I'm so devastated right now I don't know if I'll use the right words. At 8:30 this morning my Hercules passed away. He was diagnosed with a ruptured disk that was pinching a nerve two and half weeks ago. It made his back legs quit working. He was given medication and I was told that he would recover to a certain point but not 100%. He would still live a quality life though. That made me so happy that my baby was going to be alright. Surgery wouldn't do him any good at this point but I was positive he'd do just fine. Over the last two weeks he did great. Herci walked kind of funny but he got along. He didn't mind mommy having to carry him all around. I didn't mind either. But on Sunday it seemed he couldn't get comfortable. I wasn't worried because the next day on Monday he was due for his weekly follow up appointment with his Dr. Herci was little lack of energy and I told the Dr. He said that as long as he was eating, drinking and going to the bathroom he was fine. But by night time he seemed to get a bit worse. I just figured I'd have to take him back to the Dr. in the morning. By 5:30 AM Wednesday he was throwing up blood and his gums and tongue were pale white. I rushed him to the emergency hospital. They did some blood work and it didn't look good. They stablized him and I got him to his Dr. when their office opened up. To make a long story short his Dr. kept him over night. By this morning he had passed away. There was nothing he could do. What had happened was the Dr. thought Herci had a tumor or an ulceration in his stomach and the medicine he was taking for his ruptured disk exasperated it. The tumor or ulceration bled into his stomach and that's why he was throwing up blood. And as the night went on his body shut down. The Dr. nor I had any idea he had any tumor or ulceration. He never showed any signs. He was healthy except for his ruptured disk. I know Hercs Dr. wouln't have prescribed him any medicine if he knew this might happen. I know he did the best job. In fact there's two blessings here. One, I didn't have to make the decision to put him to sleep and two the ulceration or tumor in the long run would've probably caused Herci to suffer. The medication he was taking was Cortisone that probably caused the bleeding. The Dr. said the medication sped up what was going to happen already. But this way he didn't suffer and it wasn't prolonged. I don't know what to do. All I think about is how wonderful my days were to have him around. I don't work so we were around each other for 24 hrs. a day. He is a Bichon Frise. 14 yrs. old. We've had him since he was 10 yrs. old. I just can't believe he's not by my side. I know he's by my side spiritually. I miss him already and I really can't believe I won't get to see him again. I love him. I will always love him. I'm just in shock and I can't get him off my mind. I keep looking at pictures of him because I never want to forget what he looks like or what the touch of him feels like. I love you Herci and I know your by my side in spirit. Love you forever "Mama's Man". Carmen.