the Christmas card walk

This is how you do it Chance.

 Blaze had figured it out...the secret to getting treats on a walk, that normally didn't come with any.  All she had to do was walk a little ways and sit.  A couple of snapshots and treats!  

We were out on a photoshoot for Christmas card pictures.  It was so funny and cute that Blaze was onto the game.  She's so smart.  None of the other dogs caught on to this strange walk.  Although Chance was catching on to Blaze and would sit willingly. 

Just when I think I've seen it all, Blaze amazed me.  And I fall in love all over again.  It makes me almost want to cry tears of love and joy.  Each one so special in their own way.  What awesome creatures dogs are!

Posers

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

 

Chance the Wonder Dog

I am so proud of this dog we call Chance.  He is beating all the odds of an inoperable tumor and doing with gusto!  Every time we walk together he shows me more and more of what his body can do with care and love.  September 4th of this year, he was diagnosed with liver cancer and there is nothing that can be about it.  

I can not tell you what this dog means to Mark and I.  All the dogs are special, but there is just something extra special about Chance and we have known it for a  long time.  Chance is both of our heart dog.  Yes, he is our heart dog for us.  I actually just figured that out as I wrote it.  Oh my, it explains everything that we thought we were just feeling...it is real.  I'm so stunned right now.  Makes so much sense.  

God, we are so blessed.

Anyways, let's back up to this past Thanksgiving...and when we took each dog for a walk.  Here's Chance's walk with Daddy singing...our wonder dog! 

(Or watch on YouTube here)...

Does this look like a dog with liver cancer?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The walks are a little shorter

and our pace has slowed down.

Naps are longer and deeper

Their voices are a little more raspy

and their eyes are a little heavier

Arthritis is strong throughout their bodies

and pain management is a must

4 "puppies" whom we loved before conception 

are aging before our eyes

And we couldn't be more grateful for 

Every. Single. Day. we have with them.  

From our pack to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Chance's nervous tongue

Brut was not a licker with a couple of exceptions, if I was laying on the ground, he would lick my face all over.  This happened most of the time in the wintertime.  The second exception was when Mark would get home from work, Brut would lick his hands.  It became a ritual with them two.  

We didn't know it at the time, but before Brut was diagnosed with a tumor on the spleen, his licking ritual increased noticeably.  Especially with Mark.  Brut was licking Mark's hands, arms and face almost raw.  Non-stop.  We had no idea that anything was going on internally and guessed at the many reasons he was doing this.  

Chance is a licker.  He is one to lick your hands and face when given the chance.  He has always indulged in kisses.  Now since his liver cancer, we've noticed the same intense licking on hands, arms, legs and face.  Almost every time we put our hand out to pet him, Chance stops it in mid-air and starts licking it.  He is licking Mark's hands and arms almost raw every night.  And it is getting worse with each day.  

Chance knows something isn't right with his body even if he can't put words or definition to it.  Brut did the same thing.  I think it is comforting for Chance and is a way of releasing his anxiety.  I also think he is preparing us and comforting us over what is going to happen.  And I think as the cancer grows, the licking will too.  

Has anyone noticed this with their ailing dog?  

   

Chance's tumor sighting (11-8-2020)

The day started with Chance in pain after getting off the bed.  I was scared.  Never saw him like that first thing in the morning.  He went back in the house and got back on the bed.  I sat on the couch and fell asleep with him.  

Then Mark got up and Chance was fine.  So we went on with our day.  

We were outside more than a few times today because it was so nice.  72°

I debated if it was too hot to walk the dogs.  The clouds finally showed up taking care of the sun and I decided to give it a go at about 3:30pm.

Chance and I had a brisk walk, even steady pace and a feeling of freedom.  Between a rainy October and mild injuries we hadn't walked in what felt like forever.  Having to miss out on all of this gorgeous weather we have been having... which really sucked!

We took a little bit longer walk than I had planned, but it felt so good to be moving and I was following Chance's lead and how far he planned to go.  Around the football field and down the paved path we scurried.  Oh, the blessed freedom.  I didn't ever want it to end.  

So Mark is on the roof, finishing up and when I get back with Blaze, Chance is ready to come outside.  So I take my break with him.  After all the kisses, he lays down on his side, in front of me  and I notice he is wider at his abdomen.  It is bulky and very out of shape.  My first thought is that he is having fluid retention again.  I'm trying to figure out how it got so big again and how I missed it.  If anything he's been too thin in that area IMO.  Then Chance rolls up and is now laying on his belly.  The bulge is still there.  It's got to be fluids.  Then he gets up and the bulge goes away.  He just snapped back in shape, just like that.  It takes some more going back and forth in my mind, when I come to the conclusion it was his tumor I was seeing.  I'm stunned.  Scared.  Shocked.  In all the times I've seen him lay down, this was the first I was seeing it.  It's growing.  It's the inevitable.  Wish there was something I could do.  Anything to make him all better.

Chance is still acting very healthy and happy, well as happy as a moody dog like him can be.  lol  Just "seeing" the tumor was a harsh dose of reality.  It messed me up for a while.  We are making the most of our time together, however long we may have, with lots of pics and video.  It's all we can do for our heart dog.  

Tough night with Fiona

 Was up all night with Fiona a few night ago.  She was acting like she was in pain and it came on all the sudden.  Gave her a Tramadol.  Did nothing.  She was pacing and panting and acting like she was going to puke.  She'd been eating rabbit poop that day, so I thought she was feeling sick.  Gave her two Pepto Bismol tablets.  Nothing.  Then I thought it was her liver.  None of her symptoms matched with liver failure.  Back to the pain theory when I watched her try to lay down, after pacing for hours and hours.  She couldn't extend her front legs.  She was so anxious that I gave her a couple of Inositol, which may have slightly helped.  The only thing that calmed her down was going outside and sitting in the rain.  She was actually quiet and sitting down.  We were under the pine tree near duck fence, where we talked.  She told me her secrets, I told her mine.  By the time we went in it was 6:30am and we'd been out for an hour.  By 7:30am I woke up Mark to get ready to go to vet.  Thank God it was Friday and our vet was there.  Just before Fiona's 9:30 appt. she finally laid down while Mark stroked her head and started to fall asleep.  She was exhausted from pacing, panting and being in extreme pain.  The vet gave her a new pain pill to use for 3 days along with her Galaprant and she slept all day on and off, as did I and Fiona is looking so much better.  

Thank God for our vet and modern meds and thank you for taking care of our girl and all our dogs.  We are so grateful her life isn't over yet.

---------------------------------------------------------------

**Update** 

Fiona is doing great and back to her bubbly diva self.  

No more pain makes for a big smile!

Chance's ultrasound results

 Well, we took Chance in to get his ultrasound.  He really fought going back to the vet for a third time in three weeks and having to wear his muzzle.  Somehow the vet was double booked for appointments and so we ended up dropping him off for part of the day.  Which was one of my worst fears for Chance.

So, we worried for the next four hours until we got the call to pick him up.  The vet called us in and showed us the images she took from the ultrasound.  It was obvious that there was a mass on the liver and the liver itself was made up of cancerous tissue.  It was the hard truth we needed to know.  

While she was explaining the pictures, I kept hearing a dog whining.  I looked up and there was Chance looking at us, crying to go home.  I felt really comforted that I got to see him in the kennel and that he was OK.  It gave me some peace of mind about how his day went.  

Chance is on two medications- one for the fluid in the abdomen to continue to drain out and one for his liver to continue to function.  And if you saw him without telling you he has liver cancer, you would never know he has it.  Chance is still the dog with the most energy, still pulls me along on a walk and is as happy and moody as ever.  

So, we are just living one day at a time with all the dogs and making the most of each day with them.  Pulling out the camera more, trying to hold on to time.

  

Chance's x-ray results

 Chance was finally able to have his x-rays done of his abdomen and the results were not good.  He has a tumor, either on his liver, spleen or pancreas.  It is too hard to decipher with an x-ray, so we will be getting an ultrasound done in the next couple of weeks, to know for sure.   More than likely it is the liver, since that seems to be the star of the organs for these four dogs.  

I've been living pretty much in the moment and it helps that Chance (or any of the other dogs) aren't showing any symptoms.  

But it all caught up with me today when we had to take Blaze to the ER vet for diarrhea that I couldn't stop crying no matter what I tried.  I just started to feel like our world of the 24 Paws was beginning to crumble.  

Piece by piece.  Dog by dog.

It's a little more than overwhelming.  And a bit scary.  

I can't imagine one of them not being here.  

So here's to modern medicine that is helping to keep them all alive and well.  

And to our wonderful vet who has put up with us through many different scenarios and dogs.  

And to you all, dear readers for still taking the time to catch up with us.  

God bless