About 2 weeks ago, I left my house to go to work. I was in my 1 year old RAV4 and at the end of my street, stopped at the STOP sign. It was quickly apparent to me that there was not enough room for the bus to turn on to my street without hitting me, but for some reason, that either didn’t occur to the driver or it didn’t seem to matter to him. So instead of stopping so I could back up to give him room to turn onto the street, he just kept coming.
As I realized this, I started to honk my horn to tell him to stop so I could back up to give him room. I honked wildly and loudly – much to the chagrin of my neighbors who had to deal with this noise pollution so early in the day. My honking was to no avail. He turned onto the street and the left middle portion of his bus connected with my front bumper. At that he finally stopped.
Police were called, a witness was noted, my front bumper cover which tore as we disengaged our vehicles and was subsequently was held in place by duct tape. I brought my RAV 4 into be repaired on Monday with the understanding it most likely wouldn’t be ready until Friday.
Guess what? I received a call today saying my RAV4 was repaired and ready to be picked up. How cool is that. It took less than 3 days for the repair. Whoo Hooo!
So the prednisone worked yesterday and we were able to get Abby to eat!
Her tally for the day:
- 4 Beggin Strips – 2 at Tim’s office, 2 at home
- 6 Milkbones — 2 at Tim’s office, 4 at home *
- 2 T. Ground beef from our lasagna dinner
- 1/2 a cup of actual dog food (the expensive stuff)*
* denotes that the little Bon-Bon Queen requires us to put the food in the palm of our hands and allow her to dine from that, rather than stick her head into the food bowl.
Yes, that’s right, she’s just too good to eat from a bowl like any common canine!
A Beagle that won’t eat?
Until recently, neither had I. I’d heard the lack of appetite was a primary trait of canine cancer, but I did not want to believe this was something that could happen to her. You know, Abby, the glutton that has lived with me for 14 years. Abby ever not want to eat – pshaw — not in my lifetime…
Since January, Abby has gone from eating her twice a day meals with gusto, to leaving entire food bowls completely ignored. Initially, we thought she might be bored with the senior formula she’d been eating for the last few years. So we tried another fancy, expensive brand. And then another and another and finally canned dog food. Each time with each brand, it was the same thing: First day– she loved it; the second day: she wouldn’t touch the stuff. And then, she skipped eating for a day and a half. Something was not right in Beagleville. It was then we began the odyssey of discovering that she indeed had cancer.
Last week the vet prescribed an appetite stimulant and said Abby could eat anything and everything, up to and including Mickey D’s hamburgers! You’d think the Beagle would be over the moon – a pure milk bone diet? All the human food she wanted? To the old Abby, this would have been a dream come true, to the Abby of here and now, it interested her very little. Each day we deal with a very finicky dog that requires hand feeding.
We visited the vet today and happily learned she had not lost any weight during the last 2 weeks, even though it’s been a struggle to find things that she will eat. Today, the vet prescribed Prednisone and Tim says she ate a pretty hearty mid day snack. Crossing our fingers that this new medication helps.
Even though I have evidence in front of me daily, I’m still hard pressed to believe I have a beagle that won’t eat.
Almost 14 years ago I was eagerly awaiting April 1, 1994 — it would be the day I brought home my child — the one that picked me when she was just 2 weeks old, the one that would truly make me an April’s fool.
I remember reading all the how to manuals, all the books on bringing home your new puppy – what to do, what not to do. I remember blowing a fortune at Petsmart on a dog crate, puppy training pads, toys, a comb, puppy shampoo and puppy chow. All in preparation for my little one’s homecoming. As the weeks went by, my anticipation grew. Would I be a good mom? I couldn’t wait to find out. And then the day came. It was a Saturday and my girl friend Jamie drove me to the breeder’s house to pick up my new bundle of joy.
I hadn’t had a dog since 6th grade – 1976 — that was almost 20 years ago. Would I even know how to care for her, train her, love her? Amid the daily, sometimes hourly power struggles we had over who really was the alpha female in the pack, I might have gotten mad and frustrated with her, but I always loved her. And then, after a mere 7 years, she settled into being a good dog.
So its been 14 good years for us. We’ve been through a lot together – we’ve moved 7 times in 14 years and lived in 4 states. She truly has been my Dear Abby – without her, I don’t know that I would have gotten through my father’s death, my divorce and finishing my degree. She’s been the only real constant for over a 1/3 of my life. She’s taught me so much about life and love – I can only hope that what she got from me was half as good.
Abby, the diva beagle
And now… she has… come close so I don’t have to say it out loud, she has pancreatic and liver cancer. Its been several weeks of back and forth to 3 different vets, medications, x-rays, blood tests, ultrasound and needle biopsies. Abby’s worn out, I’m heartbroken. Seems the joke’s on us — now that we know exactly what it is — there is no cure. There are only treatments to give her a few “good, quality months”, but no cure.
I’ve been struggling with what to do — do I put her needs first or my own? Putting her through the treatment of pills, injections and chemotherapy for a few more months of quality life are not for her — they would be for me. So I could have a precious few more moments with the one I love. With Tim’s help, i’ve decided to not be selfish and do the kind and gentle thing. To forgo treatment and let her be in hospice. Her vet will make sure we have the meds so that she’ll be comfortable. There will come a time when I will have to do the responsible thing, and let her go. When her quality of life is no longer good, when I can see the pain in her face and hear her wimper as she tries to move — I will have to love her the most right then and let her have the eternal sleep.
Until then, I will cherish my time with her.
Its the same thing every year, we make resolutions: to do, be, not do, change, quit– whatever.
I usually don’t make many, if any, resolutions, but having spent time with some really amazing and successful people this year for new years eve, I noticed they all seemed to have one thing in common — they had positive attitudes.
So this year I resolve to be more positive – lets see where it takes me.
Can you believe that I have never been to New York City? Well, I hadn’t until this past weekend when my cousin Jeff invited Tim and me to celebrate New Years Eve with him.
New York City is as grand as I have always heard and imagined. In our short 48 hours in the city we did a lot of shopping and walking. We toured the Flat Iron district, where Jeff and Kevin reside, 5th Avenue, Broadway, the original Madison Square garden, the Harvard Club and Grand Central Station. Interesting tourist attraction: St. Patrick’s Cathedral – where tourists wandered in and out while midday mass was being said. My former pastor would have had quite a conniption were that to occur at his parish.
One of the last bits of playing tourist was to Times Square to see it in pre “ball drop” mode. At only 2pm, it was already a mob scene, thankfully, we removed ourselves from the fray post haste. I am a bit wistful, though, that as a former event producer, that I did not have the opportunity to produce New Years there just once. One really fun attraction at Times Square was the Charmin Holiday restrooms in Times Square. As we were leaving, they gave out samples of the new Puff’s Plus with the scent of Vicks! I know, glee over a toilet tissue sounds silly, I guess you had to be there.
More important than visiting the city, however, were the people I had the privilege of spending time with and getting to know. They made my first visit to NYC truly magical. In addition to my cousin Jeff, a special treat was spending time with his sister, the gorgeous Denise (see our pre-party facial masks photos below) and his partner, Kevin, who has done an amazing job of researching our family tree. Kevin’s xmas presents to me were copies of my grandfather’s original citizenship papers. Talk about invoking an emotional response.
New Years Eve was an schmabulous 5-course dinner party for 14 where I met some of the most interesting, amazing and positively wonderful folks. Special thanks to Daiva for the first neck massage of the year! and massagetheatre reviews good foot massagers because I found the best foot massager for me!
P.S. We may have found our sleeper sofa and love seat while in NYC…more as it happens!
