Day 2933

It's not a good sign when your vet keeps saying "I'm so sorry" as he explains your dog's test results. The blood clot inside Dash's heart has grown larger. This means the treatment he has been receiving is not working. We added a second medication today to help dissolve the clot, but I'm not optimistic. We've known from the beginning that blood thinners are only effective in helping the body reabsorb blood clots about 50% of the time. Dash's blood just seems to clot unusually easily.

It's kind of scary knowing that your best friend is a ticking time bomb. As long as the large clot stays together, Dash will be fine. If the clot breaks apart and travels to other parts of his body, he could die in a matter of minutes. Dash could have two weeks or two years. We just don't know. The sad thing is there is absolutely nothing we can do. Surgery isn't an option and we're already giving him the only medications that even has a chance of working. We have been told to avoid stressful situations and not to let Dash run off leash. The running isn't a problem, but everything is a stressful situation for Dash. He has never been a calm dog.

When we returned from the cancer center, Janet and I resumed our regular lives. What else can you do? I finished my breakfast and did some chores around the house. Later, I paid some more January bills and wrote a letter to my sister. On my way back from the post office, I though I'd take my old down booties to the neighborhood tailor and see if she could repair the worn waterproof cloth on the bottom. Although the booties were made of nylon and oilcloth and appeared to be easy to sew, the tailor said she didn't work on shoes and told me to see the shoe repairman next door. The shoe repairman told me that the booties weren't really a shoe and to take them back to the tailor. Nobody wanted to fix these things. Oh, well. I tried. I have a new pair anyway. I'm just a Gemini who likes to have a spare for everything.

Maybe I should have made a few New Year's resolutions. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do in the year ahead. My life has been centered around caring for sick dogs for so long now that it's hard for me to conceive of anything else. I really enjoyed going to Vandenberg Air Force Base several years ago and watching a satellite launch. Maybe someday I'll become a space groupie again. Following launches gets expensive though. I'd need a new source of money. Money is always the problem. Once you start to relax, the money starts to disappear fairly quickly.

For now I'm going to enjoy my remaining time with Dash. He can be stubborn and ornery at times, but he has an amazing personality and always makes me laugh. Dash has been my friend and companion for a long time now. He and Dot made it possible for me to work alone in a little office for all these years. They were really the heart and soul of my company and of this blog. It's very hard to be lonely when there is a Dalmatian nearby.

I'm glad that Dash didn't really understand what happened at the vet today. He's still a happy dog who takes things one day at a time. I'm going to try to do the same.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day