(After the Oscars each year, we try to name a rescue baby after the best actor and actress. Meet little "Denzel". :)
****NAME UPDATE****
(Denzel has a brand new Mom waiting for him to recover and come home to her! Louise at Beeechcmbr@aol.com has renamed this precious baby boy "Grady"!


This baby was filthy when he came in from the mills of Mo. He has a heart murmur. It sounds like a grade 5-6. We think he is about 11 weeks old..and were told he is not growing. They were overheard in a vets office, planning to take him home and "putting him down the old fashioned way." When our volunteer asked, she was told...it meant with a hammer. We paid $75.00 to rescue him.


Grady cleaned up well. We are scheduled to go to Texas A&M with him, next week. He is too little for the coil tecnique and will have to have the crack the chest open surgery.:( He only weighs 2.1 pounds.
We know he has "A Beautiful Mind", and now...we just have to give him a beautiful heart, as well. I don't know how, but this will be the 11th Heart Murmur surgery we have done. God will provide for him. I know He will.

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UPDATE April 2, 2002
We have a slight change in plans. Since this baby is too small for the coil procedure at Texas A&M, we are going to do the crack-the-chest open procedure in Oklahoma City. He goes in on Wednesday morning at 9:30 and will have surgery on Thursday. This is the same board certified surgeon who did this surgery for us, and they are giving us a discount!
Small Paws® Rescue: Baby Marley
Animal Surgical Clinic,
2915 NW 122nd,Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73120
Telephone: 405-751-3920, Fax: 405-755-7927
More as it becomes available!:)

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UPDATE 4/4/02
Well folks, yesterday was a whirlwind. I drove two hours to OKC, and there baby Grady had an ultrasound which did indeed show a PDA.


Internist Dr. Hammond, (on the right) examines baby Grady.

Next, I met with the surgeon to discuss the surgery. You guys, the surgeon was up front with me and that, I appreciate. Baby Grady weighs only 2 pounds. The surgeon has only done this surgery only five times in his career on a two pound baby. The surgeon felt Grady had a better chance for survival if I brought him on to Texas A&M. Yesterday afternoon, Grady and I rushed back to Tulsa, I ran in the house, threw a few things in a bag, and Dale rushed us to the airport. We arrived in Austin, Texas late last night at 10:15 P.M., and arrived at A&M, this morning at 10:30.


4th Year Vet Student, Liz, examines our boy.



The eyes tell the story. You guys, I need to tell you. This baby is VERY, VERY ill. He does not move. He cannot stand without being held. He has no body fat AT all. I told them I will sacrifice myself and donate...go get a needle and hook me right on up. I only wish it were that simple. When you hold him, you can feel his internal organs through a very thin layer of skin.

I could KICK myself for not just taking him right on to A&M to start with. I will not make this mistake again. We have raised $1400.00 for his surgery. If he had been able to have it in OKC, we could have made it. Now we have trip expenses and a higher vet bill. I am so sorry.:(

Grady will have surgery sometime tomorrow, Friday, April 5. They are going to have to work him in so we do not have a time yet. PLEASE....pray for him. I get scared everytime...but this one is VERY FRAGILE.
I will send the camera into surgery with him. If he makes it, it truly will be a God thing. More as it happens. Love, Robin

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April 5, 2002 3:00 P.M.

Grady made it through surgery!!! He survived and it went VERY well! I am just elated! (or can you tell?!) As you can see, he is on fluids, and has all sorts of tubes and is on morphine and will be out for the next good while. The next 24 hours are critical...it could go either way...but he made it through surgery!


He won't remember this part. Soon, he will only know he feels great and wants to make up for lost time and play with his new Mom...all thanks to your prayers and support Thank you all!! ! He made it!!!
I will go visit this evening and get more pictures. If all goes well, he will be discharged on Sunday Morning, and I will bring him on home!

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April 6, 2002 12;45 A.M.
UPDATE!

Grady continues to improve! So far so good! (Keep that morphine coming!) This picture was taken about 10:00 P.M. last night. Tomorrow I should be able to hold him for a while.:) Praying for a peacful night of continued healing for him.:) More later!

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Update 4/06/02
Today I saw a miracle happen before my eyes.


Dr. Peacock, Grady's surgeon, is pretty proud of this little boy. I asked Dr. Peacock, "What is the smallest dog you have ever done this surgery on?"...He answered..."This one."
I told him thank you..for not telling me that... BEFORE! HAHA!


Grady ran three feet and took his first treat today!
Dr. Peacock holds Grady while Dr. Cynthia Ragsdale gives him his very first treat!:) Tomorrow we head back home for Tulsa...Grady, me, and a miracle in the making... made possible by all of you. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Update April 8, 2002
Baby Grady! Therapy Dog!
Well, we are finally safely back in Tulsa, and something wonderful happened on the plane ride back. Bad weather in Dallas kept us on the tarmack in Austin for 3 hours and fifty minutes. After two hours of being pushed away from the gate but still not moving , Grady was REALLY getting restless and starting to cry...and then he started to really HOWL. LOUD. VERY LOUD. FAA rules say he has to stay in his little sherpa bag while on the plane.
At the same time that Grady started howling, I realized one of the passengers in the back was having a severe problem. A beautiful young woman was having a panic attack on the plane and we could not go back to the gate. She was crying and having difficulty breathing. They brought her up to the front. She called her Mom on her cell phone, and one of the crew talked to her Mom and explained that we could not go back to the gate due to security reasons. (Everyone would have had to be rescreened if they got off, as well as all of our luggage would all need to be rescreened.)
The young lady was crying, and hyperventilating, and was obviously very uncomfortable, and Grady was just about doing the same thing when....I had an idea.
I had an empty seat beside me in first class. (Traveling on a buddy pass, you get the seats that are available, and first class is what they had open.) The young lady was standing there in obvious pain, and I asked her if she would like to sit down and hold a tiny puppy. She stopped crying, and I proceeded to break FAA Law and I got Grady out of the bag. I put him in her lap and that's when it happened.
Both of them calmed down immediately, and all was quiet. People began coming up to first class to see the puppy who had calmed the young lady with the panic attack.
We weren't going anywhere, and they had given permission for us to use our cell phones. People were calling their friends and family and telling them about the little white dog who saved the day on the plane.

As you can see, she still has the kleenex from crying from the panic attack. She was a just lovely young woman who told me she has two dogs herself and volunteers at her local humane society. She was just a precious young lady, going home to shcool after a week on spring break.


As you can see, Grady was now drawing a croud. Both Grady and the young lady remained quiet and calm for the duration of the trip. Grady saved the day for sure!
The weather in Dallas was so bad that my flight to Tulsa was cancelled so we spent one more night in a hotel and returned home last night. Grady is just doing so well thanks to all of you!:)
UPDATE April 20, 2002
Grady flew home today to his new Mom, Louise at Beeechcmbr@aol.com
Here they are together! She is in love! Thank you Louise for loving this boy from the start!:) Have a wonderful life together!