Joy's Story
Joy
Joy is the first major medical crisis case that we handled at Murci’s Mission Animal Rescue, and she set the tone of amazing feats of physical and spiritual healing for years to come.
On December 23rd, 2017, we got the call from a local animal shelter that they received a euthanasia request for a seven year old small dog that looked to be on the brink of death, but had never been taken to the vet, so the circumstances behind her condition and her ultimate prognosis were completely unknown. With no data to go on, a meager bank account, and only two months of operation under our belt, I nervously agreed to try because no one deserves to die without ever receiving a chance at a diagnosis and recovery.
That night at the ER we determined that Joy was diabetic with truly remarkable blood glucose readings tipping the scales in the high 700’s and low 800’s throughout the night despite an IV insulin infusion. The ER was stumped and we were all sweating it out wondering if an answer could be found before her tiny and neglected body gave up. I contacted Dr. Laura, who has since become such a huge part of the Mission and our ability to save animals in medical crisis, and we began brainstorming through similar cases to try and find any clues as to why her blood glucose was refusing to drop into range. Together we dredged up the memory of a diabetic siberian husky that we had worked on together in the past who also displayed insulin resistance and was resolved by an emergency spay because her reproductive hormones were refracting the effectiveness of her insulin.
I loaded sweet Joy into my car and made a white knuckled drive from Post Falls, ID all the way to Chewelah, WA in a raging blizzard on Christmas Eve to see Dr. Laura at a rural vet clinic where she was on call for the Christmas holiday, and as the snow fell heavily outside, we anesthetized this tired and battered little body for one final Hail Mary attempt to save her life. The heart monitor beeped dangerously slow but steadily in the silent surgical suite and we all held our breath that our tiny fighter would have enough strength to make it through this spay procedure.
I watched as Dr. Laura closed the incision site, little Joy’s chest continued to rise and fall, and she ever so slowly came out of anesthesia spayed and alive. That night we rechecked her blood glucose and it remained in the 600’s and I drove myself home with fried nerves and a huge sense of anxiety that our plan may not have prevailed, but on Christmas morning I got the call that Joy had eaten a meal for breakfast, received a normal dose of insulin, and was comfortably in the upper 200’s, which is a healthy reading for a dog coming out of long term diabetic ketoacidosis.
Over the coming months, Joy and Dr. Laura developed a daily treatment plan, but also an unbreakable bond, and after Joy’s final epic procedure to remove her cataracts and restore her vision, Dr. Laura and her husband Ryan officially signed Joy’s adoption contract.
Now, five years later, Joy remains an unbreakable spirit and a beacon of hope when I feel like giving up. Her body is old and she has endured much in her 12 years of life, so our time with her is almost certainly limited, but even long after she has sailed on to Valhalla, the lesson she taught me about fighting to your very last breath and then a little further still will carry on in the way I live my own life and the way we operate Murci’s Mission.
As we always say, Happy Tails Joy. We love you so much and we are so thankful for the journey you have chosen to share with us.
