“Dogs are miracles with paws.” – Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

This is easy for most people to think about, but on December 31, 2011, we thought that we would lose
our miracle. For so many years, Diogee, our 9 year old Lhasa Apso, had been our miracle. We thought that
our miracle would be leaving us on that New Year’s Eve.

While on a walk around our neighborhood, Diogee grabbed a piece of a bone. We quickly took the bone
away, but Diogee got sick soon afterwards. The vet thought that he had gotten a piece of bone and
swallowed it. They took x-rays and everything else. Diogee was put on an injectable pain medication and
multiple pills.

After leaving the vet office, we thought that our miracle would be with us forever, but that amazing
thought was shattered as soon as we got home. Nothing was helping. He was still in pain, screaming,
moaning and vomiting. During the many vet visits in the following weeks, several different techniques were
tried. We tried acupressure, laser treatments, and many pain killer/muscle relaxers. Nothing seemed to be
helping our miracle get any better. We couldn’t let our miracle suffer any longer. After making the longest
and most emotional drive of our lives, the vet convinced us to put him in the pet hospital for the weekend.
Then we noticed that our other two miracles, Tanner, our 4 year old Chihuahua and Bodine, our 13 month Chihuahua, were starting to exhibit similar symptoms to those of Diogee. Our hearts dropped.

On Monday, we went to the vet office to pick him up. Diogee was under the influence of the pain killers,
but would be coming home for the night. On Tuesday, we made the drive to Eugene to see Patricia. Patricia
had been recommended by our vet and was the best recommendation ever. Patricia determined that Diogee
was tied up with gluten. She worked on Diogee for a little over an hour. When we entered Patricia’s office,
we were carrying the sickest miracle that anyone has ever seen. When we walked out of Patricia’s office,
Diogee was walking, bouncing, and wagging his tail. We took him home and he ate his food, something he
hadn’t done since he got sick.

About a week later, Bodine went to see Patricia. After Patricia determined that he was also reacting to
gluten, she worked on our miracle for an hour. Bodine, being a puppy, is always energetic and bouncing.
After Patricia was done working on him, he was sleeping and totally relaxed. Since our other dog, Tanner,
was also showing some vague symptoms of the same disorder, Patricia tended to Tanner once, and he has
since been a very calm miracle.

Our three miracles are now on a gluten-free diet and living life to the fullest. Our lives would not be the
same without our miracles and Patricia’s expertise.

Kathi Hannaford