My World.....Shattered

Just rollin' along, living life, working hard, hiking hard, and loving living in The Treehouse at Dragonfly Hill.

Jake was doing fairly well on the phenobarbital, with a few breakthrough seizures - until he had a severe cluster of three seizures over the span of a few hours.  My poor Bubby.  He would barely recover from one when another would strike.

And the look he would give me as a seizure was beginning was utterly heartbreaking.  In that split second before the seizure took over his body, his beautiful golden eyes pleaded with me to make it stop.

He knew what was coming.  I knew what was coming.  And it bore down on him like a freight train.

And there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.

I tearfully talked to the vet, and there weren't a whole lot of solutions.  Since he was beginning to exhibit toxic levels of the phenobarbital, his dosage couldn't be increased, and other meds weren't an option for him.

My beautiful Main Man, my partner, my goofball, my loyal protector, my love, my big cuddle bear, passed peacefully and quietly under the gentle and compassionate care of our vet on April 23, 2016, with Piper and I by his side.

Rarely does a dog touch one's soul like Jake did mine.

Rest in peace, my sweet boy.

No more seizures.

 

Catching Up - Part IV

April 2016 rolls around and it's already time again for the next twice-yearly CT and oncologist visit.

Back in the chair again.

Robert and Tien - and goofy shoes and socks.....

Doesn't everyone wear butterfly Gobys to the oncologist?

Poor Dr. Hampshire had an awful cold, but he still ROCKED it by pronouncing
me still stable, and giving me one of his cherished A+ smiley faces on my report!

Chicken Marsala - um, YUM!

Catching Up - Part III

In November 2015, Jake and Piper and I moved to The Treehouse and began adjusting to and LOVING mountain life.  We got to know the neighbors, began discovering the plethora of hiking trails nearby, and experienced our first snow here.  It was glorious to finally be living again where there are seasons!

Sadly, this was also the time that our lives would take an unexpected, awful turn.  

My beloved Jake began having seizures.  Just completely out of the blue - terrifying, violent seizures.  Any animal in the throes of a seizure is awful to watch.  But a 110-pound Rottweiler having seizures in a small space is horrific.  The potential for him to severely injure himself is very real and very frightening.  

Now it was Jake's turn for diagnostic imaging.

We had all the testing done - MRI, labs, and evaluation by a canine neurologist - but there was no discernible reason for the sudden onset seizures.  No brain tumor, no blood or organ issues.  Nothing.  The vet diagnosed him with idiopathic epilepsy and we began a twice-daily regimen of phenobarbital.

And we put one paw in front of the other and kept moving forward.

Catching Up - Part II

In October 2015 - during the time that both my old house and my new house were in escrow, I was selling my beloved vintage trailer Lil' Chick and frantically purging stuff to downsize from a 2-bedroom house with a dining room, enclosed patio, and garage to a 626-square foot tiny house - I had my twice-yearly dates with the Sharp-Rees Stealy Rad Techs and Dr. Hampshire the Awesome Oncologist.  Other than a couple of minor things that Dr. Hampshire isn't even worrying about, I'm still stable - life is GOOD. Woot!!!  See y'all in another six!

Jared the rad Rad Tech

I love the good news I get from Dr. Hampshire!