Update: 26th March 2001
Trisha received a new piece of equipment. She is sitting in it in all the pictures except for the one she is being held in. Cody was going to make sure that it was okay for her to be there. She loves it because now she can sit on the floor and play like any other 22 month old. Pet her doggy while sitting up and get doggy kisses.
More photos from Trisha and Cody's photo album
July 2001 Trisha in her swing for
the first time. Cody had to make
sure it was okay for her to be in it.
September 2001 Trisha and
Cody playing on the livingroom floor. We
were told that Trisha would never sit up. Cody has helped her have the
determination to do what she was not suppose to do.
September 2001 with big Sister Erin
November 2002 Trisha decided that
she wanted to snuggle with Cody.
She fussed and fussed until we moved her on the other side of Cody.
Then she snuggled right up to him.
Cody with Tricia 2002
The Final Chapter
Sadly Trisha died on Tuesday 29th April
The following emails between the family, Heartland and volunteers tell the story
Sun Apr 27, 2003 9:37 pm
Subject: Need your thoughts and prayers
On
Friday Tricia was rushed to Childrens Hospital.
Trish had a raging fever 104.9 (I believe) It was
felt she had another kidney infection and
possible septicima (spelling?). On Saturday she was moved to ICU and her
whole body was septic (once again spelling?) and blood pressure
reading off the wall. I have not spoken to Lore
today but heard from her neighbour and friend that
Trish was hanging in there, but she was not very encouraging.
Wed Apr 30, 2003 9:55 am
Subject:Cody's visit with Trisha
we had to
pull a lot of strings to get this to happen. They actually
had to take it to the upper board of Children's Hospital. Fortunately
there is a big dog lover on that board. So the visit got passed as
long as all the other parents in the ICU ward were willing to let it
happen and as long as no one had any dog allergies. Now the ward was
quite full. There was a great chance that someone had allergies to
dogs. Praise God no one did. He had to come up the back elevator and
only had a 15 minute visit. When we went in to see Trisha he
immediately went to her bed and looked at the chair we had there for
him to get on so he could be by her. He has never thought of getting
on any furniture in our house so he was hesitant to do that. My sister
put him up on the chair. He put his paw on Trisha's bed by her foot
the only free spot on her little body. We put her foot on his paw and
her blood pressure and heart rate went up. She knew he was there with
her. After awhile Cody took his foot down. Looked at all the IV and
med lines that were hooked to Trisha, the pumps they were attached
to, and then back at Trisha. Then he looked at the
respirator and back at Trisha. Finally he looked
at the monitor that had her vital signs on it then
looked at Trisha. After that he had a very sad look on his
face and kissed her foot. Then he kept trying to inch his way closer
to Trisha. Only he could not get any closer. So he decided fine I
will just curl up her on this chair and wait with
her. When his visit time was up he reluctantly
left her side. He is sad but at peace with it.
He has his
last Annie preformance today. He had one yesterday and I
was told he did Awesome!!!! I think he was doing it for Trisha
because he knew she would want him to enjoy life
to the fullest. When he got home yesterday our
house was full of people. He went to Trisha's room
and laid on his bed next to her bed for a little while. Then he came
out and greeted all those that we here for us. He is one very special
dog with a huge sensitive heart. Thank you Heartland for helping us
with this precious match.
......................Also I wanted to let you know how Cody is
dealing with the loss of Trisha. He had two
Annie preformances to do after Trisha died. One
being the morning she died and then the next morning. Tuesday night
when he got home he went straight to Trisha's room and lay down on
the bed next to Trisha's crib. He did this even
though our house was full of people. He normally
would check on her then socialize. He spent the
next 3 days laying beside her crib. He only came out when he had to do
the last play and when we told him he had to eat or go outside. By
Friday he was out of her room but laying at the bottom of the steps
with his head on the bottom step like he always did when he knew I
was packing to take her to the hospital. On
Saturday he started coming out more and laying
around with GRacee and Jessie. Often we still find him
laying next to her bed with a very sad face. He is still laying in
front of the bedroom door after I shut the door for the night. He is
still at his post to make sure he knows who is coming into Trisha's
room. I am sure this is going to be a long process for all of us
including Cody.
The following photo (with the permission of the Knoxville News Sentinel)was one of the last taken of the two of them; taken during the time of Cody's rehearsals for the Annie production.
Heartland wishes to thank Lore and Bill for asking for Memorials for Trisha be sent to Heartland. We have set up a Special Fund which will be used to help adoptable Goldens in the programme who have storm phobias and other problems. We will purchase a vest called Anxiety Wrap, which has helped many dogs overcome their fear of storms. This vest will be used while they are in foster care and when they are adopted the new owers will have the chance to keep the vest by making a donation back to Heartland. This way we will be able to keep the fund alive.