Hi, Im new here....First, let me tell you about Lilly..She was a Silky Terrier and the BEST dog ive EVER had! She was with us 7 wonderful years! In December of 2003, she was attacked by a family members pit bull. I was 8 mos pregnant at the time...My dad took her and rushed her to the vet ..she had numerous wounds, and one that the vet described as amazing...Her juggular(sp) vein in her neck was completely exposed..he said it was as if someone had taken a scalpel and removed all the tissue from around it..and that if it had even be nicked, she would have bled out...But it wasnt..I was so thankful..i had hope after he told me that...she also got a hernia in her tummy right by her back legs...well, amazingly, she fully recovered ON HER OWN from the would in her neck..with no surgery at all! She had to have surgery for the hernia...she came out of it all with flying colors! After a couple of weeks, she was back to normal..running and playing, just as if nothing had happened...Then in June, she started acting a little funny, she couldnt hold food or water down, but it seemed to only happen after she had a little bit of a bone (which i found out dogs should NEVER eat bones)...on June 27th, this happened again..this time it was different than before, she was breathing different, shaking and she whined all night..of course i stayed up with her by her side..since this was a sunday night, no vets were open...so come the next morning, i took her to the vet for what i thought might have been a bone stuck somewhere inside of her tummy...she was very quiet, she usually shook and got upset at vet visits, but she just layed there on my lap waiting her turn...they took us back, took x-rays, blood work, etc...didnt know what was wrong for sure and wanted to do an exploratory surgery which i gratefully agreed to...me and my kids went home and sat by the phone...finally the vet called and said when they opened her up, they found that 26" of her large intestine was completely dead and black...they had to remove it..and said it would be a long and hard road for her to recover...but gave us hope anyways...he said it was due to her first surgery..that sometimes, after an animal has surgery, tissue forms around the wound...well it did and her intestine somehow became lodged behind this tissue, which acted like a turnicut and cut off all circulation... after her surgery, she stayed the night of course..i got up first thing the next morning and called to see if we could come visit her...so we did...the vet then told me that her stomach became distended(swelled) and was sensitive to the touch and she was vomiting fluid and he wanted to go back in for a 3rd surgery to see what was going on...i said by all means, do what you can to save her, but i was worried at the same time for having them go back in so soon...again, we went home and waited by the phone..he asked me was i going to be home in the next couple of hours...well, an hour after we were home, the phone rang...i KNEW what it was before i answered it...he went on to tell me that where the intestine was attached back together was leaking and thats what she was vomiting was the fluid from that....and that after they put her under to do surgery, she went into arrest, they were able to bring her back...and when they went further with the surgery, she went into arrest again and they couldnt save her...I am so heartbroken over this, there are no words...we had her for 4 years before we had kids...she was our BABY..we took her everywhere we went..she ate what we did..she was like a human child to me...her whole 7 yrs, she only stayed in a kennel overnight twice! other than the vet.... my problem is, i have a 4 year old that is just as heartbroken as i am...we go anywhere and he says, look mama, i see Lilly in the clouds ..and it just kills me... I just dont know what to do with myself to get past this..I had her cremated because i just cant stand the thought of her not being with me...i would wake up every morning by her licking my feet as to say..mama get up, i need outside...she was so smart and anyone that knew her fell in love with her...even all the vets she'd ever been to would say they just loved her...she was the best thing that ever happened to me...she died on June 29th 2004....and i just cant deal with her being gone...i really need help..i blame myself for all that happened to her..if i had not let her out alone that morning, that dog wouldnt have attacked her!!!! im so sad and angry at the same time!!! how do i move on to the healing process?? im not sure if i can...but im asking for any kind of help anyone has...my heart physically hurts when i realize shes not coming back...im just taken over by grief...i dont know how to heal...please help....