This family has a thing going with a canine disease called Auto-Immune
Hemolytic Anemia. The wretched rare blood disorder took the life of our first dog. Our beloved Elwood. Five years ago it snaked its way into our lives again through our Colby. She won her battle through
steroids and a medication used to treat MS in humans. And with the help of a
doggie internist. Betcha didn't even know there was such a thing. I didn't either. The disorder causes Colby's system to attack her own red blood cells. And
steroids caused her to gain a whooping 20 pounds in about a month.
About a week ago Colby took sick. This morning the vet got her blood results and she's having another episode of
Hemolytic Anemia. So we're back on the '
roids. Hopefully she'll respond well. Last night the fever broke. And she's a happy camper again tonight. She even played with Cooper.
Gotta tell ya Colby just may be the world's best dog. She's the sweetest thing. She walks
contentedly right beside you. Even at the dog park when most dogs go every which way. Everyone needs someone who just walks right beside them. And next to John & Deb that's my Colby. She's taken to sleeping right next to my bed. Which my sweet Rayna did no matter where in the house I dropped to sleep (she's been gone now for about 2 years- but she lived through all those early morning baby feedings!) John reminds me that Colby was a sassy little in her younger years with a
penchant for Jackson's little hockey gloves. Something 'bout that smell of fresh leather combined with the rubbery sweat smell of a little boys was just
irresistible to her. Not only did it mean having to buy another pair of gloves (the folks at the hockey store thought this was hysterical) but it meant having to clean up recycled pieces of hockey gloves all over the back yard!
Now for something completely different. With the final Alaska quarter firmly in place, I have completed an entire state quarter book. My Granny bought me this book- and for many years she made sure that we had the newest quarters thanks to her niece that worked at the local bank. This one's for you Granny. That's the thing about grief and lose. You're sailing along dealing with it. Then you get shot with an intensity of pain that takes your breath away and brings such a stab of pain the tears literally burn your eyes. Granny's been gone for just about a year now. She'd have gotten a kick out of the quarters.
We do on occasion venture out into the world. We gotta eat after all. Sunday I journeyed out to welcome a new baby to the family. Grandma Vernie and grandma-to-be Laura enjoyed watching the sea of pink presents.
We on occasion welcome a visitor into our cozy little cottage. One day last week Erin came a- visiting. We got down and dirty. She suggested that we make worm pies like we did last summer. And since that for obvious reason just wouldn't work we did the next best thing. We made a mess of the kitchen. We put food coloring on bubbles. We made a little mud and we made a goopy egg mixture mess. Complete with a dash of pepper.
