George the Greyt
Battle with Glaucoma

As some of you know my heart is not merely a beating muscle and physical body part. My heart is named George Longhouse. Rarely do I write about Georgie. You all oughtta thank me for NOT writing about him. I would bore you to death and come off sounding like a blithering idiot. George is everything that I consider perfect in a dog. He's simply incredibly wonderful...exquisite in mind, body and most especially in heart.

Gracie is the family dog. Georgie is mine...and mine alone. He and I share a bond that just cannot be explained. There are a few of you out there who will understand exactly what I'm talking about. Yesterday was a day for miracles. On Thursday night I had a "feeling" that something was not right with Georgie. He sat in my lap...looked into my eyes and I just knew. Immediately I called Dr. Priehs...his veterinary ophthalmologist. There wasn't much that I could even tell Dr. Priehs. However...this wonderful opthalmologist didn't even question me.  He told me to bring Georgie into his office first thing tomorrow morning. He agreed to meet me at the office early. I had missed the signs once with George...and he has an artificial eye as a result. I promised myself that such a thing would never happen again if I could possibly help it.

When Georgie woke up on Friday morning he was totally blind.  Just the day before he'd had 20/20 vision in his one "good eye" (the other one is artificial). I was devastated.

After examining my little man the doctor informed me that his eye pressure was 50. That accounted for the sudden blindness.  Keep in mind that Dr. Priehs had just examined George less than 2 weeks ago and at that time Georgie's pressure was normal. Anyway....Dr. Priehs said that there is a window of just about 24 hours when an attack of glaucoma will spike pressure and the lens will not displace. After 24 hours the lens displaces and vision is gone forever. Many times the eye is gone too...and will need to be removed. Almost never does an owner bring the dog in early enough to scoot in under that "window". The signs of glaucoma are almost impossible to correctly read .  Only when the bond between owner and dog is so incredibly strong that subliminal communication can take place...does an owner realize that pressure has suddenly spiked. Dr. Priehs has seen that happen only rarely in his long career. George's eye looked "normal" on the outside. What was going on inside was potentially devastating. He tried to question me closely on exactly how "I knew". I just couldn't tell him.

Dr. Priehs asked his office staff to cancel some of his appointments and push back the others. He decided to operate on Georgie's eye IMMEDIATELY. When one of his office staff seemed to delay....the good doctor told her....I WANT THIS LITTLE GUY PREPPED AND READY FOR SURGERY NOW!!!!

The surgery went well. George's eye is saved and there is a chance that his vision is saved too. We won't know for awhile. In any case....I am so grateful to this caring doctor. He dropped everything to help a little dog in pain. George doesn't complain when he's in pain. With Gracie..there is panting, yipping and drooling. When she's suffering she wants THE WORLD to know it. George suffers in silence.

I was up all night with my little man dispensing drops from 5 different medications. Right now I'm half asleep...but want to tell all of you one thing. If you think your dog is in trouble...ACT ON IT!!! Trust your instincts. You have them!!! Dog's haven't cornered the market on instinct. <G> I'm just so glad that I followed my heart instead of my head. MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!