She was 11 years old in april and had one hell of a life. the most spoiled dog i know and she was my savior and protector during all 5 deployments, countless field problems and a million late nights.
Wayne bought me Athena from Kellers flea market outside of Fort Stewart, GA. 2 months before we got married. She was my baby. Saturday night we came home to a large pile of dog vomit, with 2 dogs it's hard to tell which one did it. But after watching the dogs it was clear Athena was not feeling well. She spent all day sunday laying around. Monday, yesterday, she was back to her normal self. This morning (tuesday) she woke me up at 530am, I knew something was not right. She was just standing there panting to death. I brought her outside and she went, then we went back to sleep. While getting the kids ready for school I could see she was not comfortable. So I checked her out, no pain to touch but her tongue and gums were white (HUGE RED FLAG) called and got her an apt with vet off post right away. Her lungs were clear but they wanted to do xray and blood work. When the vet came in and put up the xray I could see it. Her heart. It was HUGE. And I knew right away what that ment. it was stretched beyond abnormal and it was only a matter of time, the vet said days, if that. She would basically suffocate. She also had a stroke, and was disoriented. So I had to make the worst decision I never wanted to make and ease her pain. I went with my friend, and Wayne came as soon as he could and we said our goodbyes and she slipped to sleep with her head in my lap.
Wayne was able to be here when the kids got home and told them what had happened. They are doing ok. Ariana is more upset than Angelo. But that was to be expected. Wayne said I can go out and get another dog now, but I cannot even think about that right now. I probably won't be ready for a long time. But that's ok. I know Athena is still with me in my heart and she is having a blast up in heaven with all our relatives. I will miss her everyday.
