Friday, August 21, 2009

Numbers Don't Count (On Me)

More blood tests. Unfortunately, his ALT count (liver enzymes) is still high due to the chemo, and probably the Rimadyl. Dr. Hedlin was out on Monday when we came in for his leg but when she saw him yesterday, she agreed that it’s probably a CCL injury. The oncologists at CSU want to delay his second dose of Lomustine (CCNU) until the numbers improve. He’s not a good candidate for surgery to repair the CCL while his blood work is off. Dr. Hedlin suggested a leg brace in the interim to help provide stability.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Knee Deep in the Blues

Yesterday, I took Jake on his morning walk. He was doing his typical route, stopping to check messages and marking everything. At one point, he fell behind and I called his name to hurry him along. He trotted over to me. In the middle of a yard, he yelped like he stepped on something and started limping. I figured there was just something stuck in his pad but when we got home, I couldn’t find it. He wouldn’t put any weight on it the rest of the day and stuck to his bed. I took him to Aspenwood Animal Hospital when they opened this morning for an exam. They’re pretty sure he tore his ACL. Technically it’s called a CCL (Cranial Cruciate Ligament) in a dog but you get the idea. (And did you know a dog’s knee is called a stifle?) It’s apparently a common injury in Labs his age. They sent us home with more Tramadol for pain and started him on another medication called Rimadyl. Surgery is usually recommended to repair the tear. They also said that when one leg goes, the other follows within a few months. What a drag it is getting old, huh? Hey, but the tumor is completely gone. If I have to choose between an aggressive cancer and a bum leg, I’ll pick #2 any day.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Always Remember to Respect and Honour Your Mother

You don’t see pics of me here much. The rare ones feature me and Jake. So this is a quick break to say hi to my mom, Jean. I always liked this picture of her on the water at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She’s responsible for my love of all things water-based…oceans, bays, lakes, rivers, seas, bayous, ports, streams. Our skin was so brown in those summers. Did “SPF” even exist back then?

Eight years ago, Dad suddenly called us all home. Mom had reached the final days of her long illness. My plane landed in Florida and I went straight to the house. It was filled with family and friends and boiled shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. I talked to her for awhile the night I arrived and loved her sharp sense of humor, even through the morphine haze. She soon went to sleep that night and I thought we would continue the conversation in the morning. For the next three days, she slept but we never talked again. I just sat on the bed with my dad, sister and brother, playing games, watching TV, and waiting. On the morning of August 16th, I watched her take her last breath, much like she watched me take my first. Jake came home from the breeders a few weeks later and everything hurt just a tiny bit less.

On vacations now, when I step onto a beach for that first moment, I feel the sand against my feet and I swear I if I turned around just then, I might see her behind me on a lounge chair, auburn hair and olive skin, peering over a book and smiling. If our Mother’s Day post wasn’t enough to make you stop and call YOUR mom, do you think you might go do it now?