It was a hot summer night, Saturday, July 22. I was very tired and went upstairs to rest for a while. I fell into sleep and about an hour after, I went down to kitchen to prepare a late supper. Then I noticed Addie was not there. The sliding door to the bathroom was open and I saw Addie falling down on the floor having a fit like epilepsy. I didn't know what happened. I hold her in my arms tight but her fit didn't stop. Her body was so hot, her mouth was full of bubbles and her tongue showed cyanosis.

I was upset. I called my husband for a help and took out some ice to keep her cool. I called my vet but her clinic is far away from my home. Addie would die during a long drive, I thought. So, I called another clinic, where is only 5 minutes away from my home, and decided to bring her there. It was about 11:00 p.m. The vet stopped her fit with a tranquilizer and she barely could survive, but seemed unconscious. I really hate to leave her there but I had to leave home very early in next morning for Nagoya, where is about 200 miles away from my place. I had to be there as a seminar speaker.

Next day, I straight went to the clinic to see Addie. She was so helpless, just lying there and crying. I really didn't know what she wanted to do and she might not understand what happened on her either. She just moved her legs furiously as if she was running and kept barking. It was just like an unconscious swimming reflex. Since her body temperature rose up to about 107 degrees when I first found her, it was natural for us to think that all of her brain boiled away. The vet told me there was little hope for Addie to have a normal life. He also told me her condition might be like this from now on. I had a sleepless night after I brought her home. While she was awake, she just cried, cried, kept crying so hard at the top of her lungs. I could do nothing to stop her crying and she also had seizures several times a day. I felt so hopeless.

My friend veterinarian suggested me to take her to another clinic, where there is a vet who is specialized in neurology. Next day, I drove about an hour to take her there as a last resort. If there was no hope for Addie to get better, I knew it would be the time when I had to think of euthanasia, which I really hate to do. Addie spent two days there on a drip. The vet there said he tried his best but he really didn't know if she could get well or not. Since I believed staying home with me should make Addie feel better, I decided to bring her home. I decided to wait and see how Addie's condition would change in about a week or so. If she would show any sign of recovery, at least of her own will to live, I would decide not to put her sleep. However, she still kept crying. She looked as if she barked meaninglessly first, but I began to believe that she barked to appeal something. When I tried to feed her, she ate and drank a lot with her own will. She cried when I tried to put her in her cuddler to lay her down. She moved all of her legs, struggled so hard to wake up. She seemed she felt much better when her body was up straight and I knew she wanted to stand up. To my surprise, she stood up on her own feet on Wednesday night, though it was just a slight moment. I really didn't think she could walk like before but it might be worth trying rehabilitation training. With a suggestion of my vet, my husband made her a walking cart. She was just hanging on it first, but she started to walk on it so well at the end of July. With a little help, she started to walk on her own legs at last! Her steps were unsteady for a while but she could walk for some distance without falling down in next month. She is an amazing 18.

Addie barks and cries so hard when she can't stand nor move. Her cognitive disorder got worse than before too and many times she cries for over an hour or more. Addie's physical ability became worse too. She can't hold her body straight and her first cart has become useless. My husband made her a second cart, which can hold her body from both sides to keep it up straight. She seems she feels much better when she is on it.

Amazing Addie has turned 18 and a half this month.

Below is her second cart.