Day 1998

Poor Dot. Her Ultrasound scan this morning showed a small growth on her liver and an unexplained shadow on her spleen that were not there in a previous scan taken about eight months ago. Her oncologist told me that there was no reason to get alarmed yet. The vast majority of small growths like this turn out to be benign cysts. We were at a cancer center though and cancer doctors want to know if an unexplained growth might be cancer. The oncologist wanted me to bring Dot back next week so they could aspirate some cells from the questionable areas and send them to a cytology lab for analysis. Since she will need to be sedated for this procedure, I went ahead and had a full blood chemistry panel done today. At least that part of her annual exam later this Summer is already done.

Dot's oncologist is a realist. She said that no matter what the results turned out to be, she couldn't see herself recommending surgery. Dot has had just about all the surgery she can handle at her age. I agree with her that it's good to know what's going on though. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the new growth in her liver was just a cyst. I've had several small benign cysts in my kidneys for years. Cysts and growing older just kind of go together. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with today's test results. Dot is my miracle dog. After all she's been through this year, I was really hoping that her lab reports today would be perfect.

I noticed this morning that my breakfast restaurant has raised its prices. The cost of my favorite meal has gone up a dollar. Truthfully, I was surprised this had not happened sooner. This is still one of the most reasonably priced quality restaurants in town. I don't begrudge their modest price increases a bit. I just wish I had a way to raise the price of my own services. The cost of just about everything continues to go up, and yet people continue to want to pay less and less for website design.

At least there is plenty of work. I had an initial meeting with a new website client this afternoon and we all got along well. I got the job and will begin building their new site later this month. I also decided that my mobile friendly skills were ready for prime time and almost immediately got a job to convert an older static site to a mobile friendly design. I'm going to be busy this month.

I was certainly busy today. In addition to my trip to the cancer center with Dot and the new business meeting later in the day, I still had time to write a new article and send it off to its destination. By the end of the day, I was tired. We didn't get a lot of sleep last night, mostly because Dash had an upset stomach and kept getting me up to take him outside. I've never seen a dog who is so indecisive about pooping. I knew he had to go, but it took three trips to the back door at thirty minute intervals before he finally did his business. It doesn't help that the sodium vapor security light in the back yard is starting to go out and every time it blinks on and off Dash thinks it is lightning and races back inside again. Eventually, we all got back to sleep but it was almost morning by then.

For all his peculiar habits, Dash is a very smart dog. Sometimes I think he knows English. Usually, on our afternoon walks he like to take a right turn when we get to the alley and go directly into the park. Today when he tried to turn right, I told him that we needed to go left today. "If we turn right, you might get bit by the neighbor dog again." He gave me a worried look and immediately turned left.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1524

Dash is a smart dog. When he was having his incontinence problems recently, he learned that if he scratched at the back door with his paw, we would come running to let him out. That little scratching noise would wake me from a sound sleep, because I knew that if I didn't get there in time, Dash would poop in the house. Now that Dash is completely better, he has remembered what a quick response he gets from scratching at the back door. Now he scratches at the back door whenever he wants anything. It's irritating. Since his bowels have been a bit unpredictable as long as he's been with us, I still come running, only to discover that Dash has cleverly gotten me out of bed for a dog treat or an early walk. He has become particularly bad with this behavior on weekends when the rest of the family likes to sleep in a little longer. Although Dash spends half his life sleeping, he apparently doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in. Sunday's are a great time to sleep in, but Dash was determined to get us out of bed and walking in the park by 6:30 AM. Eventually he won this battle.

It was a nice day, but Dash still should have cut us a little slack. Would it kill him to sleep a little longer on Sunday morning? Jeez, doesn't he know that he gets to go to the dog park on Sunday's anyway? At any rate, the day got off to an earlier start than I had hoped, but it wasn't a bad day. The dogs got their walk. Everybody had a nice breakfast. Janet and I did a few chores around the house. And then we all went to the dog park.

On days like these, you can be easily fooled into thinking that Spring has already arrived. Almost every year, there is a week in February when the weather is so nice that trees start to bud and a few hardy flowers begin to poke through the soil. Inevitably, just when things are starting to look green, there is a final Winter freeze that kills all the early growth. It happened last year, and it will probably happen again this year. That's just the way it is in Texas. Eventually, it all gets sorted out and by April the meadows behind our house are thick with wildflowers. April and May are usually wonderful, but by June I will be complaining again about how hot Texas gets in the Summer.

I made it back to the gym this afternoon and started doing some of my old routines again. It's amazing how quickly a few idle weeks can throw you off your stride. It hasn't been that long, but I can already tell that my strength and endurance aren't as good as they used to be. The shoulder still hurts a bit, but the inflamation is all gone, so I think it's time to start working on the muscles again. If I waited for my shoulder to feel completely normal again, I'd be waiting for a long, long time. It's never going to be completely normal again.

Janet has the day off tomorrow. I hope she decides it's a lazy day instead of a housecleaning day.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day