Things are happening around here; some good and some bad. I'll start with the bad. Last Thursday we loaded our dog Sammie into the car for a trip to visit the nice people at the Las Vegas Veterinary Specialty Center aka the oncologist. Just before Thanksgiving we noticed that the growth on the dog's chest was going wild. This is the same spot where she has had three surgeries for cancer; the latest only last April. We spent quite a long while talking with a very nice (and very pregnant!) vet who explained what kind of cancer the dog has and the various treatment options. The options are all over the place. The most aggressive is taking her to Los Angeles or San Diego for surgery and a month of radiation treatments. Let's not even discuss cost! Then there is surgery done here in Las Vegas, various radiation therapy options and finally a simple painkiller to keep her comfortable until we need to euthanize her. The doctor helped us understand why this sort of cancer is so difficult to remove completely and that even the most aggressive treatment would probably not be successful. The doctor took a lot of time to help us come to our decision which is, of course, the last since it is so doubtful that the cancer can be overcome. Right now she doesn't seem to be in any particular pain. She is slow to get up but likes her walks and is always looking forward to feeding time. The huge growth on her chest doesn't seem to bother her at all. So we are good to go until something causes a reduction in her quality of life. When that happens, it will be time to say goodbye.
The good news is that talking with the vet brought us a better understanding of what we will be facing for the next few months. Knowing that makes facing it easier. Our other good news is that we are actually ready for Christmas. Part of the reason is that we are reducing the size of the celebration. Since it is only us and Number One Daughter, we don't need four appetizers, two desserts, rolls, two vegies, etc. We'll have a ham, mac and cheese and a vegie. We even managed to find a slightly under six pound ham (2.6 kg) - it should be fun to find out if that will provide enough for dinner plus all the secondary uses we find for ham.
We made a trip into Las Vegas about a week ago for shopping. Shopping together means that there won't be too many surprises under the tree but we are confident that we'll like what we get! Old people can do this stuff! I think it's in the Bible somewhere; near where they say you have to go out and go into debt buying presents at Christmas.
I did actually write (email) to President Obama and my Congressional representatives about the fiscal cliff and how they shouldn't act like school children but should keep us from going over and under. My Representative and one Senator responded with canned responses; nothing from Mr. Obama who is so proud of his "open and responsive adminestration". I hope they can manage something but I guess we'll just have to get along if they don't. It wouldn't be the first screw up by those idiots we voters send to D.C.
We have been having all kinds of different weather. Cloudy days, clear days, windy days and all the possible variations have been coming our way. I left the hummingbird feeder out one night and discovered it frozen the next morning. I'd forgotten that last year we brought it in every night so now that is added to the nightly chores. I saw a hummingbird trying to drink from it the morning it was frozen; afterwards he perched on the holder and kind of looked at me. Bet he was thinking nasty thoughts! Here's a shot of Mt. Charleston with the desert floor in the foreground. Have a happy holiday. I'll be back before the new year.
1 comment:
Oh, sorry about Sammie - we lost Buster last month, it is hard.
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