Plateaus and beyond
In animal rehab, as in many areas of life (such as writing - of course I would go there!) we hit plateaus. After making steady progress, things just seem to stall. Often they come in clumps, which makes it harder. A bird with an injured leg heals to the point of standing up, but can't navigate a perch. A little screech owl with a wing fractured in two places and a broken femur suddenly develops neurologic symptoms and all attempts to correct it fail. A bunny hit by a car refuses to eat.
We wait for that next step, fighting the erosion of hope. "You can do it!" we tell them. "Don't give up. We beliieve in you. Keep going, keep trying. You've come too far to quit now!"
And then, at the point of despair, we wake up one morning to discover the bunny is now eating, the owl's torticollis is better, the robin is not only using her perch, she's also splashing in her water. We breathe a huge sigh of relief and thank whatever powers that be for the resilience and strength that provided the push forward everyone so desperately needed.
I guess sometimes we all need those plateaus. Time to sit and gather strength for another big push. Time to decide whether or not we can do it, whether or not we want to do it, to decide if the pain is worth the extra effort. But isn't it a glorious feeling when you reach that milestone?