Who's the Beardie Who Loves this Cold Weather?

You have to admit that our weather lately has been much more December-like than April-like this year. Cold, rainy, windy, snowy, and just plain weird. But, I know one bearded collie who RELISHES chilly wind up her snoot and loves every minute of galloping through the 'hood on a cold, crisp day!

Not bad for a hound who's somewhere between 93-105 in dog years, whose heart beats with the grateful help of a pacemaker, and who may be dealing with the nasty menace - whose name shall not be spoken.

 Happy Easter, Stella! Go find those Easter eggs!

One of My Favorite Shots

This is one of my favorite shots of Stella. She was looking up at my brother Tim one afternoon while we were all gathered at my folks. She loves the guy.

Decision

Letter to Dr. B:

Hi Bryan,

I was great seeing you, too. And you know Stella thinks you walk on water. Thank you so much for sending the images. I sent them also to Stella's regular vet, Devon Trottier, who may have contacted you about getting any earlier images of the lungs, etc. If those are available and can be sent to her, that would be great.

I've been doing a lot of thinking since last Thursday when we saw you. Although I haven't heard from Dr. Bracha yet, (but I know how busy things are up there, so that's okay), I think I've pretty much decided to let things play out with Stella, continue to spoil her rotten, and have a plan in place when the time comes to set her free. She's just done so incredibly well since the surgeries in June, defying the odds and galumping along like a puppy most days, that I'd like to continue along that path. She just may continue to defy.

Because of your and Devon's care, she's been one lucky and healthy hound with a very grateful human. I'm going to let Stella call the shots and keep her blog updated. Who knows? We may be walking through those doors up there again in four months to recheck that pacemaker . . .

Kim

Snow Day!

It doesn't get any better than this when you're a Beardie . . . and she's been waiting a long time for the white stuff!

 

Oh sure . . . now you want in . . .

The Menace May Have Returned

It was probably inevitable, but no less unexpected.

In mid-March we went up to OSU for Stella's pacemaker check. The appointment is to make sure that the thing is operating the way that it should be, that the battery is charged, and that all is generally functioning well. It was good to see Dr. B, Stella's cardiologist. who's just finishing up his residency at the vet school.

We went through the normal routine: weighed in (77 pounds), recited the recent history (she's doing great!), and discussed the testing that they would do during the appointment. Dr. B. asked whether I wanted to have x-rays of the lungs and liver to check the status of those organs vis a vis the cancer. I said I preferred not to know.

So they took Stella for the better part of the morning and early afternoon to test the pacemaker, and during the course of that process took an x-ray to make sure the the thing was where it was supposed to be. (It was.) The x-ray, however, also showed a spot on the lung.

The menace.

This was not what we were hoping to hear, and Dr. B. did everything possible to make sure that what was showing on the x-ray was not an abberation or one of Stella's old lady bumps.

Not an abberation. Not an old lady bump.

Although OSU has an excellent oncology department, the primary oncologist there, Dr. Bracha, was unavailable to talk about options that afternoon. That was probably all right because we needed some time to absorb the news and think things over.

The thing is - who knows what's happening in the liver? I still don't want to know.