We are in mourning :( We lost a member of our family...

Jasmin Balodi
a.k.a. Pookie & Jazzi :(
November 23, 2002 - September 11, 2008

Sadly, we had to make the hardest decision of our lives, last Thursday, September 11th (hard day as it was) we had to decide to end Jasmin's life. She was only 5. I can barely write it here without crying all over my keyboard. It is a million times more painful than I ever imagined it could be. Alan wanted to bring Vince with...a wonderful friend and someone who took care of Jasmin if we left town and loved her dearly. The vets explained what we would be doing and the fact that without very expensive exploratory surgery that may not increase her quality of life, we had to make a decision to end her suffering. After all, she couldn't breathe without a chest tube. It was amazing though, when we arrived and were walking in, Jazzi came out, she was being taken to the restroom, and ran right up to us! She recognized us and couldn't wait to say hi. We had to be careful not to pull out her chest tube and IV...After long discussions with her doctors, we were told we would have a chance to say goodbye to our precious puppy and then they would inject something to make her sleepy...then they would inject something that stops her heart. Ok, I know the details are quite vivid, but this experience is worth describing as we have to now live with it. We sat there and my tears dropped onto her face. I could not walk away, couldn't bare to leave her there without us. We didn't even put her in a kennel if we went out of town...she was always at home. I know in time, we will focus on only the positive wonderful memories we shared, after an event like this, unfortunately we are remembering the last moments only with her for now. I held her and she was getting cold...I knew her spirit left and I knew she would be happy and was running somewhere, but I will never forget holding her in that moment and wondering did we make a mistake, were we so wrong for what we just did...In the end it was about her health and well-being, but it seemed so wrong...We are lost without her. We had to put her things in the garage...I have been hearing her walk and her footsteps and have been looking for her at night. I haven't slept through the night since it occurred. In time, we will go on, but for now the pain is so raw and real. We will love her forever and miss her terribly.

Mine and Alan's 1st Baby...Jasmin

For the last 2 weeks we have been helping our 1st baby, our Golden Retriever, Jasmin, to recover from a health crisis...she is currently in intensive care in Ventura, CA at VMSG, and in the ICU...it's pretty bad, Monday night we almost lost her...2 weeks ago she ended up having a reaction with her liver to the medicine she was on Ramidyl (tylenol for dogs) for her bad knee-torn ligament...she was on it for no problems for 3 weeks, then she got liver disease?? My aunt, a veterinarian, took care of her (huge expense that we charged on our credit cards), and was totally improving, then Monday of this week, she couldn't breathe. We rushed her to the animal hospital where my aunt works Caring Hands in Thousand Oaks, CA and her and my uncle tried to save her and she had a collapsed lung and air filling in her lungs...She is currently breathing via a chest tube and a Plerovac with a 70-80% chance of healing on her own from a bubble that burst in her lungs. We will have to decide tomorrow or Friday to keep going (which we can't afford, she is now racking up charges on my mom's credit card) or to put her down...we have been beside ourselves...she's only 5 :( We have been working on sending her good thoughts and healthy energy...We don't believe it only comes down to money at this point, it comes down to as my mom said, her quality of life. Will she be happy, breathe ok, how will she feel, it's so hard waiting, but we are giving her time to hopefully seal up this air hole and heal on her own. We love her very much and are praying for her to heal and be with us for many years to come. She is a big part of our family.