SARDS:

This is Sarah,, our sweet gentle girl. We adopted her from the rescue and she came with problems. She was frightened of just about everything and it took us about two years to lead her to be confident enough to overcome her fears. Her prior owner had threatened to shoot her for an infraction and she was whisked away to an overcrowded shelter. She was then transported from Missouri to Colorado where we adopted her from the rescue. 

I think of her today as if her prior life wasn't bad enough she suddenly went blind in both eyes. We rushed her in to the vet who turned down the lights in the room to look into her eyes and she reported that both retinas had fully detached and were floating free in her eyes. (Sudden Acquired Retina Detachment Syndrome). SARDS

The vet consulted a specialist and was told they would never reattach again and she would be blind the remainder of her life.  If her underlying fears were not enough - to suddenly go totally blind they were amplified by this sudden blindness. 

She had been chasing a chipmunk in the back yard earlier that day and suddenly she couldn't see. They thought it was due to high blood pressure. We started training her how to navigate without sight but she would have panic attacks so we were always by her side to keep her from getting hurt. 

I did a blog about her condition and a lady wrote me and said her dog had the same thing and she gave her bilberry and her sight was restored in a limited capacity. I left immediately for the 50 mile drive to town and bought her a bottle of bilberry. I gave her one a day for 2 1/2 weeks. 

We had been praying for restoration of sight along with many other people and sure enough one day we thought she could actually see. We took her right in to the vet again and tests revealed she could see again and her retina's had reattached. Our vet called the specialist to confirm her findings and was told he had neve known of a dog whose sight was restored with this condition. We all concluded it was a miracle. There was no other explanation. 

So on this day - the day her sight left her - I think of Sarah and what a brave girl she became and how we helped her deal with it. We put scent on corners where she could possibly get hurt and bubble wrap on anything she might bump up against. We used a short leash when we took her outside and she was making great strides when her sight was suddenly restored. 

When the chips were down Sarah sure did step up to the challenge and showed her true courage. I sure miss that girl as she was an inspiration to all who knew her.