Sparky news

Jan 21, 2012 - Saturday
Jonathan would have turned 29 years old on Jan 19. I thought missing someone was supposed to get easier with each passing year. That is wrong!

My poinsettia is still alive & looking very good right outside the front door.

Alex got a flat tire while at a friend’s house a couple wks ago. He called us at about 11:45 pm to tell us. We told him to take his AAA card out & call them & they would come change his tire, but instead, he & his friend decided to change the tire themselves. He said they were reading instructions & making sure not to put body parts under the car. I asked him why he didn’t just call AAA. He said because he wanted to be able to say he changed a tire at least once in his life. Okay, so now AAA is on call.

Sparky was doing really well with her leg healing but a few days ago she jumped off the couch. Oh oh. Not supposed to do that. Since then, she’s been limping again. Then at about the same time, she got a double ear infection. I took her to the vet yesterday & they cleaned out her ears & checked her ACL. Leg is still in the “it’s okay to be limping” stages & we have 4 different meds for her ears. She’s perked up a little since yesterday. This is a very aggressive protocol for ear infections, but I want her out of pain as soon as possible. Poor baby. She seems to go from one thing to another. Right now she’s sleeping under my desk on her pillow & she looks so cute!

I borrowed a Stephen King book from the library called “Desperation.” It’s on my Nook. With books that are over 800 pages I have trouble. I have to read it within 14 days. But I think I’ll make it. This book was pretty good until about page 500, when it got sort of stupid & goofy as a lot of Stephen King books do.

Alex & I went to the dealership this morning to have his oil changed. Then we stopped for breakfast & then went to the library where I bought 2 more books. Not all of the library books are available from the library for eReaders. But most are. The new Stephen King book called “11/22/63” is not available yet. My friend, Mark told me it is excellent. If I can’t get it for my Nook soon I may just borrow the hard copy. While I was there I also saw the new “Dexter” series book. I almost got it but I have a few to read already. (Can’t wait for “Dexter” to come back on. The way it ended this season was very interesting.)

I have been going to physical therapy for carpal tunnel – both hands. The right hand is worse than the left, but they both give me a lot of trouble. Hoping that physical therapy will help enough so that I won’t need the surgery, but it’s not looking good.

Alex is out with a friend now – probably at the basketball court. Lewis & I were going to go out to eat but we don’t want to leave Sparky now. She has to take all of her medications at different times throughout the day & I don’t want to miss a dose. We’re going to dinner tomorrow anyway. We’ll go early enough so that we don’t mess up any of her med times.

I am not having my Valentine’s Day Tea again this year. This will be the third year in a row that I haven’t had it. I just don’t feel like it anymore.

Our Keurig coffee maker bit the dust after just a month & a half. The one we had before that (Keurig) lasted a few months, then I took it back to exchange it but got the same kind. Now we traded in the 2nd one for a Cuisinart coffee maker. It uses the little Keurig cups we have & it actually works. It was almost double the cost but at least we have coffee now. And it has a timer.

That same day we got new faucets for 3 bathroom sinks – the 2 sinks in Alex’s bathroom & 1 for the extra bathroom. It’s time. Now I have to call Les the plumber to install them.

It is now Feb 9 – Thurs. Sparky has been having blood in her urine for a couple of months & the vet doesn’t know why, so we took her to a specialist for an ultrasound this past Mon. Our sweet little princess has transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder – a very aggressive cancer. Lewis & I were both there & we are still in shock. The vet gave her an injection of a medication that is supposed to ease her pain. If it worked we would pick up more of it on Tues. It worked on Mon night & on Tues day she was almost back to her normal self. For 3 days prior to the ultrasound she didn’t even get up. She didn’t eat & drank only when I held my glass to her lips. She couldn’t get up; it looked like her back legs didn’t work & her 1 front leg was sore. When I touched it she yelped. My poor sweet baby. Lewis picked up the medication on Tues on the way home from work & we have been giving her that. It doesn’t work as well as the injection did on Mon, but she is certainly improved since last wk. We will keep her with us as long as we can ease her pain & provide a good quality of life for her. And we will do everything we can to keep her here with us. She is my baby girl.

Our friend had a Superbowl Party on Sun & made some awesome Italian casserole. Had lots of food. I even won some money from one of those football pools. I just pick blocks & put my initials in them. I don’t watch the game; I read & play with his little dog who is also a Westie.

Feb 6, 2012 – Mon
We are giving her various drugs to keep her from being in pain as well as something which MAY or may not help to decrease the size of the tumor or it MAY simply keep it from spreading. In any case, it will not go away. We are positively horrified that our sweet baby girl is going through this. We will do everything we can to keep her out of pain & provide a good quality of life. Right now, our family is just a train wreck. You know how we adore our sweet little girl. She has given us nothing but love & joy. This should not be happening to her!

My sisters came over on Sat to see Sparky. They brought all the comfort foods our dad used to make for us. I have the best sisters in the world! And Roxie (Cathy’s little dog) gave Sparky a nice card with some pictures in it.

I will probably not feel like writing for a while. I am spending all my time taking care of Sparky. I don’t want to do anything else & I don’t want to leave the house unless she is with me.

Please send positive thoughts our way – for Sparky.

Hugs,
Candace & family