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Well after a good god cry and a break down in the van ( actual meltdown ) yesterday outside the clinic because I had to hand my baby dog over to the vets at the clinic for chemo ……and she has no idea why except that I handed her over to strangers to be poked and prodded, and after a major breakdown on my part it is day two. We are waiting to find out of her blood work up says T cell or B cell. B cell is a lot more reactive to chemo. T cell is a lot more resistant to chemo. We are now waiting for that call even though it doesn’t change the course of the treatment. Once it goes into remission, the length of the remission can be effected by the type of cell.
I made a mistake and read all the papers they have me, like cancer goes in remission maybe a year. Well I have to THINK POSITIVE! When Chocolate Chip (my brown pomeranian) was first diagnosed with a bad heart valve, they said maybe a year, with wonderful care takers and lots of love and good cardiologist vet, he lived over 5 years. The new medication called Vetmedin was tried and it’s now a miracle drug for dogs with heart disease. I know I have to be positive and stay strong.

Coffee the day after chemo, with chicken nuggets…and yes she got part of my cheeseburger too!

Today we start the 19 week treatment of chemo. Chemo is a 4 weeks rotation of different chemos and then prednisone. Then repeat. We will make the journey to Madison to have chemo until May. They say because the cancer is on both sides, it’s at stage 3 but because she has no symptoms she is a letter a. Her blood work came back normal, like it was 8 weeks ago when she had her teeth cleaned and an infected tooth taken out, perfect. (There was no signs of enlarged nymph nodes then)….. so this means it is not in her bone marrow. That is good.

On our way home in the van after chemo number one. It’s been a long day……7-3. They said it would be shorter from now on. This is a number one .

Our Coffee News was not good. She has lymphoma. It is a cancer of the lymph glands. It’s a fast cancer and left untreated, can kill in 6-8 weeks. It’s not good at all. We had to look at the options. They could get us in at the rotating oncologist here, or we can drive 90 minutes to the UW Madison Veterinary School. They can get us in tomorrow. They created the protocols for lymphoma treatment in dogs. It is not going to be easy. I can’t believe my baby has cancer, she’s only 5.

Coffee’s first photo at eight weeks old.

Coffee now, at 5.

We lost Cosmo kitty last night and I noticed a swollen glad on my dog Coffee’s neck. I took her to the vet today and noticed more swollen glands. They did biopsies. We don’t know if it is just inflammation because of something like and allergy or if it is the start of cancer. She had her teeth cleaned and some removed eight weeks ago. This was not there. So hopefully whatever it is we caught it early.
Waiting its terrible. I can’t tell you how many times I have waited for results, doctor’s tests, diagnosis’s, appointments with specialists. I a, so tired of living with th constants knot in my stomach and the not knowing what the results will be. It’s hell and it seems as time goes on it get worse. Waiting……

Coffee swinging in the yard. She loves to swing.

It never fails to amaze me how in the blink of an eye life can change. Your whole world can be turned upside down and a big empty space is left there. The world keeps passing you by and yet you are at a standstill. I have been here too many times before. A life changing event.
We lost our Cosmo Creampuff today. He was brought home for the shelter 14 years ago. For nine years he had diabetes and insulin shots twice a day. It was not easy on him but he just kept hanging in there. We will miss him so much.

When Cosmo first became diabetic, and cats will developed this disease between 8-10 years old, we committed to giving him his shots daily. They have to be given on time without much variation so that meant our personal lives had to be shifted. Having a diabetic cats is not for everyone but we tried our best. Took him in for blood sugar readings and to the cat ophthalmologist for eye treatments. We are not sorry we did but it’s a personal choice.

Cosmo after many years with diabetes. He just kept fighting.

Yes you can make any day a special day. It’s an easy way to cheer up your life. This day we used to learn about Puxatauny Phil and eat ground hog cupcakes. Made out of chocolate cake, a nutter butter cookie, and crushed ores cookies for the “shadow”. And yes a few times every month we would put on hats or costumes and celebrate! Celebrate other cultures or or own.

One of my former students in a ground hog costume. I took pictures of the kids several times a month and at the end of the year they would get a memory book of their photos thru the year. AND LOOK AT THAT GEOUND HOG CUPCAKE I MADE, Yummmmmm

I taught many Asian children so we would celebrate Chinese New Year with Chinese food, decorations of dragons and watching Mulan on the television. Chinese New Year Celebration was always a good day. I really miss that about working I a. Multi cultural classroom…celebrating and learning about the different cultures in the world. The kids taught me as much as I taught them.

It’s the last day of January, my birthday month. I actually did my blog for a whole month faithfully. I committed to it and just did it. Carole, who was my teachers aide for 20 years, part time, usually for an hour here and there because there is no assistants for teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools, in a school as small as mine was with no budget. Anyway the two of us go on resaling adventures. Today it was West Bend and Slinger. It’s always fun to go find new trash to treasures, especially when I find a good chair to refurbish into fun furniture.

The snowflake chair!

My cousins Wilma made this quilt for me, it came a s a surprise a few years ago. I decided to do the whole room around it. My bedroom, to be exact. Two walls are pale blue, two are dark orchid and I put violet wallpaper border up that brings the two colors together. I then added Wilma’s quilt to the wall. We lost Wilma the day before Thanksgiving. I have nice memories of her and my Great Aunt Mamie, Wilma’s mother. They lived in California and I got to meet them twice in California and a few times at family gatherings in Arkansas, where my family is from. This quilt will always be special.