I became an angel today...

I became an angel today. Mom thought long & hard about what would be the best thing for me. It wasn't an easy decision, but she did what she felt was right. I became an angel today. Today I am able to run again, to chase those squirrels again. I became an angel today. Today I am free of the pain that was taking over my body. I became an angel today. Today my mom gave me the gift of selfless love and granted me peace. I became an angel today. Today is my first day at the rainbow bridge and I get to spend time with my beloved sister Annie. I became an angel today.

Lost my spark

Mom is getting really worried about me. I sprained my right front leg Monday night. I got pain meds yesterday to help me cope with that. Well, when mom got home yesterday evening I was having problems with my left rear leg. Let me tell you, it's hard for a dog to get up using only two legs. Mom's been helping me up, but when mom is a work... well, it isn't pleasant.

Mom is thinking that my time is getting near, I've sort of lost my spark. Mom is still doing everything she can to keep me comfortable and she's keeping a close watch on me, or at least as close as she can. She says she just wants me to be happy & comfortable, never in pain or suffering.

Ouch

I went back to the vet again this morning. When I turned around too fast last night (I was afraid I might miss a treat), I slipped & fell. At first I seemed like I was okay, but by this morning my right front leg was hurting & I was limping. My muscles are really weak due to the cancer & using only 3 legs makes it very hard for me to get around. Mom wanted to make sure that I had only sprain my leg & that it wasn't something worse. So, Dr Kris hooked me up with some mild pain meds. Hopefully that will ease the pain in my leg so I can use it a little. She seems to think that I'm doing as good as I possibly can under the circumstances. I am eating lots of food, so that is a plus!

No good options

Mom discussed my options with Dr Kris today. Unfortunately it doesn't seem that there really is a good one. They had looked at doing the oral chemo, which would mean monthly treatments. The cost would be about $250 per month, possibly more if they had to do additional blood work. And this option still has the risk of making me very sick. I'm already weak and mom didn't think the risks were worth the gain. The oral chemo might give me an extra 6 months while the vet feels that the prednisone that I'm currently trying will give me around 3 months without as many risks. Right now mom feel that this is what will be best for me considering that the lymphoma seems to be pretty aggressive and advanced. The bright point is that mom has been given the go ahead to let me eat what ever I want, no more special diet for my kidneys. As long as I limit my fats to reduce the chance of another pancreatitis bout, then happy feasting to me. So to start off, I had french fries for dinner last night and this morning I had a bowl of warm oatmeal! Perfect for a chilly morning!!

Well it's been a while...

Well it has been a while since I last wrote in my diary. Seems like I only write about not so good things. And today is no different. I got some really bad news today.

You see, it started like this. I have been eating just like normal, but mom noticed that I was starting to lose weight. She added some yummy stuff to my meals, but that didn't put the weight back on. Then mom noticed some new knots up under my chin, near my neck. These knots started getting bigger. Then last night I got sick to my stomach. I kept mom up most of the night with my illness (she's also got lots of laundry to do now BOL!). Well, that was it she decided, we were not going to wait until the weekend for me to see the doctor.

Mom dropped me off at the vet's office & spoke with Dr. Kris. They decided to sample one of my lymph nodes to see if I had a big infection or if I had the "c" word. Unfortunately there was no sign of infection in my slides, so that left only one thing... cancer.

Mom is currently looking at our options to see what will be best for me. She wants to make sure that I'm comfortable and not in any pain. For now I guess we will play it by ear and see how things go.

The safest place

We had some nasty thunderstorms roll though our area yesterday afternoon. Auntie neighbor heard the thunder and let us inside the house so we wouldn't be scared.

I've always been afraid of storms. I guess they remind me of gunshots or something. Anyway, I always look for a safe place to hide.

My favorite hiding spot during storms(when mom isn't home)is the bath tub. Isn't that were the old school instructional videos always told you to hide when a tornado or something was coming?? Mom doesn't know if I've seen one of those old tapes or not, but somehow I've figured out that the bath tub is a pretty good hiding spot.

When mom got home yesterday, she noticed that the bath rug was dirty and wrinkled up. Then she pulled back the shower curtain and saw my dirty paw prints all over the bottom of the tub. She just shook her head and said that "the old girl sure knows the safest place to hide."

Adoption 2010 Contest

What does adoption mean to me? To me it means getting a second or even third chance at having a family. Truthfully my mom is my third chance at a family. And I am grateful for having that third time is a charm chance.

Here's my story. It is a little long, but it does partially cover my 3 homes.

When my mom bought her home, she saw me peeking around the edge of the house when she toured the home. When she had her final walk-through, the previous owners were there and finishing up their packing. I was looking in though the deck door. The previous owners asked mom if she wanted a dog and sort of laughed. She thought they were joking and just said that she planned on eventually getting a dog. (Mom has always had dogs.)

Turns out those people were not joking! They moved off and left me in the yard! Mom couldn't believe someone would do something like that. They did ask another neighbor to feed & water me, but those people didn't take care of me and I was living in mom's yard. Mom couldn't stand to see me hungry, so she bought a big bag of food & started feeding me & making sure I had plenty of water to drink (it was summer and hot).

Mom's boyfriend did not want to keep me. I would jump up and plant my front feet right in the middle of anyone's chest. Turns out I was left behind because my former owners decided I was "uncontrollable". Mom told her boyfriend that I wasn't a bad dog, that she could fix me and she wanted to keep me. He didn't believe her at the time. But he's a believer now :-)

She did "fix me". The only thing wrong with me was the lack of attention. Within a week, I had stopped my uncontrollable jumping and would sit nicely when someone came outside. During this time, mom discovered that I knew full obedience commands and she was positive that the former home owners did not teach me those.

Mom found some paperwork that the former owners had left behind. It was my adoption paperwork. They had adopted me from a shelter when I was a young dog, less than a year old. They were my second chance at a home & family... and they had given up on me, just like my first family.

Mom isn't real sure about my first family. She does know that they must have been the ones who taught me the obedience. The best that she can piece together of my story and based on my breed make-up, they wanted to use me for hunting. This would explain my obedience skills and pointing abilities. What it didn't explain was how I ended up in the shelter in the first place. Mom figured that one out... I'm gun shy. Fireworks and gun shots terrify me. A hunting dog can not be afraid of guns, so this must be how I ended up in the shelter. Mom is glad that my first family was good enough to take me to a shelter where I would at least have a chance at finding a new family. In my case, I found two more families, and now have my forever home.

This is what adoption means to me, a loving, forever home. One where they don't give up on you, no matter what!

Home Again

Mom took a long lunch today and picked me up at the vet's office. It sure is great to be home again :-) Now I just have to work on getting my strength & appetite back. Friends have been hooking mom & me up with others who have had the pancreatitis problem. Now mom is thinking up questions to ask those wonderful people!

Improving

I am improving. Mom stopped by the vets office to see me before she went to work. She took me outside to potty & I was ready to head on to the 4Runner. Unfortunately, I had to go back inside the office and go back into my cage.

Dr Kris called about 20 minutes ago with my morning update. No fever! Hooray!! They gave me a little food to eat, to see if I could keep it down. I amused the staff with my eating antics. If they placed my bowl on the cage floor, I tried to hide it under my blanket. If they held the bowl up for me, then I would eat.

If everything continues to improve, I should be going home soon. Mom & I are hoping for tonight, but if not then, then probably tomorrow.

Waiting

That's what we are currently doing, just waiting. I spent the night at the vet's office so I could continue to receive fluids & pain medicine. On my last phone update, I was acting more comfortable, so that's a definite improvement. Dr. Rick sent some blood out to a different lab last night, we should have those results in sometime today. That test should let us know how my pancreas is doing. It's possible that it might be irritated and causing me problems. I eat a special diet, so it wouldn't be the food causing it. Doc says sometimes "special" dogs just pop up and have the problem all on their own. We'll see if I'm one of those "special" dogs later today.

My morning update from the vet: The results are not back yet on the blood work and I've spiked a fever. Currently my temp is 104*. Continuing the fluids, pain meds & antibiotics until we hear from the lab.