Retirement

This is a post Mom and I have gone back and forth about writing. But is part of both our lives, so we are sharing.
On Sunday night, while Mom was taking a bath, I went to my Uncle Andrew's room (after jumping the baby gate in Mom's room) and then ran to the bathroom door where Mom was. Mom opened the door and I already knew something was very wrong. Uncle Andrew followed behind me and found Mom obviously not doing well. Mom wasn't using her left leg, so he went and got Grandmom and Granddad. Mom's CRPS had spread to her left thigh and that left her unable to put much weight on that leg. Mom's thigh had been more swollen for a while, but Mom said she was in denial about it because was very scared of losing the use of her legs.
So now Mom is using a walker part of the time (which is very hard on her arms and leaves her in a lot of pain) and a wheelchair the rest of the time (which isn't as hard on her arms but doesn't give her leg any exercise). Mom knew this was a possibility but we all hoped it wouldn't happen.
This also affects me. Mom's balance is poor, it is hard for her to get her wheelchair started and she has many other problems. As everyone knows, I am a shelter dog and it is apparent that I was bred by a very irresponsible breeder, because my hips and knees aren't great...they are good enough for my regular service work and carrying a lightly loaded backpack though. But now Mom needs more than that. I could learn the new tasks she need, but Mom will never ever do anything that could possibly hurt me. So Mom is going to apply for a mobility service dog and I will retire and go back to being Mom's pet dog with Lola. We will still keep up the blog (after all, we have a lot of adventures here at the house) and we will let the new dog add some entries too.
Mom says that since I love people so much, we are going to get me certified as a therapy dog so I can go visit people at nursing homes and hospitals and make them feel better! I think that is a pretty fantastic job and am really excited to start!
Oh, and Lola says to tell y'all that she will be writing a post Thursday or Friday, so everyone get ready! (Silly little sister!)