My beautiful 10yr old dog, Savannah, collapsed in our backyard today from heat exhaustion. She was playing with our 1yr old dog for no more than 15 minutes when I found her panting heavily in a puddle of foaming saliva. My adrenaline quickly kicked in and all my chronic pain left my body. I lifted her 85 lb lethargic body up and carried her into our home to the tile floor. He body laid there, convulsing while her eyes fixated on me. I could tell she was going to need emergency medical attention so I called the hotline and followed their instruction to give a rectal temperature. 106 degrees ferenheit and climbing. They instructed me to put her in a bath of cold water. I lifted her up again, like she was the weight of a pillow and carried her to our upstairs bathroom with the tub. There I doused her body with cupfuls of water while the bath tub filled. Savannah’s tongue hung outside her mouth, white and dry to the touch, with foam at the corners of her mouth. He stomach vibrated across the top of the water causing ripples and waves in the tub. My husband came in to the room, freshly home from his interrupted golf game, asking how he could help. I instructed him to grab a towel to put in the car and start the AC. Once again my adrenaline infused strength allowed me to lift my wet, panting dog out of the tub and carry her effortlessly down the stairs and into the garage to place her in the car.

Hours later my body is still feeling the comedown of the rush. My dog is hooked up to IV fluids and being monitored at the pet hospital overnight. The vet said we did all the correct things and our dog, our first child that brought our family together would be fine come tomorrow. I’ve never experienced adrenaline strength before, but now I completely understand how a person could lift a car off a person they love. #Motherhood #ChronicPain #companiondogs #Adrenaline