Until just a few minutes ago we thought Hope was going to have to stay the night at the hospital in Overland Park, but we just found out that she's stable enough to come home! Chad is on his way to KC to pick her up as I type.
Earlier this evening when I talked to Dr. Layton, she said that our little one was still very wobbly and was unwilling or unable to stand up. She thought it would be better to keep her for the night, but she told us to call back in a couple of hours to check on her just in case. At that point I was trying to think of a clever title for this post that somehow conveyed that we were without Hope this evening, but not without hope. I was afraid that someone would become alarmed and think that we were hopeless about Hope's situation and not just Hope-less for the night. Now I don't have to worry about my clever post title or confusing anyone because Hope's on her way!
Overall, it seems that Hope's surgery today went pretty well. Dr. Layton called this morning to let us know that the pre-operative ultrasound didn't show any cancer in her liver or spleen, so that was a huge blessing. Hope did have some lymph nodes that were slightly swollen, but unfortunately it was too risky to biopsy them because they were dangerously close to some major arteries or something. The vet said they weren't alarmingly large, so for now we're just going to hope that those nodes aren't affected with any cancerous cells. Next week we'll find out the grade of her tumor (which basically measures how aggressive it is) and whether the margins around the tumor were clear of any cancerous cells. We're praying for a grade one tumor with a low potential for metastasis along with clear tumor margins!!
Thanks to everyone for the emails and phone calls offering well wishes and prayers for our goofy girl. We really, really appreciate it!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Graduate
The bad news of yesterday morning was thankfully followed by a more joyful evening. I'm proud to announce that our foster dog Fresco graduated from his basic obedience class last night. For the last 6 weeks, Fresco and I have been attending this course at Petco every Monday, and I must say we both learned so much during our training!
When I signed us up a few months ago, I wasn't actually very confident that a Petco class would teach either of us anything we didn't already know. Fresco could already sit, shake, stay and lay down on command. He knew what come meant too, although he was fairly selective about when he chose to do respond, depending on his level of distraction (clearly he is part hound). I wasn't sure he would learn anything new, but the trainer at the shelter insisted that he could not be adopted unless he received training from a professional, so I decided to give in to her demands. Since the only real problem we were having with Fresco was his excitability when he saw other dogs on our walks, my goal going into the training was to get him some experience being around other dogs while on a leash.
Clearly my expectations of the class weren't very high, but I'm the first to admit that I completely underestimated the quality of our training! The instructor, Colleen, was an amazingly knowledgeable, helpful and patient teacher. She had all sorts of tricks to help teach the dogs various commands, all using positive reinforcement with lots of treats. It was certainly different than what you'd see on the Dog Whisperer, but effective none the less!
On our first day of class, Fresco was excited to meet all of his classmates, but did so in a fairly calm manner. Colleen couldn't understand what I was talking about when I said he would flip out with excitement when he saw a strange dog since he'd initially met up with everyone so politely. Then a large black lab named Benji came into class a few minutes late, and Benji was clearly nervous about approaching all of the already gathered strange dogs. Fresco then demonstrated his excited mode perfectly for Colleen, jumping up and down and barking hysterically as Benji came into the training area. Colleen said she thought Fresco's behavior was more of a reaction--that he was reacting to the stress Benji was obviously feeling, which was why certain dogs made him crazy while calmer dogs didn't. Her diagnosis was basically that he was just overly sensitive to other dogs' emotions, but in all six weeks of class she never saw any aggressive behavior in him at all. In fact, he would completely submit to his friends Havoc and Benji in their playtime after class, which Colleen always found very admirable and impressive! It always made me laugh since the LHS trainer had given him all sorts of labels like dominant/aggressive and possessive/aggressive. He is nothing of the sort at home or in class, and now I have Colleen's expert opinion to back me up on it!
So last night at graduation I invited Chad to come watch Fresco in action and also take a few pictures of the event. Each dog had to do a series of six commands: sit/stay, down/stay, close (heel), come, leave it, and wait. Fresco did so awesome! I thought he was definitely the most obedient in the class and an objective observer (okay, maybe Chad isn't so objective) agreed! Many of the "parents" had to try multiple times to complete one of tests or had to give the command multiple times, but there was only one time I had to do a quick do-over. That was because I didn't give the wait command quite quickly enough, so it wasn't even Fresco's fault at all. Even Colleen said he was extremely focused last night!
Here's him performing his down/stay.
Here's the baby of the class, Nikita, getting treats after one of her tests. I love the looks on everyone else's faces...everyone looks so proud!
After we all completed the 6 commands we learned in class, we each had to do a "stupid pet trick" that we'd worked on during the six week period, to show Colleen that we could train our dog without her help as well. Three of the five dogs in the class shook hands, which was cute but kind of predictable, so I practiced something more unique and exciting with Fresco. I was a little nervous since we'd been practicing on carpet and Petco only has a slick tile floor, but he performed like a champ! Check him out!
I love the looks on the faces of the other parents behind me in this picture!! I think everyone was impressed!
I was so proud of our big baby Fresco last night, and I think Chad was too. He proved to everyone what a smart, well-behaved and adoptable dog he is!!
When I signed us up a few months ago, I wasn't actually very confident that a Petco class would teach either of us anything we didn't already know. Fresco could already sit, shake, stay and lay down on command. He knew what come meant too, although he was fairly selective about when he chose to do respond, depending on his level of distraction (clearly he is part hound). I wasn't sure he would learn anything new, but the trainer at the shelter insisted that he could not be adopted unless he received training from a professional, so I decided to give in to her demands. Since the only real problem we were having with Fresco was his excitability when he saw other dogs on our walks, my goal going into the training was to get him some experience being around other dogs while on a leash.
Clearly my expectations of the class weren't very high, but I'm the first to admit that I completely underestimated the quality of our training! The instructor, Colleen, was an amazingly knowledgeable, helpful and patient teacher. She had all sorts of tricks to help teach the dogs various commands, all using positive reinforcement with lots of treats. It was certainly different than what you'd see on the Dog Whisperer, but effective none the less!
On our first day of class, Fresco was excited to meet all of his classmates, but did so in a fairly calm manner. Colleen couldn't understand what I was talking about when I said he would flip out with excitement when he saw a strange dog since he'd initially met up with everyone so politely. Then a large black lab named Benji came into class a few minutes late, and Benji was clearly nervous about approaching all of the already gathered strange dogs. Fresco then demonstrated his excited mode perfectly for Colleen, jumping up and down and barking hysterically as Benji came into the training area. Colleen said she thought Fresco's behavior was more of a reaction--that he was reacting to the stress Benji was obviously feeling, which was why certain dogs made him crazy while calmer dogs didn't. Her diagnosis was basically that he was just overly sensitive to other dogs' emotions, but in all six weeks of class she never saw any aggressive behavior in him at all. In fact, he would completely submit to his friends Havoc and Benji in their playtime after class, which Colleen always found very admirable and impressive! It always made me laugh since the LHS trainer had given him all sorts of labels like dominant/aggressive and possessive/aggressive. He is nothing of the sort at home or in class, and now I have Colleen's expert opinion to back me up on it!
So last night at graduation I invited Chad to come watch Fresco in action and also take a few pictures of the event. Each dog had to do a series of six commands: sit/stay, down/stay, close (heel), come, leave it, and wait. Fresco did so awesome! I thought he was definitely the most obedient in the class and an objective observer (okay, maybe Chad isn't so objective) agreed! Many of the "parents" had to try multiple times to complete one of tests or had to give the command multiple times, but there was only one time I had to do a quick do-over. That was because I didn't give the wait command quite quickly enough, so it wasn't even Fresco's fault at all. Even Colleen said he was extremely focused last night!
Here's him performing his down/stay.
Here's the baby of the class, Nikita, getting treats after one of her tests. I love the looks on everyone else's faces...everyone looks so proud!
After we all completed the 6 commands we learned in class, we each had to do a "stupid pet trick" that we'd worked on during the six week period, to show Colleen that we could train our dog without her help as well. Three of the five dogs in the class shook hands, which was cute but kind of predictable, so I practiced something more unique and exciting with Fresco. I was a little nervous since we'd been practicing on carpet and Petco only has a slick tile floor, but he performed like a champ! Check him out!
I love the looks on the faces of the other parents behind me in this picture!! I think everyone was impressed!I was so proud of our big baby Fresco last night, and I think Chad was too. He proved to everyone what a smart, well-behaved and adoptable dog he is!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Emotionally Drained
Today has been an emotionally draining day. The day started so normally and then took such a bizarre turn it's almost not believable. This morning, I took Celtic to see a veterinary specialist in Kansas City. We'd made the appointment a few weeks ago, when our regular vet decided that he didn't want to try and remove the fatty (benign) tumor in Celtic's armpit because it was so extensive. This is the same lipoma that Celtic had removed last year--it just grew back already and is larger than it was before! Since we loved the surgeon who did Hope's surgery last year (Dr. Layton at VSEC), we made an appointment for a consultation with her to see what she would recommend with regard to Celtic's growth.
About the only good news here is that we were already at the veterinary hospital and Dr. Layton was absolutely wonderful. After examining Celtic and his lump she examined Hope, took a needle aspirate of her growth, and walked straight back to the microscope to examine the sample. A few minutes later, she came back with the grim news that it was, in fact, another cancerous tumor. With such a small sample she was unable to tell the stage of tumor, but she still recommended that we remove it immediately without trying the chemotherapy that failed to shrink last year's lesion. She is such an amazingly kind and caring doctor, she did all of this without even charging us for Hope's visit.
Needless to say, Celtic's possible surgery has been put on the back burner for now. Instead, on Wednesday morning we'll take our sweet girl back to Overland Park where she'll first undergo some testing to see if there's any cancer that has spread internally. Those tests will be followed by another delicate surgery, in an area of her backside where Dr. Layton knows she can't get the desired large margins around the edges of the tumor. We're just hoping and praying that Dr. Layton can perform another miracle for Hope.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter!!
I hope everyone is having a magnificent Easter! While you're enjoying your chocolate bunnies and egg hunts I hope that you're also able to celebrate the glorious miracle of the holiday!Our Easter isn't turning out to be quite as wonderful as I imagined because it's pretty darn cold outside! I had dreamed of a relaxing day with a long walk in the beautiful sunshine that was forecast yesterday. Right now it's cloudy with a wind chill of 34. I'm snuggled up in bed with the puppies watching basketball, kind of dreading going outside at all!
Despite the chilly weather, this happy daffodil and its little bug friend were enjoying this lovely Easter in our flower garden when we got home from church this morning. At least I can enjoy the sights of spring while we wait for it to actually start feeling like spring around here!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Basketball on the Brain
This afternoon I started making my picks for my NCAA Tourney bracket. As usual, I'll be entering our annual office pool along with that of a couple of our other friends. Our office pool is rather large, and although I was darn close to winning last year, I have yet to come away with any winnings from that particular competition in the 9 years I've been entered. It certainly isn't from lack of trying, since I generally always do a ridiculous amount of research before selecting my winners. I really don't know why--it doesn't really ever seem to help me. I just can't seem to help myself.
This year I'm considering only filling out one bracket, as opposed to doing the "Kim's Dream" and "Kim's Reality" bracket. In previous years, my theory has been that my Jayhawks generally do better when I don't pressure them by picking them to go all the way. However, if I don't pick them to go all the way, then I feel terribly guilty about it. My solution has always been to do two brackets. I'm thinking maybe that this year I shouldn't continue the two bracket tradition, since clearly it hasn't resulted in a win for me, and more importantly, hasn't resulted in a win for the Jayhawks!
Speaking of the Jayhawks, the other day when I was babbling about the article in the KUAA newsletter that had so much great trivia about our players, my friend Amber pointed out to me that there was a much larger wealth of information about Bill's Boys (and Bill himself) in the online media guide. How is it that I never knew that the media guide was available on the web? What kind of fan am I?
Actually, despite my ignorance about the KU Athletics website, my love of the Jayhawks evidently runs pretty deep. I'm already nervous about the game on Thursday!! The Big Dance starts in less than two days!
This year I'm considering only filling out one bracket, as opposed to doing the "Kim's Dream" and "Kim's Reality" bracket. In previous years, my theory has been that my Jayhawks generally do better when I don't pressure them by picking them to go all the way. However, if I don't pick them to go all the way, then I feel terribly guilty about it. My solution has always been to do two brackets. I'm thinking maybe that this year I shouldn't continue the two bracket tradition, since clearly it hasn't resulted in a win for me, and more importantly, hasn't resulted in a win for the Jayhawks!
Speaking of the Jayhawks, the other day when I was babbling about the article in the KUAA newsletter that had so much great trivia about our players, my friend Amber pointed out to me that there was a much larger wealth of information about Bill's Boys (and Bill himself) in the online media guide. How is it that I never knew that the media guide was available on the web? What kind of fan am I?
Actually, despite my ignorance about the KU Athletics website, my love of the Jayhawks evidently runs pretty deep. I'm already nervous about the game on Thursday!! The Big Dance starts in less than two days!
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