Good Riddance July

I'm ready for July to be over.  And never repeat itself again because it's not welcome in this household.  Thankfully Abbytail is doing well.  We adjusted her medication about a week and a half ago, so she doesn't have such drastic muscle weakness that made it hard for her to stand up on her own.  I don't worry about her falling over trying to go potty now.  She's doing alright.  Her red blood count went down slightly today, but we are watching it close.  She is ACTING normal.  Whew.

One week ago today, we brought my son home from the doggy hospital.  Yes, that's right, our other beloved pup went to the same emergency specialist animal hospital in Kansas that his sister had just spent almost a week. 

It all happened the Saturday before last.  About 10 or 11pm, Keystone started standing up and circling and sitting down.  Only to immediately get up and try to settle down 2 feet from where he just sat down.  He could NOT get comfortable.  It was like sitting or laying down hurt him.  We didn't know what was going on, because that is so unlike our laid back boy.  Then he started retching.  He kept trying to vomit, with no results.  I felt so bad for him.  I didn't know what to do. We felt helpless.  After frantically and fruitlessly coming up with no good answers (and having a mental breakdown at midnight), we went to bed.  The stuff I was finding on the Internet made me want to drive right then and there to VCA (Mission Medvet).  After what I found out the next day, I should have taken him immediately, but it all worked out just fine--so I am ONE VERY LUCKY DOG OWNER.  If I had it to do over again, I would have driven RIGHT AWAY to the specialists, and not taken the risk.

Keystone had a gastric torsion.  His stomach rotated, and twisted on itself.  He was also bloated which probably happened and then his tummy twisted.  From what I understand, a dog can have bloating without a torsion, but if there is a torsion, there is bloating.  This site lists the symptoms Keystone experienced.  I don't know which of the sites I added here are reputable, but they all have good points on symptoms and what to look for--please check them out if you have anything bigger than a purse pup.  Especially if your baby is a male.

On Sunday morning, I called our vet, you know, since I have his after hours number on speed dial.  He met us at the office and took an x-ray.  As he was sending us immediately to the specialists, he took a blood sample and was running tests so that the hospital could have the results by the time we arrived.  I love my local vet.  He and his wife were both there on that Sunday, caring for other animals who had issues and had to stay.  I jokingly told them I was going to have to put them on my Christmas card list.  But it actually wasn't a joke.

We were lucky with Keystone.  They were able to operate right away.  They fixed his tummy and "tacked" it to the walls of his abdomen so he will never experience this again.  While in there, the surgeon said that his spleen was fine, so that did not have to be removed (splenectomy is common with this disease).  His stomach was not black anywhere, so nothing had to be cut out and removed.  And best of all, his liver and other organs that could be seen by the Doc looked just fine.  I was petrified with fear that when they opened him up, he'd be one big metropolis of cancer masses.  But I should not have fretted--they saw nothing of the kind.  All of his lumps and bumps, are just lumps and bumps.  At least so far.

It's hard to believe this is what Keystone looked like just the week before his tummy did a somersault:

Where's my chauffeur?

Keystone after he got home from the vet, resting one evening while I was still working.  Amazingly, I was still productive with my typing.

Mommy's lap boy

It's hard to believe that both of my babies have had major health issues and faced serious life-threatening diseases within a span of 3 weeks.  The other amazing fact?  Their litter-mate, Baxter, had to have a full ACL replacement last week.  We wish my God-dogson/their brother Baxter all our love and a speedy, painless recovery.

Enough with the health issues already!

Here are the kids now at home recovering

Matching war wounds: shaved bellies and hairless armbands

 

Cheers to a healthy August and good riddance July.

Freedom

Here is a riddle for you.

What requires:

• OVER a year

• 3 buyers and 4 offers (not counting counter offers)

• Correspondence and several calls to a senators office, not once but... TWICE

• Countless DAILY calls from me to check progress/status

• The involvement of someone from the office of the CEO/president of one of the companies

• One very used Trac phone

• A miracle of pulling off notarized documents with 3 business hours of opportunity left on the last day (seriously, they HAD to see this coming?!?)

• Stress of sweating it over papers clearing customs

• The relentlessness of a bone-or-ball-obsessed dog (who doesn't know how to quit)

• The patience of a saint

• And a check I've been dying to write

Answer: my freedom

Finally the albatross is gone.

Abbytail Chillaxing

Update:  Let me define my use of the term "fantastic".  This to me means: eating, going to the bathroom outside, and not looking like "I don't feel good" 100% of the time.  After what she went through last week, this is fantastic.  She's still very sick, but this is going to take some time.


Howdy!  You may be wondering how Abby is doing? 

Well let me tell you, she is doing FANTASTIC!  This little girl is amazing.  We took her in to have blood work done yesterday.  The last Red Blood Cell count we got before we brought her home was 24, which was fairly decent considering how far it had fallen previously.

Yesterday they ran two tests.  The first one was...  are you ready?  Are you sure?  It was THIRTY-ONE!  And the second test was even BETTER!  It was THIRTY-FOUR!!!!

This means that she is really getting better.  We knew she is acting and looking better but this proves she is physically getting better.  Her blood is still a bit "yellow" so she's still sick, but she's so much better.  She's getting smarter about taking her pills too.  Todd and I will just have to get more creative.  She has many more months of pills to take.

She is SO HAPPY to be home.  And we are thrilled to BE home with her too.  Just wanted to give you a quick update.  Thanks for all your thoughts and well wishes.  I truly appreciate them!

Abby hopped up and relaxed yesterday!

Wow, I have some dead leaves to clean up soon....

Abbytail: The Homecoming

Our Abbytail took us on a dramatic roller coaster ride this past week.  We are exhausted and completely worn out.  We are also hopeful, excited, and thankful to be home at last.  We brought our little girl home.

Abby has fought a battle with IMHA and so far, she has been able to put up a great fight.  We still have a long road ahead of us with her continued recovery.  Thankfully we took her to the best place possible for care, VCA Mission Animal Referral and Emergency Center (formerly Mission Medvet).  They have great doctors and technicians.  Abby received 24 hour care.  She went up and down battling this horrible disease, and there were 2 times I was expecting the worst.  Then I would wake up and go visit her and find out that she has rallied.  She has fought so hard, she has made herself better.


We will continue working hard to make sure she stays better.  It's possible that she could have a relapse.  We will never know what caused this to happen.  It was not a tick.  It is going to take 6 months or more for her to be completely off her medications.  Until then, we'll continue to baby our baby.  You haven't even seen spoiled yet.  ;-)


Throughout our horrible battle, we had awesome friends supporting us along the way.  Many of you sent emails or called.  Suzie & Kevin loaned us a car so we'd go eat and they watched Keystone when we needed.  Suzie reminded me to take a shower, which I hadn't even thought about doing but felt so much better once I had.  Ray & Becky gave Abby a tomato in hopes that she would eat.  They all came by to bolster our spirits. 


We stayed with Suzie & Kevin one night, then the rest of the time, we slept in our RV behind the facilities (where Keystone could stay close to us as well).  Abby's "jail cell" was only big enough for one of us to sit/lie down with her at a time.  The other one of us would sit with the cage door open and sit right at the door.  Abby wasn't exactly trying to escape.  We usually tag teamed it, so one of us would be with Stones while the other would be with Abby.

 
It was so nice to be able to stay with Abby until I wanted to call it a night (usually around midnight).  I woke up around 8am and would head back in for the latest news.  They had no problem that "Abby's mom" or "Abby's dad" was there to visit all the time.  I got used to being called "mom", because I was often the only visitor there (besides Todd, of course, aka "dad").  We took her outside for potty breaks*, and we held her water bowl for her, and hand fed her.  She ate for us--and it took some coaxing to get her appetite back.  I truly don't think she would have fought so hard, if she hadn't had us right there beside her to help her through this.  The vet said she really perked up when we were there.  Once I heard that, I was in for the long haul.  Clean clothes are overrated.

*I wish you could have seen Keystone the first time he saw Abby in the middle of all this turmoil.  He gave her a royal sniffing over and was literally enthusiastic to be in the presence of his leader again.  It was very cute.  I think it helped him to understand what was going on, when they shared a potty break.

 
Here is Abby in her luxury suite:

Sad puppy not feeling well

We have our leader of the pack back.  She isn't going to be real energetic or aggressive for awhile, but we'll take it.  Having her here just sleeping is good enough for me.  She'll gain her strength back over time.  Before you know it, she'll be the boss again.

Things I've learned this past week:  Hug the ones you love, furry or human.  I think the extra hug grandma gave Abby last time she saw her had magical powers.  Never ever take them for granted, because you don't know when you'll loose them.  And treasure every minute you have with family and friends. 

One more thing, never pass up a chance to share a belly rub.

Happy tired puppy in one of her usual spots at home in the middle of the hallway.
Did someone order a belly rub?

Abby Update

UPDATE: I was very optimistic this morning when I posted the note below. In the meantime, Abby has started to decline. The blood transfusion she had 2 days ago helped until this afternoon when her body started fighting those red blood cells. Her number has dropped. She's still eating and drinking and we are trying a new drug since she's eating. Original post: Our awesome vet said it made a big difference having us visit every day and try to get Abby to eat. I am happy to say that after a very scary and unexpected decline, Abby has been on a steady road of recovery. I would say that we are out of the dark forest and on the edge of the sparse woods. We are not quite home free yet, but we are on our way. Abby's red blood cell count continues to be stable or rise, since it dipped so alarmingly low on July 4th. As of this morning, our vet is very excited about her progress to date. So we believe we should be taking our baby girl home tonight. Given that she remains stable, of course. I will have shots that I need to give her. Todd is out buying baby aspirin for her right now. I will post details someday about how damn scary this has been. This disease is actually not rare, and it does happen. I think knowing the signs might help other dog owners. I have said before that I donate blood to try to "pay it forward" to protect my family and friends. I believe karma just helped me out. Big time.

Elvis Will Be Back In The House

Happy 236th Birthday America!

I love the 4th of July.  I often vacillate between Thanksgiving and 4th of July being my very favorite holiday, because they have something in common for me.  I have always loved the 4th, with the exception of the past 5 years being in NV, and even then I loved the fact that fireworks were banned in NV*.  You might be wondering, how can the 4th be THAT special to me?  That is because the 4th of July has always meant "family" to me (just like Thanksgiving).  This would be the annual holiday when I could see most of my relatives in one place--my parents house.

*Yes, fireworks and the desert don't really go together, so it's the safest state to have your pup. We loved the fact that very few firecrackers were heard this time of year. Our dogs had no idea that in the rest of the country all the dogs were scared shitless.

Growing up in my teen years, my parents had a pool (now filled in and the house expanded over where the pool used to be), so our place was THE place to be for the 4th.  We'd swim all day, adults would drink all day, BBQ was consumed, and delicious desserts were shared.  At night, we'd do some fireworks, and everyone was happy.  I didn't appreciate it growing up--what teenager would?  But looking back, it was always fun.  As an adult, I realized I looked forward to that holiday more and more with each passing year, because I rarely got to see my aunts and uncles and cousins any other time of year.  It became a family reunion to me, and thus my favorite holiday.

When we moved to NV, it put an end to the party because it just became work for my parents.  Now that we are back, they've picked up the festivities again.  But sadly, we may not be there for it this year.  And that's OK.  We have something bigger happening right now.

We realized last Saturday morning that Abbytail was acting more unusual than normal.  She wouldn't take a treat.  Ladies and gents, this girl LOVES HER TREATS.  Well, she loves her Daddy too, but let me tell you, treats are VERY important to her.  Sometimes she just doesn't look like she feels well, so we thought she'd snap out of it.  Saturday night, she didn't want a bite of STEAK.  This has never happened before.  Then on Sunday, she still wasn't eating.  She passed on a garden fresh TOMATO.  I might get her to eat one bite, but then she would not want any more.  She was sluggish and lethargic with no energy at all.  Todd used the ear thermometer and we knew Sunday night she had a fever.  Her ears looked pale to me.

So Monday morning, Todd adjusted his schedule and took her into the vet.  They did tests on her and said something isn't right because she seems to have an infection and her immune system seems to be fighting itself.  They thought they saw a mass on her spleen and she was septic and anemic.  IMMEDIATE panic set in, because when we heard "mass" the thought of cancer immediately came swimming across our memories.  Cancer is prevalent in Goldens. They kept her overnight and gave her fluids and antibiotics intravenously.  She was only a little better the next day, Tuesday.  So we took her to a specialist in KC.  She is still there right now.  Our beloved Abbytail is in the doggy hospital. 

The vet says Abby has Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.  Her blood is "clumpy".  This could be caused by a tick bite, or not.  We may never know what caused it.  But the good news?  It can be treated.  She is receiving steroids and antibiotics and fluids at the best place she could possibly be receiving care.  It happens to be the very same place Keystone as a puppy over 8 years ago received surgery to correct eye ulcers and eye lashes that were growing toward his eye instead of outwardly.  We have high faith in these people, because they are about the best you can possibly find.

That gives me comfort knowing where she is.  Right now, it's very hard for Todd and I to know our baby girl is in the hosptial and not home with her brother and both of us.  It's weird going to bed at night and only tucking one dog into bed.  It's horrible only handing out 2 treats in the morning instead of three.  Abby is our LEADER OF THE PACK.  She is ALWAYS the FIRST out the door.  Now Stones is sort of... leaderless.  It sucks.  We want our Tails back.  Our Boo-bette.  We miss her and our hearts ache for what she's going through.  But we have faith she will get better and be back at home any day now.  It might be today.  It might be tomorrow.  But she'll come home, I just know it.

Again we are so very thankful to be back in the KC area.  We might have to miss the party in Oklahoma this weekend, and that's just fine.  As long as we get our daughter back safe and healthy, that's all we want.

And now?  Here is our Abbytail doing her best Elvis impersonation (she can do a DOUBLE Elvis too where both sides of her cheeks go up):

Elvis, a.k.a. Abbytail, will be back IN THE HOUSE!

Reasons Why l Love Summer

Happy Summer, y'all!  I pretty much missed blogging the entire month of June.  I've got lots of topics to talk about, but little time to type.  Realistically, I don't know if it will get much better until the snow falls...

In the vain of keeping things positive, I want to share my favorite reasons to love summer time.  I love getting my nails dirty in the garden, and watching all of my baby plants grow up and produce wonderfully tasty treats for the dinner table.

I'll share pics of the garden below.  But first, other reasons why I love summer, in no particular order:

Reason #1)  The dogs have less hair. 

Well, that is because I shave them.  I am not a professional dog groomer.  You will see proof below.  But they are so much more comfortable after they have been shaved, since we are back in the hot humid midwest summer time heat.  Keystone LOVES the attention.  Abby, not so much.

At least KEYSTONE is more comfy.  Notice his cute tiger tail!
Abby would only allow me to do her belly and back of her legs.  Brat.

Reason #2) Baseball brought SamsMom to town over Memorial Day weekend! 

I finally got to meet SamsMom's family and friends when I went to watch her son play baseball. We had a great day visiting. We enjoyed Minsky's pizza (a local pizzeria since they wanted something "KC") and I got to see their awesome luxury-resort-on-wheels. Then the next evening, they came up and enjoyed dinner at our place. We had fun playing our games in the basement. They were properly introduced to real pinball machines.

L to R:  her son, me, her hubby
We were playing mesmerizing games of pinball!

Keystone even loves to play!  We had a great evening and a great weekend.

Keystone loves all the bright lights and shiny balls.

Reason #3)  I love trying to grow new plants. 

We have grown pumpkins before, but we have never tried to establish our own pumpkin PATCH.  This year?  Yeah, it's a patch alright.  We have 28 plants going.  They will be able to spread out for acres if they wanted to.  We are hoping for so many pumpkins, that we'll be able to line the driveway on both sides with them!  Stay tuned for that--we'll open the patch to visitors around the beginning of October...  It's going to be awesome.  Speaking of growing things, here is an update on the garden.  It looks amazingly different.  We are going to have so much produce, we are going to be able to open our own farm stand.  We've been eating tom's for over a week now.

Yes, 28 pumpkin seeds grew into this!

A wall of green beans -- 1st harvest was eaten last night

I GREW BROCCOLI!
You can see some ready to harvest at the bottom and top of pic 

My beautiful tomatillo.
I will roast you, blend you, and cook you into a tasty sauce.

Our Garden

Giant Sunflowers in the background.
Birdhouse gourds growing in the foreground (just 3 plants)

Reason #4) Winner, Winner, BIRTHDAY Dinner!

I am delighted to explain that we were chosen by Dawn's daughter to be the host of her birthday dinner.  She turned 9.  When her parents asked her what she wanted for her special birthday dinner one evening, at first she said "steak at Texas Roadhouse".  Then her dad asked if she wanted that or steak at Uncle Todd's house.  Guess what she said?  Yep, you guessed it.  Steak at Uncle Todd's house!  So we hosted a special dinner for Dawn's family to celebrate a wonderful 9-year-old's birthday.  Todd took the opportunity (since the house would be clean) to have a few pinheads up to fix up some games, and play some pinball. 

We had great fun playing with balloons in the living room

Pinheads playing pins in the basement

Her dad planned a special "dessert buffet" for her 9th birthday.
Treats from The Upper Crust and I have to say they were INCREDIBLE!

Her favorite part of the night was a bonfire.  We got the jackets out and walked down to a rip-roaring fire Uncle Todd created. 

It's a fire!

Aunt Tracy & the birthday girl

Complete CHEESE from the birthday girl & Uncle Todd

And now, the BEST REASON why I love SUMMER TIME!

I steam our homegrown yellow banana peppers:  cut in half, de-seed, and put in a bowl with 1" water and cover; microwave for 1-3 minutes.  Drain them, put them on a sprayed cookie sheet.  Put some taco sauce on them, cover with cheddar cheese and broil.  THIS IS SUMMER ON A PLATE TO ME!  Enjoy.  (These are addictive and will incent you to start gardening if you haven't already.)