As I attempt to organize all the thoughts swirling around in my mind, I need to sequence them in some sort of order. Ginger just turned seven in late October. The first half of her life was spent happy as a hyperactive Irish Setter. And then it happened. She started with all sorts of medical issues. Off we went to Purdue Veterinary Hospital. In the ensuing years, Ginger and I have driven to PVH so many times in the last half of her life I can’t remember how many times we went there.

This article has to do with the first and last visits. Our first visit to PVH was because Ginger had stopped eating for a couple of days. When I got there, they took Ginger to the emergency room. It was then that I met Dr. Derrè. I was told to leave Ginger there, and he would call me in the next couple of days. I returned home, fearing that Ginger wouldn’t make it.

Dr. Derrè called the following day about moving Ginger into the ICU. Ginger still wasn’t eating, and she was moved to the ICU, which allowed them to feed her intravenously. That evening, while Ginger was still being fed through her IV, she still wouldn’t eat. Before going home late in the evening, Dr. Derrè knew he needed her to eat. He tried again with a small amount of food. After a few minutes, Ginger ate some food.

Dr. Derrè called me the next day to relate Ginger’s progress. I could pick her up that afternoon. That was three years ago. This section took place recently. The staff at PVH were attempting to change her medicines. It was a long process of weaning her off some prescription drugs and adding a new drug. That process took a couple of months, which included getting monthly blood samples.

On my last visit, it was similar to all the recent trips. A student at PVH would take us into an exam room and ask about Ginger. They wanted an update on her progress. Then, I could leave the hospital for several hours, which I did. Ginger would go through blood tests and an examination by one of the doctors. I returned to the hospital, and it wasn’t long before Dr. Derrè appeared. I hadn’t seen him since my first trip to PVH.

I again told Dr. Derrè about being extremely concerned about whether Ginger would make it the first time we met. As I was attempting to pull myself together emotionally, he saved Ginger’s life several years ago. As I babbled on, Dr. Derrè took off his stethoscope and showed it to me. I didn’t see what his stethoscope had to do with Ginger.

Dr. Derrè realized that I hadn’t seen what was on his stethoscope. So, he pointed to an evil eye that was tied to his stethoscope. I had given him the evil eye when I picked up Ginger a few years ago. He attached it to his stethoscope. During the past couple of years, a part of the evil eye broke off, but he didn’t want to remove it. Before I left, I gave him one of the evil eyes from my jacket.

As Ginger and I returned to Crown Point, I thought about how happy we were. When we got home, I went to Amazon and ordered a Himalayan salt lamp. A week later, I called PVH and told them I had a gift for Dr. Derrè. Ginger and I arrived just before the regular closing time. I told the front desk who I was, and they called him to the waiting area.

Ginger was ecstatic to see Dr. Derrè again. It took her ten minutes to settle down. It was as if Ginger wanted to say, “I really appreciate your caring for me.”

Ginger’s gift was heartfelt, but she would rather Dr. Derrè put the Himalayan salt lamp down and just play with her.

This is a short clip of Ginger and her excitement.

A couple of days later, Dr. Derrè sent a thank you note and included a picture of the salt lamp on his nightstand and his cat silhouetted in front of it.

I showed Ginger Dr. Derrè’s photos, and she suggested taking a picture of her in our bedroom nightlight.