We Almost Lost Our Baby

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As some of you already know, our beloved kitty Anna Belle was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism back in mid July. We started her on a daily regimen of medication for this, as prescribed. All seemed to be going well, until the week of July 28th. My daughter in law was visiting for the day, and I mentioned to her that I hadn't seen Anna Belle roaming around the house as usual that day. We checked up on her, and found her laying beneath the rocking chair in my bedroom. She didn't seem to be herself. However, by the end of the day, she was downstairs and eating normally. We gave her the thyroid meds for the next couple of evenings, and I found that she'd vomited each morning after this. I decided to discontinue the medication the next day, as the bottle warned to watch out for a possible toxic reaction. I phoned the vet the following morning, and she agreed with my decision. We were heading into our holiday weekend here, and as per the vet's instructions, I was to withhold the meds for the next four days, and call her back on the Tuesday morning. Saturday August 2nd started out as a normal day, with my daughter and I both home. We were both downstairs, when we heard our kitty vomit in the upstairs hall. I didn't think too much of this, as she's always had a very sensitive tummy. A short while later, she vomited again, and again, and again. I counted a total of around fifteen times. The last time, she threw up some blood. I knew something had to be done. Since it was the holiday weekend, our regular vet wasn't in. I managed to locate an Emergency Animal Hospital, phoned them, and they said to bring her right in. I enlisted my friend and fellow pet lover, to help me. I had no idea 'our girl' was so sick, as the whole thing escalated really fast. She was in bad shape when we got her there. If I hadn't realized what was happening, we would've lost her that weekend. They had to admit her, as she was severely dehydrated from all of the vomiting. She also needed a series of tests. She was there overnight for two nights, and was administered a variety of medications through IV. We brought her home on the Monday morning, although she wasn't eating or drinking (yet). The bill was extremely high, but thankfully a member of our family helped out with this. We'll be paying her back over time. Fast forward to today, and she's still on a diet of special cat food, and won't take enough water on her own to keep her hydrated. She'll only lap up a very small amount, so we're giving her water with a syringe. She really hates having the water squirted into her mouth. We're also almost finished a two week prescription of antibiotics. The diagnosis has nothing to do with her thyroid condition. The tests show she had a severe case of pancreatitus. This sometimes happens with older cats. She'll be twelve in December, and we've had her since my daughter was six. She's a very important member of our family, and we love her so much. I hope and pray that she'll make a full recovery, and we'll have her with us for a long time to come. We've been told the condition could reoccur, and if so, we'd have to take a serious look at her quality of life, etc. This is the first I've been 'able' to talk about it here, as it's been an extremely upsetting time. Do/did you have a pet that's an important member of your family? Has your pet ever been seriously ill? Did it cause you to realize (even more) just how special they are?