Jack in Hospital

   Jack is in the hospital. Yesterday he just sat in the chair. He would walk around and around in circles (in the chair). You could tell he was really in pain. I tried to get him to go outside, and he wouldn't move. I picked him up, and carried him out to pee, and he just squatted and peed like a girl. He took a few steps, and the diarrhea just poured out (not that you really needed to know that).
   I came in and called the vet. He told me that Jack was having some SERIOUS problems. He told me there wasn't much he could do with just office visits, that jack REALLY needed to spend the night. I find out then that he had wanted to keep him the night before, but SHERRILL told him NO.
  I told the vet, "My dog is going to die today or tomorrow if you don't do something! I promised to bring him in, and told him to keep him for as long as he needed.
  To make a long story a little shorter, he did X-rays, and saw a blockage of some sort. He was about ready to do surgery, but I suggested holding off until Jack could eat something to see if it would pass through. All they had was dog food, and you all know Jack DOES NOT eat dog food. The vet asked what I had planned to feed him for dinner, and I told him I had his chicken ready. He asked it I would put it in a tupperware container and bring it in.  I carried it in and gave it to them.
  Within a couple of hours the vet had called and said he had given Jack an enema, and a two inch green plastic toy or something had come out, along with a lot of hair. I told him yes, Jack licks his legs and feet like a cat, and I was sure he had plenty of hairballs. As for as the toy, I had no idea, unless it could have been part of a baby's pacifier.
  The vet called 5 or 6 times yesterday, each time suggesting possible surgery. The last time he called last night Jack still had not eaten, still had something in his intestines, and would decide this morning what to do. Then I had to have "the talk" with Sherrill. Jack is old, how much do you want to put him through, and how much do you want to spend? Oh me, I was the devil then. Sherrill told me he would sell everything he had to keep Jack alive. I explained that surgery could actually kill him, but again he emphasized he wanted Jack alive at all costs.  OK, I got that message loud and clear.
  This morning the vet called (he calls like every 2 to 3 hours) and said Jack had eaten all the chicken they had given him. He was up waking around, and had even had a bowel movement. The vet said he put on his gloves, and went through ALL of his poop. He said it was full of hair, sand, etc. He asked me if there was a reason he would be eating sand. I told him yes, that Jack like to lick the ground where he can smell someone else had been. That paired with the toy he had eaten, and all the hair, just about did "ole Jack" in. He said the last  X-ray looks pretty clear, but he wants to keep him all day today to watch him.
  I called Sherrill with the good news. I know that will make his day just a little better.
  In the meantime the vet told me that Jack has "nipped" everyone there. They have to put a blanket over him to pick him up. Yesterday as I was leaving him, the young girl came to pick him up, and when she bent down, he tried to bite her. She asked me to pick him up. I was quick to tell her. "I'm not picking him up, you pick him up." She told me,"He will bite me, you pick him up". I told her he would bite me too! She went and got a towel to pick him up, and politely told me,"This is how I had to get him yesterday!" So, as usual, Jack is giving them hell wherever he goes!