Bentley's in trouble

When I started this blog my intent was to tell you a good news story.  I envisioned a story of triumph.  I thought I would be posting pictures of my buddy overcoming enormous odds on his journey to normalcy. I wanted to show you that he could be the same dog he was before and that we would do all the same things we did.  Now I just want him to survive.  I really don't care if he's the same.  I don't envision him chasing the ball through the yard or me up the stairs.  I don't see him chasing the kids through the house in some version of hide and seek.  Bentley is in bad shape right now.  This is a picture of him last night.  He crawled from his bed over to the coffee table and slept with his head propped against the leg.  The incision on his right leg was leaking fluid and we knew it was infected.  We were treating him with Amoxicilin and cleaning his wound a few times each day with Chlorhexidine.  This morning we noticed that it hadn't gotten better and decided to take him back to the hospital for evaluation.  The news was worse than we had ever imagined but I'll get to that in a minute.  

The weekend started out pretty good.  This is a picture of Bentley watching the Army Navy game with me.  I'll always remember this because (of course) the Army hadn't won that game in 14 years.  I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this was the first time I had ever watched the game from start to finish.  I don't watch much football on Saturday's but Bentley insisted that I lay next to him with the iPad.  He mostly slept...  that's a pattern with him apparently.  He slept through the skins game last Sunday too.  Anyway, as you know, the Army was victorious and no matter what happens, I can always say that Bentley and I witnessed the Army win.  Not everyone gets to say that.  

This was day that Krysta and I were supposed to bring Bentley home the first time.  Of course he ended up having to stay a while longer.  When I look at this photo I can't believe we could smile.  Our lives are hectic.  We work opposite schedules and don't have a whole lot of time together. She's a lot tougher than I am.  We pass each other on the go and try to keep up with the kids, two of them in soccer, and take care of everything that needs to be done around the house.  I swear we never stop.  I'm always thankful though.  She never questioned my (our) decision to save Bentley and I know without a doubt that no matter what comes next, she will be right there with me.  I'm lucky beyond words.  

Tonight I got the call from Dr. Peters (we love her by the way) and she didn't mince her words.  Bentley has a awful infection and he's in trouble.  There is a lot of dead tissue in his right leg and the infection has been resistant to the antibiotics.  The have sent the fluid off to biopsy and are waiting to see what kind of bug it is.  In the mean time they are going to remove as much tissue as possible, treat with the strongest antibiotics they have available and see if they can save him.  The best case scenario is that the antibiotics have an immediate impact and he can move forward.  That's not the most likely scenario at this time.  We are prepared that Bentley may lose his right leg.  That absolutely destroys me, but if that's the only thing that will keep the infection from spreading through his body, we're ok with that.  There's a lot we don't know.  We don't know how far the infection has spread and we don't know how Bentley's left leg would recover without the support of the right.  There is a lot of uncertainty right now.  It looks like he will have a few days in the hospital and I simply can't imagine what else any of this might mean.  We are getting ready to go to the hospital now to see him and give him his other medication.  I hope to get some more details. Simply not the news I want to share with you.

But here we are waiting again and hoping that he can beat this.  Dogs have such a great instinct.  They always know things before they are supposed to know things.  I caught these two laying and watching the front door.  They never lay there. Always in the living room.  Never together like this.  But Bentley didn't come home today and the whole house in on edge and they just know what they know.  

Thanks so much again for following us.  This has been very hard on our family.  For anyone who wants to help, please share Bentley's Gofundme  with those who might be interested.  Every little bit helps and buys him a few more options.  We wouldn't have made it this far without help.  We are SO appreciative.  

Much love to all of you and please keep Bentley in your prayers tonight. He will need all the help he can get to beat this thing.