Good Evening Ms. Janie,
I was wondering if you could do me a favor and include a story
in one of your newsletters. It is about the amazing people that
can be found on the internet. I am a regular visitor to Peggy
Gallagher's website (The Beanie Phenomenon) and post regularly
in her Guestbook. There are several people who have called the
GB (guestbook) home for quite some time now. Beanies initially
brought all of us together, but life has made us friends.
Recently, I found myself in a situation that was becoming more
and more difficult to handle. I had acquired a very sick kitten
and was struggling to get her taken care of medically. I am on
a very limited income and began feeling the repercussions from
spending so much money on this kitten in an attempt to save her.
This kitten, her name is Baby, is 3 1/2 months old and only weighs
1.6 pounds and looks as if she has literally been starved. I made
several trips to my vet to try different things to help her gain
weight and nothing was working. She continued to be sick. She
was running a fever continually and was having some other problems
as well. No matter what we did, it didn't seem to be helping and
I had to resign myself to the fact that I would have to commit
to spending a substantial amount of money for diagnostic testing
to try to determine exactly what was wrong and whether it could
be treated successfully. That is when I felt as if I had hit a
wall financially and was preparing to begin selling my Beanies
one by one in order to raise the funds necessary to pay the vet
bill.
Now I must return to the subject of the GB on Peggy's site......Unbeknownst
to me, an unspecified number of people banded together and contributed
money into what one could call the "Save Baby Campaign".
Of course, I wan completely unaware of these happenings until
late yesterday afternoon. Yesterday I had to rush Baby to the
vet again and really could not afford the upcoming bill. But,
nonetheless, I dropped her off to be tested and/or treated accordingly.
While awaiting the vet's phone call to give me the verdict on
Baby's health, I was e-mailing back and forth and talking on the
phone with some of the ladies from the GB.
Finally, when no phone call from the vet came in, I couldn't wait
any longer and I called to find out how Baby was doing. I was
told that she had a deadly parasite but was already being treated
and that she would be fine. WOOHOO!! So, I rushed to go get her
and bring her home. Well, as I was waiting for the vet assistant
to bring Baby out to the front, I was also waiting for the receptionist
to give me the bill. I was dreading seeing it. But, when she handed
it to me she was smiling. I looked at the bill but really couldn't
make sense out of what I was seeing. Before I could say anything,
the receptionist looked me in the eye and said "Your internet
friends paid the bill."
Ms. Janie, there are no words in the English
language that I can use to truly convey how this random act of
kindness affected me. I literally began sobbing while still standing
at the receptionist's desk and I cried all the way home. I cried
all night last night and even now as I type this I find myself
crying again. I am so overwhelmed and so touched and so grateful
and so astounded that I still just cannot believe it.
I've attached 2 pictures of Baby so that you and your readers
can see just how precious she really is. The first picture was
taken last week on the day after I received her. The second picture
was taken today. She is the size of a 2 month old kitten even
though she is really 3 1/2 months old. The parasite she had was
absorbing all food that she was eating and it left her with no
nutrients to grow on. She is a very special kitten and she has
many, many Aunts who have adopted her and who will always hold
the most special place in my heart.
Even if you can't or don't want to include this story in your
newsletter, I at least wish to thank you for taking the time to
read it. Welcome Back Home Ms. Janie!!
Love, Jodi & Baby.
