Priceless.

Since I've started working at the hospital, Brownie and I have been visiting the floors I'm more familiar with and neglecting some others.  We remedied that on Friday and visited my favorite, the ICU.  Brownie has fans on that unit; the nurses have been missing her.  We saw three patients there.  One woman had a head injury and smiled when she saw Brownie.  The patient's limbs weren't obeying her brain very well, but she would set her hand on Brownie's head and smile.  Brownie's soft ears under her fingers made her happy.  I think, especially in the ICU, that the tactile sensation of petting a dog is soothing.  When machines are beeping and tubes are everywhere, petting a dog is a bit of the real world.

Our next patient in the ICU was a quadraplegic woman.  Her nurse invited Brownie right up onto the patient's bed.  The patient wanted her picture taken with Brownie.  She had the nurse help her pet Brownie.  The patient couldn't feel Brownie under her hand, but wanted the nurse to help her anyway.   I won't soon forget the smile on this patient's face as her nurse moved the patient's limp hand over Brownie's head.  Brownie was so good, she just laid on the patien'ts lap. 

I was on another forum this morning and read a thread started by a woman who met up with her dog's former owner at the DQ.  She received the emaciated and frightened little dog from someone who treated the pup like trash.  I thought of the person who dumped Brownie by the side of the road in the middle of winter in Indiana.  That person obviously thought Brownie was worthless, and boy has Brownie proven him or her wrong.  Those two woman in the ICU thought Brownie was priceless.