Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Josh. 1:9)

Last night, I took Charlie Bones, my Yorkie-schnauzer mix puppy, for a walk late in the afternoon. As usual, when we got home, he wanted to keep playing—the walk never wears him out and only seems to give him more energy. He brought his favorite squeaky ball to me to throw so he could play fetch, which we did numerous times. My house is small, and I was in my office, so I threw the ball into the living room. Charlie would chase it down and run back to me at full speed. On one return trip, he either misjudged the opening to the doorway or his paws slipped—whatever caused it, the result was that he crashed headfirst into the doorframe. He looked stunned for a moment, but then he resumed playing as if nothing had happened.

But within an hour, he began wobbling and having trouble walking, and when I approached him, he flinched and backed away. Something was wrong, so I loaded him into my car and drove him to the emergency animal hospital. That was only my second trip to the emergency hospital ever—the first trip was almost a year ago, on March 30, when I rushed my Yorkie, Lilly, there after she started having breathing problems.

Being back there brought a rush of emotions. On the one hand, I was allowed inside this time, and I hadn’t been before—at least not until something went wrong and they knew Lilly wasn’t going to make it. This time, I was there with a young seven-month-old puppy instead of an aging twelve-and-a-half-year-old dog.

When we checked in, the vet tech asked me if I had any THC in my house. According to the vet, they are seeing anywhere from five to ten THC poisonings a day. I don’t have any, but I wondered if Charlie had picked up something on our walk. He’s always putting things in his mouth that he shouldn’t, just like any child that age would do. But there was also the issue of him hitting his head on the doorframe. Which could be causing the problem? Or could it be a combination of things?

They ran a toxicity test, which came back negative. That was good but also not as telling as you might think. If he didn’t ingest enough THC, it wouldn’t show up on the test designed for humans (there is no test for dogs yet).

After over four hours of observation, the vet decided the head injury was the most likely culprit—because Charlie’s symptoms were also those of a concussion. Charlie stayed in the ICU overnight for monitoring, received treatment for a concussion, and responded well. By ten o’clock the next morning, he was alert, eating, and playing again, and I was able to take him home with me.

I’m so thankful that Charlie is okay. He’ll need meds for the next week, and I’ll have to limit his activity (which will be much harder to do as he starts to feel better). From now on, I’ll be more careful about where I toss his ball when we play fetch.

While I was waiting for the vet to deliver Charlie’s prognosis, the Lord sent a good friend to come sit with me for a while and take my mind off things. He also provided family and other friends who checked in and made sure I was hanging in there okay. It’s at times like these when I’m reminded that, while I may live alone and work alone, I’m never really alone. God has given me a strong community of family and friends, and I’m so thankful for each one of them.

Dear Jesus, thank you for Charlie and for my family and friends who care about me and Charlie too.  I pray for a full recovery for Charlie. Amen.