Day 1599

Little things can make a big difference. The oncologist went over Dash's treatment in detail with us today and was very reassuring. Even though Dash is very uncomfortable at this stage of his treatment and looks like he has a third degree burn on his neck, he is evidently still one of the lucky ones. The oncologist told us that the side effects from radiation treatment could be much, much worse. The radiation kills cancer cells, but it injures a lot of healthy cells in the process. Most of this injured tissue heals when the radiation is discontinued, but it can look pretty alarming when you're right in the middle of treatment.

Cancer treatment still seems pretty crude, compared to the high-tech pills I've been taking to combat my Hepatitis-C. The Sovaldi pills work directly at the DNA/RNA level to turn the reproductive mechanism of the virus on and off with minimal side effects. Chemotherapy medications by contrast are basically just poison. They are probably where that phrase "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" came from in the first place. The whole experience certainly seems to have made Dash stronger. Even though he is weak and tired now, he still seems to enjoy going to the cancer center, where he has made friends with the other sick dogs and continues to get lots of attention from all the nurses. When this is all over, I'm wondering if I might be able to bring him back occasionally, just to visit with the other dogs. He's going to enjoy being healthy again, but I think he's going to miss this place.

Work went smoothly today. There was a lot to do, but there were no meetings or phone calls, so I was able to quietly work my way through the day, one problem at a time. I'm more or less caught up with my writing assignments, but I've still got a website prototype to design and code by next Tuesday.  This is a very simple website, so it will probably only take me a day to put the whole thing together. Maybe I ought to get started this weekend though. It's never a good idea to begin a new website project a day before the deadline.

This is going to be a busy weekend. There are several animal rescue events on Saturday, lots of weekend errands and chores, and the dogs still can't be left alone for long stretches of time. I wish I had time to go to the big guitar show in Fair Park this weekend, but like I said, there's still a website that need to be designed. It would be nice to get back to the gym before I gain any more weight as well.

The Milkweed plants have returned for another year. The curious little green balls of tiny flowers are popping up all over the meadow behind our house. They call the plants Antelope Horn here in Texas, because of the small purple horn shaped flowers. They are basically just Milkweed though.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day