painting news

Hi Everyone!

There has been a lot of changes in my life since I last posted anything! One main reason is we got a new puppy. Noah The Bear Dog Of Bethany has his own facebook page too! Less than a week after we became his family, our vet at Bethany Family Clinic here in Portland, Or. helped us by sending us to the great surgeons at OSU for his life saving heart surgery. How we kept this puppy calm and quite afterwards wasnot easy too! Well, we all chipped in to help!

Kord and his girlfriend, Sophia picked him up from the primary owners and took him to a vet the next day, just to get a full puppy shot and de-worming. Unfortunately that vet told them to take him back, he needed a surgery that in his estimation,they couldn't afford and he would die. They were heartbroken and both had bonded to him already. We got home from visiting our friends and family in Seattle to two crying people and one very sick puppy. I said, "Let's get a second opinion from our regular vet,Dr. Norman."
Dr. Norman thought he may have a type of heart murmur that he could live with but sent us straight to the people who could do the surgery if he needed it anyhow at O.S.U. First you need to have a scan done of the heart. Then he needed the surgery at 2 mo. old. It was successful!!!!! Yay!!!!!! We did several fund raisers to find a way to pay for the $2,048.00 Surgery and tests! We got huge outpouring of support from around the community and as far as the east coast. a friend did a painting of him at the time and actioned it off on the internet! Thanks Deborah Engle Sprage. Our very talented artist and animal lover and friend!
A little over 2 mo. after he had recovered at about 5 mo. old he needed another life saving surgery. Noah , being a puppy chewed on everything. We finally figured out he had eaten the cover off a box spring mattress. It had gotten stuck in his upper intestines and needed surgery to untangle the blockage. It also looked like on the x-ray that he had eaten a wire! This could have torn up his whole intestines from stomach to the very end. so again life saving surgery was in order for Noah now 5 mo. old. So this time we felt it wasn't appropriate to ask for help from the community. But times being what they are we couldn't afford this $1,500.00. I am a stay at home mom of over 23 years, my husband business had closed the year before do to the housing market crash. we already had more bills than we could pay! I was in tears, and at a loss to do anything to help. Until I finally suggested that maybe I could do some paintings for the clinic. The answer was yes! Dr. Norman, knowing what we and this puppy had already gone through and also understanding what a tough time we were having financially was a saint to let me do some painting in trade for the surgery he and his staff did to once again save Noah's life!
The next painting I will post is the one I did for him and his Bethany Family Vet Clinic. They are two golden retrievers one named Cody and the other named Dutch! I am so happy to share with you all that people do care and there is love and hope in this world!