Page 981 - Total War on PTSD

somebody has got your back. You don't have to look over your shoulder all of the time anymore."
That's why we are training Maggie to take over for Sam. When Sam is okay to go out with me, when he isn't hurting, then we will go out. When he wants to rest or just stay home, then I'll be able to take Maggie with me instead. Sam used to be my alarm clock. Every morning he would get up on the bed. I was lying in bed and all covered up, and all of a sudden, I could feel his breath on the side of my face. He wouldn't touch me; he'd just lay there. If he caught my eye, he'd know I made it through the night and it was all was good with the world again. He'd get on his back and look over at me, and then he'd 'talk' to me, a lot like Siberian Huskies do, and he'd show me his teeth and growl at me, and go on like that for ten minutes or so, and then it was time to get up...to get out of bed. Well, Maggie has taken that over. She is sleeping in the bed with us. When it's time to get up around 5:30a.m., she just comes over and sticks her big wet nose in my ear. If you have a dog sticking their wet nose in your ear you know you're apt to get up. The older Sam has gotten...he likes to sleep late sometimes. He doesn't sleep on the bed as much.
We got him one of those memory foam dog beds and I put it down on my side of the bed, and that's where he sleeps most of the time now. With his back legs kind of hurting it's harder for him to jump up on the bed anymore. I have some steps at the foot of the bed so he can still get up on the bed...but he doesn't get up there like he used to. Maggie can jump from flat footed to like five feet in the air, so jumping on the bed is no big deal to her.
Concerning veterinary expenses, the VA told me that they will only pay if the dog was for blindness or hearing loss. They said that, the dog being for PTSD, they will not cover anything. They believe that medication will treat PTSD. They just want to throw another pill at it. When I started with Sam, I was taking between 15 and 17 pills a day. Now I only take three pills a day.
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