Footloose and Cancer Free!

Last Monday, The Dog had his surgery to remove the big mass in his left eye. I was super apprehensive about putting him through this at his age (considering his myriad of additional health problems), but after consulting with my regular Vet, I decided that I wanted to move forward. If my little guy had the big “C” word, I at least wanted to know.

So, I shoved all my apprehension and fear into a little tiny box and buried it deep down inside, then delivered my pooch to the Ophthalmologist early last week.

The surgery went very well. He came out of the anesthesia just fine, however, the next couple of days were pretty rough. My little guy was in pain, became super needy, couldn’t get comfortable, couldn’t keep liquid or food down, couldn’t figure out what the heck was up with the giant cone around his head…and was in some distress until all of his bodily functions got back to normal (that darn anesthesia pretty much shuts everything down!).

He was pretty much miserable! But then things began to work themselves out and I could tell that he was over the hump on Wednesday night when he showed interest in wanting to play with one of his toys. His little personality was coming back! Unfortunately, he couldn’t play with anything because of his big fat cone head!

Thursday was a GREAT day. Not only was he feeling better (and his eye was looking improved), but he started mastering ‘the cone’ and could now manipulate it so that he could eat, drink and pick things up! He was also scampering around happily. I was thrilled! To make the day even better, the Ophthalmologist called to say that they got the pathology report back – earlier than expected. The mass from The Dog’s eye contained pre-cancerous cells. Also, the tear gland they removed was abnormally inflamed (another bad sign). However, because we caught it all early and got it all out of his body, he was in the clear! We had warded off the “C” word — at least this time around. I’m so glad I decided to get him the surgery instead of waiting. If those cells would have turned cancerous, we would have been in BIG TROUBLE.

So now, hopefully I’ll have the pleasure of looking into this little face for another couple (few?) years – God willing. I’m so thankful for how things turned out. I’m also thankful that my boss was kind enough to let me work from home for 3 days after the surgery. Thanks A!

This whole experience was a good reminder to me that sometimes I just need to have a little faith…and that no matter what other people tell me, I should always, ALWAYS follow my gut feeling.

Time to go give doggie his antibiotics…and kiss him on his noggin.

Today “The Dog”: Sleeps, continues to heal and dreams about a week from this Tuesday when he can get the big plastic megaphone off of his head!

Puppies and Patriotism

So, The Dog goes in for eye surgery tomorrow morning. He went back to the Ophthalmologist last Wednesday and the mass in his eye is 20-30% bigger than it was just two weeks ago. The doctor wants it out, for if it gets much larger, it will make surgery more complicated. And, to tell you the truth…I need to know what I’m dealing with here. In one week’s time I’ll know if the growth was malignant. If that’s the case, I’ll need to figure out my plan of action. Everyone please say a prayer for my little guy – two fold. One, that nothing happens under anesthesia tomorrow (I’m so apprehensive about this at his age considering his other complications) and two, that we’re not dealing with doggie cancer. :0/

On a lighter note…I hope all of you out there had as terrific of a 4th of July as I did! I went to the house of some co-workers. Their place for the 4th has sort of become a tradition and this is the third year I’ve attended. Not only is their house gorgeous and way up on a hill in the general Lake Travis vicinity, but everyone stops at the nearby fireworks warehouse on the way to their abode and buys a ton of goodies that blow up. Big goodies – not the wimpy stuff. There are always so many of them, that we end up running around like 8 year olds making things explode and ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ahh-ing’ at the results for a good 3 to 4 hours. It’s more fun than you can shake a stick at, and this year was no exception!

In addition to two side dishes, I brought this awesome homemade flag cake that went over like gangbusters! It’s the recipe of the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network and was such a hit that I’ll definitely make it again next time. I just love her cookbooks! Thanks, B.C.!

Today, “The Dog”: Seems tired.

Sadness

I lost one of the baby birdies over the weekend. I came home from work Friday night and looked up at the nest to see only 3 birdies inside — and they were making quite a commotion while peering over the side of the nest. There, on the ground walking around was one of the birdies. My best guess is that he either fell out of the nest or he tried to fly and somehow hurt his wing and fell to the ground. At first, I didn’t think there was anything necessarily wrong with him. He just hung out on my porch while the others chatted with him from above in the nest. Here’s a picture of him standing in the doorway of my front porch:

Just to give you a frame of reference, look how little he was in comparison to the size of the door. He’s in the lower right hand corner:

Anyway, to make a sad story short, I was hoping he’d bounce back but it was obvious that he was having trouble flying. He could get into the air low but couldn’t get up high…and could only stay airborne for 3 seconds or so before needing to land. Towards the evening time on Friday, he got startled and flew across the street to a neighbor’s yard. I thought that was a good sign, and hoped he was better and taking off into the wild blue yonder. However, when I woke up on Saturday, he was back on my porch again. I put down a pan of water and rocks for him to perch on…and he used them. But, as the day wore on, it was obvious that he was getting worse, and the mother bird was definitely not feeding him. By Saturday night, he could barely flap his wings and he wasn’t even walking straight. I could tell he was losing steam.

I didn’t want nighttime predators to get to him, so I got a shoe box from my closet, lined it with paper towels and put inside a little tiny bowl of water. Then, I put on some latex gloves and went out onto the porch. By this time, baby birdie was huddled in the dirt on the ground in between my concrete porch and one of my white plastic planters. He let me pick him up (another sign to me that it was close to the end). I put him in the shoe box and put the box itself up on my trellice. I checked on him at about midnight and he was sleeping in a weird position, but got up when he saw me. Then he laid down again, this time on his side. I thought “Wow, maybe he’s really going to make it through the night.” Unfortunately, however, when I got up this morning at 7am to check on him, he was gone. So I wrapped him up nicely and the shoe box became his final resting place. Rest in peace, little bird. Of course, I cried because I’m a big baby when it comes to animals. I just wish there was more I could have done.

The other three birdies are thriving. They picked this weekend to start leaving the nest, and they leave and come back as they please. I think there is a network of nests around the neighborhood because other young birds have been coming to visit and interact with them, and I think my birdies go off to visit them as well. It’s cute to watch and has lifted my spirits a bit. Here are the remaining three fledglings sitting outside the nest on my trellice. They are mostly in silhouette because the pic was taken from inside my house through the screened window.

All in all, a bittersweet weekend. :0/ I keep mentioning how nature is a trip. Sometimes I forget how harsh she can be as well.

Today “The Dog”: Is playful and licky. Ophthalmologist appointment #2 is on Wednesday.

Oh, Baby!

On Monday, one of my employees in the Austin office and his wife had a baby! A little girl. And I mean little – just a bit under 6lbs, but cute as a button. She looks just like her daddy for sure! My employee, P, is reserved and a man of few words. He’s proud – and doesn’t really show much emotion. Because of this, my heart melted when he called to tell me the good news and kept saying over and over again into the phone “She’s just so beautiful!” I’ve never heard him talk like that before.

So, on Tuesday at lunch I left the rest of my team at the office (it has been a very challenging week in many different ways – but my folks have been troopers), and I went to the hospital solo to show support and represent! From all of us, I brought P a six pack of Samuel Adams (his favorite) and his wife a big, beautiful ‘baby girl’ flower arrangement with some balloons – one of which was a GIANT mylar that was sparkley all over! Well, let me tell you…P is in love. In love with his little girl. For someone who never shows any emotion, well, it was quite a sight to behold. I’m absolutely thrilled for him and his wife. Their new little bundle has no idea how lucky she is!

Since we’re already talking about babies…here’s an update on the birdies. They’re HUGE. They haven’t left the nest yet and the momma bird is working overtime feeding them. My poor front porch is covered in poopy. Oh well, it’s a small price to pay for a close-up glimpse into nature, I reckon!

Today “The Dog”: Is hyperactive but sweet as sugar!

“The Dog”

“The Dog” needs surgery. You can’t tell from the picture, but down under his left lower eyelid, he had a growth that’s spread and taken over what the Vet and Ophthalmologist refer to as his ‘third eyelid’ (the little bunched up tissues we all have in the corners of our eyes). At certain times, the growth looks like it’s covering half of his eye! Right now, we’re semi-controlling that with some steroid eye drops, but they’re not working well enough so on July 2nd we have another appointment and need to decide whether to move forward with surgery. He’s going on 13, already has a semi-collapsed trachea, bronchial disease (not as bad as it sounds) and an enlarged left atrium of his heart — all of these determined from x-rays we just had taken– and all of which increase the risk of putting him under anesthesia. I’m just not sure what to do, for he seems very happy right now. Do I really want to put him through all of this? They will remove the growth, taking the 3rd eyelid and a tear gland with it. There will be a two week recovery period. It’s a tough decision, although if the growth is malignant or something, I’d like to know and to get it out of his eye! I just don’t want to lose him. I’ll keep everyone posted!

On another (and happier) note, the baby birdies are looking more attractive. So, I leave you with this little visual for now. It might be one of the last ones, as I’m expecting them to take off into the sky any day now!

Today “The Dog”: Is fine. I’m the tormented one!

Baby Birdies or Crotchety Old Men?

Based on this picture, I just can’t decide.

I think they’re sitting on top of the other two birdies in this picture. I’m pretty sure they’re going to fly the coup soon! Didn’t they grow fast?

Today “The Dog”: Is high maintenance!

I Lied…

There are actually FOUR baby birdies in the nest!!!

Today “The Dog”: Is licking everything in sight.

Baby Birdie Alert!

Hark! The baby birdies have been spotted! Whoa, there was a lot of activity going on in my front yard today. I think the daddy bird has returned because there is definitely more than one bird flitting around, checking on the new arrivals every few minutes. In case you’re wondering, there are 3 little ones in the nest. I have no idea if you’ll be able to see this pic clearly, but let’s give it a shot (click to enlarge the image if that helps):

Okay, so…they are pretty damn ugly right now. But I’m sure they will get all fluffy and ‘chickified’ soon. And I thought I had a big mouth! I’ve got nothing on these three! They eat all the time! The adult birds are running back and forth to and from the nest all day long. They’ll leave for 5-10 minutes at a time and then come back to either feed the chicks or just stand over and monitor the situation. I must say, though…the momma bird looks pretty darn proud of herself, wouldn’t you say? Way to go, girl!

Today “The Dog Is”: Fun and frolicky!

Animal Update!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, which is a shame because there’s a lot to share.  Last week and this week have just been CRAZY, though…so for now, I’m just going to provide an update on the animals in my life!

The birds who have built a nest against my house have now been identified correctly *I think* as barn swallows.  Shortly after I last blogged about them, the male swallow started coming around less and less (so like a man!).  Apparently, the males help the females ’set up shop’ (so to speak) and then take off.  That bit of news made me wonder if the male has ‘baby mommas’ all over Austin…(what a player!).  Anyway, the male’s gone but I’m almost positive that the baby birds have hatched – for I’ve caught the momma bird standing on the side of the nest several times, and she appears to be regurging food and then sticking her face down into the nest (like she’s feeding little ones).  I still can’t see jack, but I’m pretty sure there’s something alive down there in that nest.  I am dying to climb up there and take a look, but my mother keeps warning me that it will scare the momma bird off the nest and she’ll abandon her babies.  Dang nabbit!  Of course, the fact that my mother is telling me not to do it, makes me want to do it even more!  Well, either I’ll post a pic when the birdies can actually be seen, or one earlier if I end up climbing up there sometime when the momma bird is away scavenging for food!

“The Dog” needs to go to the ophthalmologist.  In addition to his myriad of other problems, he appears to have a mass way inside under his bottom left eyelid that looks like it could be a tumor.  It’s pushing the tissues in the corner of his eye up over his eyeball making it look like he has a droopy eye.  He’s had the problem for quite a while now but lately it’s been getting worse.  The Vet initially misdiagnosed this, but I needed to take him in the other day so I made her look at it again.  It’s never good when your Vet says “I’ve never seen that before!”  Anyway, I’m sufficiently freaked out (realizing of course, that my little guy can’t keep dodging health ‘bullets’ forever).  We have an ophthalmologist appointment set for Monday afternoon.  Everyone please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Today “The Dog”: Is itching and coughing less due to new meds!

Flower Power!

During my trip to CA, part of my bestest friend’s gift from her hubby was an entire day away from the house and her new baby (even though she’d never been away from the tyke for longer than a couple of hours!). So… my Little D took great advantage of the “the break” and booked the two of us a night away at a Bed & Breakfast in Sebastopol so that we could have a girl’s evening out and celebrate our birthdays (which are almost exactly one month apart). We went to an AMAZING restaurant (more about that later…) which had outside of it, these flowers that I had never in my life seen before. How intricate and beautiful they were! I was memorized. If anyone out there knows anything about this flower type, I’ll give you a cookie! I would love to find out so that I can learn more…and try to grow them all around the outside of my house!

Today “The Dog”: Is energetic! (Too much so…lay down already puppy!)