Good
morning all.
I was reflecting on the past six months. The picture on the right was from December 2, 2004 and the picture on the left is from today.
Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was: Die cancer! Die! It has been something that I say to myself many, many times over the last half year. Of course, it was more often back then. Today I only say it to myself about once a week or so. These days I hope that there isn't any cancer left to hear me. Still, Die cancer! Die! Just in case.
As you can see from one of my favorite views, the weather is much more agreeable these days. Today there are leaves on my trees again and it will be in the mid 60s whereas back then I could see snow on the roof of the building behind me. That is a big improvement.
More importantly, I am feeling much better. As I've mentioned before, in a couple more weeks I will be receiving my last round of vincristine. Let me tell you, I was more than a little nervous back in December pondering what was ahead of me. Of course, back on December 2nd, I still hadn't been diagnosed, but by the way my alpha dogs were worrying about me, I knew that cancer was a possibility. I had heard that chemotherapy wasn't very much fun. On the other paw, I was also worried that maybe I wouldn't be around to see another spring. Those are weighty thoughts for such a small dog.
As I look back, these are the things that stand out to me.
 | My alpha dogs love me very much (but of course, I knew that already). |
| I have a lot of friends. I'm grateful for all of the support that everyone has given me. |
| My pack and the experts that take care of me can no longer feel any evil cancerous bumps. |
| My breathing is back to normal (it was pretty hard there for a while). |
| My bum is back to normal (the less said about that, the better!). |
| My fur coat and my whiskers are not nearly as beautiful as they were before all of this started. Not only are there more gray hairs, but my coat is much thinner and my whiskers have been breaking off and falling out (not to mention several bad shave jobs). Still, I know that I am a beauty and that is a small price to pay. |
| I am down one and a half teeth - I didn't see that one coming. |
| I am 2 pounds heavier - the more food the better is my new motto. |
| I don't have the energy that I used to. In the last month or so I've had to cut back on my walks to about 1.5 miles a day from the 3 miles that I had been doing. |
Well, that ends my reflection for today. All that is left to say is thank you everyone. The past six months hasn't been the best of my life, but with your love and support, I have gotten through it. I think, in the end, that I am a very lucky dog indeed.
Little Bit