. Lately, in order to get him to go outside, we had to coax him with “high value” jerky treats; the last couple days, even that wasn’t much motivation for him. Often lately, he couldn’t make it down the hall without stopping to lean his right side against the wall. You could tell, even to the end, that he wanted to please us. But the “cares of this world” really didn’t motivate him so much anymore.
Last night we took him up to Steph’s sister’s before we went to UGA. Maverick was able to spend a little more time with his “cousin” Sunny. He got so excited to go out into the back yard to explore; unfortunately he stumbled going down the five steps to the back yard. So sad to see him lose control of his legs. But he slowly made it out to the base of the retaining wall, sniffing and checking every drain for chipmunks.
I cut some hair off of his ears (his fur is so soft), and from his tail, as a keepsake. We took some paw prints, and the vet center was going to take a clay paw print as well. We gave our consent for a necropsy; hopefully they will be able to gain some knowledge that will help someone in the future.
View attachment 68272
Maverick took his last breath at 0032 EDT (12:32 am). The picture was taken at 12:06 am, in the quiet room at UGA Vet Teaching Hospital. He’s wearing the prayer quilt that was made for Steph when she was in the hospital. Mavi actually looks pretty good in that picture, though what you can’t see is that Steph had been trying to get him to look up by repeatedly calling his name. He had been getting less and less responsive to stimuli. You could tell, much of the time, that in his mind he knew what we were saying, but he couldn’t make the connection from his brain to his muscles. Lately, in order to get him to go outside, we had to coax him with “high value” jerky treats; the last couple days, even that wasn’t much motivation for him. Often lately, he couldn’t make it down the hall without stopping to lean his right side against the wall. You could tell, even to the end, that he wanted to please us. But the “cares of this world” really didn’t motivate him so much anymore.
Last night we took him up to Steph’s sister’s before we went to UGA. Maverick was able to spend a little more time with his “cousin” Sunny. He got so excited to go out into the back yard to explore; unfortunately he stumbled going down the five steps to the back yard. So sad to see him lose control of his legs. But he slowly made it out to the base of the retaining wall, sniffing and checking every drain for chipmunks.
I cut some hair off of his ears (his fur is so soft), and from his tail, as a keepsake. We took some paw prints, and the vet center was going to take a clay paw print as well. We gave our consent for a necropsy; hopefully they will be able to gain some knowledge that will help someone in the future.
My heart breaks for you and Steph. Our pets become so important to us and they don’t understand what’s happening to them. Our vet told us Jake had been in pain for years but for him, he just thought that was life. I cried like a baby when I heard that because I had no idea Jake had even been in pain as he never showed it. I know for a fact that our dogs go to heaven. No way God wouldn’t let in his most loyal creations. You’re in my prayers.
View attachment 68219
I've been off the board for a few months Elwood and come back to read this. I'm so sorry for your loss of Maverick. After the great news when Steff made it home it's as if he knew he was needed to make that happen. He did so. Again, I'm sorry.View attachment 68272
Maverick took his last breath at 0032 EDT (12:32 am). The picture was taken at 12:06 am, in the quiet room at UGA Vet Teaching Hospital. He’s wearing the prayer quilt that was made for Steph when she was in the hospital. Mavi actually looks pretty good in that picture, though what you can’t see is that Steph had been trying to get him to look up by repeatedly calling his name. He had been getting less and less responsive to stimuli. You could tell, much of the time, that in his mind he knew what we were saying, but he couldn’t make the connection from his brain to his muscles. Lately, in order to get him to go outside, we had to coax him with “high value” jerky treats; the last couple days, even that wasn’t much motivation for him. Often lately, he couldn’t make it down the hall without stopping to lean his right side against the wall. You could tell, even to the end, that he wanted to please us. But the “cares of this world” really didn’t motivate him so much anymore.
Last night we took him up to Steph’s sister’s before we went to UGA. Maverick was able to spend a little more time with his “cousin” Sunny. He got so excited to go out into the back yard to explore; unfortunately he stumbled going down the five steps to the back yard. So sad to see him lose control of his legs. But he slowly made it out to the base of the retaining wall, sniffing and checking every drain for chipmunks.
I cut some hair off of his ears (his fur is so soft), and from his tail, as a keepsake. We took some paw prints, and the vet center was going to take a clay paw print as well. We gave our consent for a necropsy; hopefully they will be able to gain some knowledge that will help someone in the future.
Here's the link for the GoFundMe:
Stephanie Schroeder Miracle Fund, organized by Kevin Wright
Stephanie Schroeder's Family Husband: Dave Schroeder Father: Keith Wright Mother: Phyll… Kevin Wright needs your support for Stephanie Schroeder Miracle Fundgofund.me
Thanks for all of your support through this entire ordeal!
For those in the Atlanta area, Steph will be on the 11 pm news either tonight or tomorrow. Interview with Justin Wilfong (WSB 2).
OK, here's an update from Steph (she gave the first part to me a week ago but I've had a lot going on):
The anticipated article about her Covid journey from the AJC has now been posted online and was also in Thursday’s paper.
A couple of quick corrections/qualifiers
Steph spoke with the journalist for 1 ½ hours plus sent her a lengthy email with more details. The journalist advised Steph, the article was difficult to write as she couldn’t fit everything in due to space constraints.
- Steph isn’t particularly proud of the third picture (in the hospital bed). This one was taken some time after her second code blue – Her body is filled with gases and she had a chest tube in at this point when the picture was taken. Immediately after that 2nd cardiac arrest, her body was 2x the size of what she is in the picture shown, due to the oxygen leaking from her lungs into her body cavity.
- The other 2 pictures were taken by an AJC staff photographer who came to her pulmonary rehab class.
- She didn’t have 2 heart attacks – rather 2 cardiac arrests (code blues)
OPINION: COVID long-hauler is now vaccine advocate
When COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in March 2020, Stephanie Schroeder joined throngs of her neighbors at local grocery stores to stock up on toilet paper and water. Through spring and summer, the McDonough resident made all of the suggested life adjustments — staying at home...www.ajc.com
Below is the latest update (from Thursday 8/19)
- Steph had an appt. with her pulmonologist today and she has fluid around her heart. He believes this is contributing to her shortness of breath. She has started taking Lasix. She had a new chest x-ray and it looked the exact same as the one taken in March. We need to prepare ourselves that her lungs will be scarred and the shortness of breath may be her reality. She has a CT scan scheduled for this week.
- This last Tuesday, Steph completed her re-scheduled stress test. We are waiting for the results. The results of her echocardiogram shows her right atrium is enlarged so they will be keeping an eye on this
- Steph is now adding Nephrology to the list of providers she currently sees due to stage 3a kidney disease.
- This is from the kidney failure /stress on her kidneys while she was in the hospital. We learned her kidney function while in the hospital was only 11% and now is up to 42%. This is great news; but also, difficult news, as Steph did not have any kidney problems prior to COVID. The doctor told us it is doubtful her kidney function will improve any further and at this point the goal is to maintain her current kidney function
- Following a CT scan ordered to check her lungs, we learned she has an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm and a 7mm nodule in my lung
- New appt. for Sept –
- Rheumatologist (still trying to identify why she has a burning sensation in fingers as well as pruny fingers
- Orthopedic -checking into whether a pinched nerve is causing numbness in her left arm and right leg- nerve conduction study with neurologist didn’t turn anything up
- Head back to the vascular surgeon in early Sept for an ultrasound to check for venous reflux