I've been wanting to take Emmett to dog beach in the worst way, but life keeps getting in the way. Emmett gets Very Excited at dog beach. The first time I took him was not two weeks after I brought Mulan home; I didn't know her too well so I was focused on her while we were there. Emmett went nuts. He was having the time of his life. So much so, in fact, that he followed his new doggie friend out of the beach, down the sidewalk and onto a busy road. The whole time I am running after, dragging ... Read more »
Cancer sucks
Bittersweet moments
We had a busy weekend. Someone had a third birthday party, which meant a lot of fun. And cake. And boxes and trash, too. It was worth it. Everyone pitched in that afternoon to get the place cleaned up. And by everyone, I mean my husband and I, since the kids had too many new things to play with to be able to concentrate much on helping. They took off into the front yard with Emmett. What's this? Past the detritus, I mean. Yup. It's Emmett under a trash bag. The kids have a close relative ... Read more »
Good news!
Emmett is in remission! He's in his third week of chemotherapy. He will continue the weekly regimen until about 8-12 weeks, when it starts to decrease in frequency. After 16 weeks it is done once a month, hopefully for a long, long time. We also typed his lymphoma. There are 2 types, B cell and T cell. I remember learning in school that B=Bad and T=Terrible, as in, neither one is good, but T is the worse kind to have. The median survival times are markedly less for T cell lymphoma. And Emmett ... Read more »
Why dogs are better than people, part 32
Before I had kids, life was much more exciting for Emmett. We went to dog park all the time, I bought little dog cookies from specialty dog bakeries, I used to nap on his belly. Life was good. Then I had my daughter, and things got a lot more boring. We hung out at the house. He had to eat grocery store treats. I napped with the baby. It wasn't that Emmett was less loved, or less important, or even that I thought things like specialty dog cookies were unnecessary now that I had a real kid. ... Read more »
A new reality
I am very fortunate to be in the position that I am, as a veterinarian, with a sick pet. I know I have more access than most to specialized care. I am very grateful to my colleague and boss, one of my clinic's owners, who also works at an internal medicine facility and is both a very confident diagnostician and very good to his friends and colleagues. On Friday at 4:30 pm, the lab faxed over the pathology results: DIAGNOSIS: LYMPHOSARCOMA. There's never a good time to get that result, but of ... Read more »
An unplanned entry
When Mulan was sick last year, the simple act of petting her was a stressful event. There was always a new lump, some sore spot, something to make me nervous and want to do tests and see what was going on. It was always such a relief to pet Emmett, so sturdy and unproblematic, to scratch him under the chin and not feel enlarged nodes, to thump him the way you thump big dogs in greeting and not worry about hurting him. And after Mulan died, under the grief and sorrow there was also a weight ... Read more »
