If you'd told me I'd go back to Fiesta Island the day after losing our girl, I'd have said you were crazy. But that's what I did today. And I'm so glad I went.
You might remember that one week ago, I posted that we planned to meet up with some Tripawds folks, including the famous Tripawd's Spokesdog Wyatt and the feared-across-three-states (or is it more?) Bernie bin Laden. Even though none of those folks live in San Diego, they still wanted to drive down today to have a Tribute to Abby day at Abby's favorite place, Fiesta Island. They said they would totally understand if I didn't go, but I knew that Abby would want me to. If I didn't go, she would say, "Are you kidding? Miss a day at THE BEACH?" She would have said, "You're nutty, Mama. Go!" So I went.
It was really hard at first - especially turning onto the island without Abby in the backseat. She would always get so excited as soon as we got off the freeway. While we drove around the island, she'd stand in the backseat and hang her head out the window. She could barely contain herself until we'd park and I'd let her out.
But it got better once I got there and met everyone - especially the crazy pups! I took over 100 photos and had a hard time winnowing them down for this post, but here goes:
This is Wyatt Ray - how handsome is he??
This wily ball of craziness is, of course, Bernie bin Laden
...he does sometimes stand still.
This is the aptly named Linda, Bernie's sister
Um, this is also Linda
She can hold her own with the boys.
The boys started a tug-o-war that went on...
...and on...
...and on...
And then Wyatt went for his first ever swim!!
Oh,...and then back on...
...and on...
...and on...
...until talk of burgers broke up the war.
Don't worry - the dogs all got theirs too. (Ab would have LOVED this part...)
And no limbs were lost...
...or even fingers.
Tribute to Abby day was a huge success!
When I came home this afternoon, I downloaded the pictures from today. Then I got side-tracked looking through some of the last photos I took of Abby. All of a sudden, I looked up and saw this:
That is Abby's color! Tripawd-Warrior-Princess-pink. I'm pretty sure she
wanted to let us know that she got there okay, and that she is painting
the town pink! I'm hoping she met the Original Tripawd, Spirit Jerry, there shortly after arrival. We made a felted wool version of him for his pawrents.
Jerry and Abby would make a cute couple.
I'm sure she is flirting with all the boys up there.
As first days go without a beloved furry family member, it was actually pretty darn good. I laughed more than I cried - and who would have thought that? Certainly not me.
Thank you to everyone! All our family & friends & all the folks at Tripawds for the love and support. It really does mean a lot to know so many other people loved her too and were touched by her.
It is with the deepest sadness we let you know that we had to release our girl today.
I will write more later.
Our hearts are shattered.
Thank you to everyone for your support all through this journey. She was a very special girl and I know she touched a lot of people's hearts.
Abby had a really good day at the beach yesterday. Here are some pics of the highlights:
Running to greet Dakota!
She found a good stick.
She got a new toy from Dakota's mom
Rolling in stinky stuff is fun!
Best Friends
Today we went to a little park near our house. She had a good time there as well, meeting a pugle and watching the surfers enjoy the large surf we've been having.
"Hello little pugle"
Enjoying the surf...
...and watching the birds
It was a good time. There was the part though where a complete stranger had to hug me. For those of you that don't know me IRL*, I'm okay with hugging people if I know it's going to happen, but am completely awkward about hugs when there's that Are We Going To Hug/Are We Not Going To Hug? thing that happens upon first seeing each other. Those of you that know me IRL are probably going "OMG, she let a stranger hug her? And I can barely get her to hug me?" Anyway, here's how the hug incident happened: as soon as we hit the park, this woman walked over to us and asked me how long Abby had been a tripawd. I told her almost 15 months and she asked how it happened. When I said, "cancer," she said, "oh, how's she doing with that?" :( It was nice of her to hug me, although I was kinda expecting just a pat on the shoulder and suddenly she's hugging me and not letting go... Luckily another woman came over to meet Ab, which broke it up.
In other hug news, I got a nice bear hug from Dr. V. at Ab's appointment yesterday. (I knew it was coming so, again, that's okay... He hugs you if you cry at the appointment.) He loves Abby. (His whole staff does. They sent me a nice email afterwards saying how much they all love her.) Anyway, at her appointment we had a nice talk. He said how proud he is of us and how well we've done with the fight. He said that Abby has changed lives (that's for sure), and said he can think of at least three of his patients who were going to just put their dogs down when they got the osteosarcoma diagnosis, but decided instead to go ahead with the amp and treatment because he showed them Abby's videos and told them about her and how great she's done. He said this part at the end is the worst part of his job and he doesn't know how much longer he can do it. (Going to need to send him a card about that - cuz he's really good at his job, so he should keep doing it!)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that Abby is doing pretty well. The Prednisone seems to be helping already and she had a good night - slept the whole night through and her coughing is much less than it was before. Her breathing is starting to seem better, and it really must have been as she didn't get up and move around in the night like she had the night before.
This morning on our way back from the park, I stopped at the store and got her some steak, pork products (bacon and chops) and a box of Frosty Paws. (I also got myself some mint chip... don't want her to have to eat all that comfort food alone...) She very much enjoyed her pork chop breakfast. Tonight, we dine on Flying Dutchmen!
Before I forget - I want to thank everyone for the wonderful emails and the messages on the blog and on Facebook and on the Tripawds forums. It is nice to know how much everyone loves our girl. The support really does mean so much to us.
*IRL = In Real Life- as opposed to my virtual life where I have made so many great friends online via Tripawds. I give hugs all the time, virtually. And I even receive them with no awkwardness. :)
Abby took a big turn for the worse yesterday afternoon. She has been coughing off and on for a while now (a dry hacking cough that seemed like there was something stuck in her throat). Recently it has become more frequent. Yesterday she started to have trouble breathing as well. It is especially bad when she lays down on her side, so we had a not-too-restful night since she was up a couple of times.
We went to see Dr. V. this a.m. The mets are now the size of softballs and the only thing he could do is send us home with some prednisone. He was very sad.
If she was not so darn spunky still, today probably would have been The Day. But even with the problems breathing, she still seems so happy and not ready to quit. Her appetite is still pretty good (for her anyway - she's never been a chow hound). She wolfed down her dinner last night and ate about 10 cookies at Dr. V's office this a.m. She was kissing the other dogs and people at the office. She still wags her tail and chases bugs and shadows and barks when trucks drive by. She still plays with her toys.
There is a lot more to say but that will be for another post.
Today I'm taking her to the beach. Even if she can't walk super far, I know she'll love going down there. Tonight or tomorrow we'll go get a Flying Dutchman. Hopefully the prednisone will make it easier for her to breathe and she will have a few more really good days.
My friend, Karen, put together an Oscar-worthy short film to celebrate Abby's fourteen month ampuversary. You may recall that I refer to her first two lung mets (a.k.a. "lung mints" on the Tripawd's site - hence the film's title) as Boris and Natasha.
Okay, Oscar voters - here it is; for your consideration, I give you: The Mints
Isn't that hysterical?? I think it is the best film ever made. Karen found the Boris & Natasha ornaments while going through some old family Christmas stuff, and of course she immediately thought of Abby's lung "mints."
In other news, my nephew's girlfriend graciously offered to do a photo shoot with us. (Thanks again, Tee!) Of course, Abby came out looking great in all of them. She's not a super model for nuthin'. Here is my fave shot of the three of us. (As you can see, the weather was terrible here on New Year's Day!)
And here is another one that I think is super sweet: (Abby LOVES her some tummy rubs!)
I'm so glad we were able to get the pictures done. That would have been a big regret of mine, if we didn't manage to get a really good picture of the three of us together before it's, ya know..., too late...
In other BIG news, next week on the 11th, Abby is going to get to meet Wyatt Ray - the official Tripawd's spokesdog. Wyatt Ray belongs to the folks who started Tripawds. They lost their beloved Jerry (the "original" Tripawd and reason the whole Tripawd's site was started) to osteosarcoma, but now have Wyatt. Wyatt is a back leg amp. He does not have cancer (Hooray!) but is a tripawd due to the mean people (I just want to interject here that mean people suck) who left him tied up and never paid attention to him. Luckily that former life is way behind him. He is livin' the good life now! We can't wait to meet him. He is actually coming to Fiesta Island to meet Abby!
We are also going to meet this guy maniac. Isn't he cute frightening?!
We are excited trepidatious. If we survive, I'll post pics next week. :)
Today is Abby's 14 month ampuversary! And it is also officially one year that she has had lung mets.
We are so happy to still have our girl with us. It's been a little rough since the H.O. diagnosis, but she is still a happy, hoppy girl.
Abby had a great Christmas here at home with her Grandma and two of her aunts.
"Hey, that dog looks like me!"
First of all, she got this very cute Christmas stocking specially handmade for her by her Aunt Kathy. She was very intrigued by it - even when it was empty. If you look closely, you'll see that the one dog on the right-hand side looks a lot like our girl! So cute!
Abby also got this very fine orange alligator in her Christmas stocking. My brother
actually made toys for all the dogs in the family. He bought a gross of
squeakers online (did you know you could buy squeakers in bulk?) and got
some heavy-duty fabric and started whipping up dog toys on my
sister-in-law's sewing machine. He is a very good doggy uncle. (He also made dog treats out of leftover grain from his beer making endeavors. She loves them.)
Her present from us was also an alligator, which (as you can see) she has already turned into a tripawd. (It was the very first thing she did.)
I did not think to squeak it in the store. Big mistake. I'd been looking at some other no-stuffing toys that had recycled water bottles inside, and I thought this was the same sort of thing. I thought it would just make that crinkling, cracking sound that empty water bottles make. Um, no. It makes these crazy noises, as captured in the following video. (Note: the *other* crazy noise is just my sister's laugh...)
"No one can see me..."
After opening her own presents, Abby thought everything was for her. Here she is perusing Grandma's presents:
"For me??"
And she got a bone, that she tried to hide behind the Christmas tree.
The day after Christmas, we took her to the beach and
walked/ran like we used to, where we run for two minutes and then walk for
three. (We hadn't done that in ages because Mike's knees have been
bugging him, but he was ready to give it another try.) Well, even with
the cancer, the lung mets, the tripawdness, the H.O. - she still was
kicking my butt running! She's such a Warrior Princess! Toward the end she started to
slow down and I was able to keep up with her (which was kind of a
bummer).
In other Abby news, we are sticking with the 1/2 dose of Masitinib. Her GI tract just can't handle the full dose. Dr. V. said he talked to some other oncologists who have dogs on the 1/2 dose, so hopefully it will still be in there kicking some tumor butt.
In other non-Abby news (there's non-Abby news in my life??)... On Christmas Eve, my siblings and I recreated a photo of the six of us from 1974. We haven't changed a bit. No, because "a bit" would mean minor changes... (Note that I had to crouch to try to better achieve the look of the original photo.) The funny thing is that while looking for that original B&W photo, I realized I only have two (!!) pictures of me and my siblings together. How is that possible? Now I have three. :)
In a final bit of news, my sis Terry and I have done some more felting, but I couldn't share the pictures until the recipients had their little felted friends in their hands. Now I can finally share the photo of our latest creations: my sister's Jean's one-blue-eyed Husky, Roxie, and my brother and sister-in-law's sweet Golden, angel Dannie. Now everyone in the immediate family has a felted friend.
That's pretty much all the news that's fit to print. (There is other news re: the zoo -- we went the other night and the swamp monkeys were doin' it. But that is not fit to print.) Anyway, Abby and I already went to the beach today to begin her 14 Month Ampuversary celebrations. Not sure what else is on today's agenda. There will need to be a Flying Dutchman in her future, but that might not happen today. Soon, though, Ab! I promise!!
Happy, hoppy New Year everypawdy!! We wish you all good things in 2012!
Hope this holiday season finds you done with your shopping, done with the wrapping, and able to kick back with your favorite Christmas movie (Scrooge, in my case) and favorite Christmas beverage (tip: a margarita with a little Chambord takes on a nice pink tint, close enough to call "Christmasy red"!)
Abby is defiinitely ready for the holiday. Here she is, dreaming of flying with Santa and his reindeer.
"I could be Vixen..."
That holiday cheer don't spread itself. Exhausting.
This afternoon we went to visit our 86-year-old friend, Mazli, and delivery her Christmas present (which of course was Abby-related. She got the Tripawd Heroes book, which has 2 full pages of Abbyness!). Abby wore her antlers, which were quite a hit, as you may imagine. When we got home she was exhausted. It takes a lot out of a girl, spreading all that holiday cheer. (Mazli's present for Abby hadn't arrived yet so we'll have to wait until after Christmas to get that.)
It's just as well that Mazli's present wasn't there because Abby has been quite spoiled lately with gifts. First, she got a dragon from her aunt:
Because every princess needs a dragon!
Removing a limb...
And then she got a squeaky ball and a Sock Monkey Monkeybutt from some very nice friends via the Tripawds "Angel Exchange." Sadly, tripawd Daisy recently earned her angel wings, so her pawrents were nice enough to offer up her old harnesses. They sent us one - along with these very unexpected but very-much-appreciated presents! (The harness has a little handle on the back - I think it will come in handy if Abby gets really tired at the beach and needs some help.)
Of course there are more presents for her under the tree, so she's going to be even more spoiled by the time the week is out.
As for us, we have our gift - we are just happy our girl is with us this Christmas!
Merry Christmas from Abby and us to you and yours. Hope you spend your holidays surrounded by friends and family!
