Jack Dodges Another One! For Karen.

Karen asked about Jack in a comment on the Veteran's Day blog. I'm happy to say he is fine. I lost a lot of sleep as we waited for the ultrasound, and then the results, but he didn't! Sleeping is not a problem for Jack these days! The vet was delighted as they really thought it was going to be Jack's "time", and had prepared me by telling me to "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst".

We had company over Thanksgiving. Three little poodles and Harry, the cat. Jack had never been around a cat before, but as you can see, it didn't bother either of them!

Jack doesn't have bladder cancer or a hematoma on his spleen as they thought with the first ultrasound, he has a benign tumor. It may even be a hematoma that resolved itself. His blood test numbers were normal this time and there was no blood in his urine. The unexplained mass he has had in his abdomen probably most of his life is still a mystery they can't explain. They discovered it three years ago in his open heart surgery. The surgeon said, "I didn't even want to go there and open a can of worms. I've never seen anything like it." Also, the mass on his kidney is benign and idiopathic--it's not uncommon in older dogs. He's the same happy, kind and sweet boy he has always has been. You'd never know he was sick (he didn't, that's for sure), and I swear I think he enjoyed the ultrasound. The young handler came out with him, and it was like they were best buddies. Jessie is an impressive young man--well spoken, gentle, and very handsome. He looks all of 16, yet he joined the service at 17, has been over to Afghanistan, in the service for three years and is already a veteran. I thanked him for his service and he blushed. I hope life treats him well. We are all indebted to him.

Bogey, my son Michael's pup stayed with us starting Thanksgiving night because Michael was flying up to see Laura. We had to hide the cat from him--he has killed a couple of squirrels so we were nervous as to how he would react to Harry. We introduced him to the little poodles, though, and he was fine around them. Of course they were always in our sight.

I call Bogey "Houdini" because he figures out how to get anything that even resembles garbage. Caution, you can fly by the pictures! :)

Yes?

"I love you, Nancy, but I eated your garbage and spread it all over the house. It only took me five minutes. I sorry."

Hmmm...what's going on outside?

I came down with a strep throat Thanksgiving night (one reason for not writing about Thanksgiving) plus as I was reading all the blogs I realized I don't really have much of anything interesting to write about. I even bore myself at times. I had forgotten how miserable a sore throat can be. Two days of antibiotics and I felt much better though still whipped.

I thought I would be in full swing planning my trip to head west, now. However, the vet thinks with Jack's track record (and so does a second opinion) that I shouldn't take him. I need to be where I can get help quickly. He's had more than one brush with the grim reaper; had I been isolated he wouldn't have beaten the odds. I always try to convince myself that I'd be able to pick him up in an emergency, but I'm not so sure that's the case--and everyone else is positive it's not. After much deliberation, I tend to agree--he should live out his life, here, in the comfort of his home and enjoy his walks to his beloved nature center with Susan. 

On the bright side, I can take him camping around the southeast as help is never far away because it's so populated. He likes that. I couldn't do much (because of my back) on my camping trip to TN before all this latest began, but he enjoyed every moment. I was fortunate that some of the women from the group and a friend who stayed in my camper with me took him on some walks with his buddies. He was in 7th heaven. One night we thought he was sick and we were both in tears. Then, I thought maybe he needed to go out. He did, but he wanted to stay out. Funny boy decided I should sit in my lounge chair at 2:45 a.m., and he was stubborn about it! Sick act over! He just wanted to be outside.

So, Karen, there you have it. Thank you for thinking of Jack. It warmed my heart. Really, it did. I tend to write for myself when the mood strikes, but it was a really nice thing to know that other people care about him. Of course he's mine, but I think he's a pretty special pup. This picture is especially for you. :)

Susan made a lovely Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends--she really is a good cook and is enjoying her "new" kitchen. She's done a very nice job on a small budget, and I think it's charming. She is the "hostess with the mostest". I'm sorry I didn't get to write a special post about the day, with pictures, but I missed the boat.

The holidays are upon us--there have been Christmas lights up around here since the day after Halloween. Pretty soon, it won't make much sense to take them down. When I was a kid a hundred years ago, we decorated on Christmas Eve--I think it was so much more exciting back then. Some people used to tell their kids that Santa brought the Christmas tree and decorated it while they were asleep. I had almost forgotten that until this moment.

One thing that I got (and it's taking a lot of my time) is Apple TV. One of the best buys I ever made. I was able to downgrade my cable service to half of what I was paying (they resisted like the devil). I signed up for Netflix and still it is only half of what I had been paying. For those of you with HD TVs, I highly recommend it. Setup takes no more than ten minutes. Easy peasy!