Started an account on YouTube so now the world can see how awesome they are :) (actually did it because if I used my iPhone 4 to record the video, and then used the iPhone Facebook App to upload it to Facebook, you could NOT use your iPhone 4 to view it. Excellent.)
But more husky awareness is always good :)
Took the huskies out this AM hoping to “miss the rain” from the giant winter storm we are getting. My house in Tahoe is supposed to get 4-6 feet. Doh. Husky Mom fail that we are stuck down here at the beach with rain, wind, rain and then some rain.
As we left it was actually blue sky sunny over the house. You could see the black clouds over Mavericks and the ocean but I was hoping to miss it. Umm..nope..notsomuch. As soon as we got to the beach, started pouring. Awesome. Oh well – the huskies were having fun and I have a good rain jacket. It was just enough rain to get soaked but not to the point where they start to hate it. Actually, Storm hates the rain more than Angelus. Angelus doesn’t care unless it’s super-duper windy and blowing the rain in his face and eyes. I’m pretty sure no matter how much it rains, his undercoat still doesn’t get wet! And Storm seemed happy to be out :)
On the beach we met another husky! He started running towards us so I let Angelus off leash and he took off! He was a red and white boy named Liam. He was almost as big and fluffy as Angelus! It’s so funny when huskies meet up. They instantly know they are part of the same general pack and start talking and running together. Very cute. I wish it wasn’t raining so I could have videoed it with the dang iPhone 4 that I bought just for these occasions! Doh! *shakes fist*
Got them home and dried them off. Peeled off my dripping wet layers and headed to the kitchen to make hot coffee. All of a sudden Angelus starts tearing through the house. Up and down all the stairs, running around in circles in all of the rooms and stopping only to find me and RUFF at me and then tear off again. Clearly the walk tired him out :)
It actually stopped raining now. Angelus knew exactly when it did too. He came and found me in the kitchen and stared at me. So I let him out in the front yard where he is right now, nose in the air sniffing good smells brought in with the wind, happy as a husky. The little bugger better not start digging in the mud! Pile of dog towels are by the door waiting for when it starts raining again. Storm on the other hand is laying here by me, also happy as a husky.
What good boys. :)
I think Stormy is doing better today for sure. He woke up much more bright-eyed! I got him outside to pee even in the rain (he hates the rain.) Now, he didn’t eat his breakfast but he ate some ground turkey that I gave him separately, and then ate some cheese and a cookie. So he is eating some and just being picky it seems. I think he learned from his brother, that the medicine gets hidden in there and it tastes yucky. So I will not put it in his dinner and see how that goes. Supposedly, women are not supposed to touch his trilostane (his Cushings medicine) as it’s bad for child-bearing age women (like propecia is) but I have to since I have to get the pill back onto his tongue so he will swallow it. I think I’ve used 1/4 bottle of handsoap between yesterday and today to scrub my hands afterwards. Hopefully not really a big deal. Stormy has always been easy to give medicine to – just put it in his food. But this time notsomuch. Booger.
So I will try making him some turkey and rice for dinner today. And some for Angelus of course since it’s his birthday!!! He is 10 years old today!!! What a scooby! Poor buddy doesn’t get to have any fun though :( I can’t leave Storm so no walks and it’s raining anyway. But the rain also means no yard time even. That sucks. But I told him we will make it up to him! And we will for sure!
10 years ago, on New Year’s Eve day, we went and picked up Angelus. He was 7.5 weeks old. He was such a fluffy little monster. Now he is fluffy big monster :) He has been the best, most awesome dog ever. He was my Christmas present that year. There is simply no way I could ever get a better gift in my life than the gift of such an awesome friend. Angelus is very Siberian in that he is not overly affectionate with most people. He loves his pack but everyone else he could care less about. I guess he is kinda like me in that way :)
I used to carry that little booger to bed every night until I simply could not physically do it anymore. He has always come with me pretty much everywhere. For his first year, he went everywhere with me. Then we got Storm with the idea they would keep each other company and not have to come with me everywhere. Well…now they both come everywhere with me :)
Angelus is a brave bud. When he was still a little puppy, we were at the dog park. He has always loved playing with other dogs and being chased. He doesn’t care about balls or sticks. He wants something live to chase or to chase him. So he will always run up to other dogs to say “hi, play with me.” He was still pretty little – not even really “teen” size. A little puppy. A guy came to the dog park with 5 giant Rottweilers. Angelus ran straight over to them as they came in and just stood there blocking the entrance like “This is my park.” I was like ARGH! I mean – I assume if you are bringing them to the dog park they are friendly, but you just never know how dogs will react and I was still a new doggie mom. The Rottweilers all sniffed him and walked around him. The guy laughed and said I was going to have a handful with him as he shows no fear at all which is odd for a puppy. What a buddy.
He has never shown fear of any other dog ever. He is usually the peacekeeper and always goes over to tussles if they start at dog parks or the beach and gets in the middle of them to break them up. He never, ever starts fights. But he will finish them if necessary. He has attacked 2 German Shepherds who attacked Storm, attacked a pit/Rhodesian Ridgeback who attacked Storm, and ran straight at a pit bull who was off leash and running straight at me. When we saw the bear in our driveway, he wanted to follow him. He protects his pack :) Now…if you are a bumble bee, well….he is outta there! He and I were attacked by an organized army of yellow jackets. I have never seen anything like it. They literally chased us down to attack us. Was a very, very unpleasant experience for the both of us. And ever since then, when he hears that buzzing he takes off. I can’t really blame him. But it’s a bit funny that he would rather face a bear than a bee :)
I have a lot of fun stories about him. I have a LOT of cute pictures of him. Like…a lot :) He has been such a great friend. He is loyal and loves his pack. He loves chicken and cheese. He loves snow and running on the beach. He wants to run free (like huskies do) and investigate everything. He is very smart and can figure things out if he wants something. He can be very stubborn. I love him.
So happy birthday to my big buddy! I will get you your favorite treat tomorrow (McNuggets) and we will have beach fun! We will just consider this your birthday season and celebrate as much as we can since we can’t today.
An amazingly handsome guy:
Angelus at 7.5 weeks old
Angelus at 1 year old
Angelus in his natural element :)
Up and down throughout last night with Storm banging his cone around and me worrying about him, does he have a fever, how are his staples, is he in pain, does he have to go outside?
Awake with Angelus at 6am who wanted to go for his walk. And me sad to disappoint him with none so we can keep an eye on Storm.
Worrying about Storm throughout the day as he seemed in pain. Definitely much more so than his last surgery. It’s very obvious he is in more pain this time. But I guess being sliced open and having 2 chunks of your liver removed might not feel so great. Many web pages read about animal pain management and the drugs he got sent home with. Further stress follows…opiates are yikies! Both his pain patch and his oral pain meds are both considered controlled substances in come states! Zoinkies. I made sure he never left really my sight much so he could rest without his cone on and yet didn’t try to lick his staples. He seemed very warm, and then shivery this morning, but then temp was ok when I took it, but he was moaning/making little grunty sounds which I assumed was from pain/soreness (man…are human children this stressful?)
Back and forth checking on Angelus who was mopey without his AM Mom walk. And I hate to disappoint him when he is such a good boy. And tomorrow is his 10th birthday! Ten!! Man…what a buddy. And I have no chicken mcnuggets for him. I am a bad birthday husky mom :(
But could not leave Storm alone. Storm didn’t eat breakfast or dinner. He did eat a cookie I gave him and a chicken treat. But not interested in his regular kibble, ground turkey or chicken?? But he did eat a piece of cheese too. I will consider it just being picky for a day or two since the pain meds can supposedly make him not want to eat. And he is eating some things. But Storm not gobbling his food with his eyed bulging out of his head is an odd thing.
Then throw in up and down the stairs a million times to try and get chores done while not leaving Storm alone long enough for him to try and lick/chew his staples. I am sore, my body actually hurts, I’ve had pain in my stomach all day and I have had so little real sleep this week. BUT…Storm looks better tonight. More bright-eyed after a day of at-home, no-cone rest. He even did his kick, kick routine after peeing tonight before bedtime. And currently sound asleep with his feet in the air. So hopefully a little less stress and a little more sleep for him tonight. And then hopefully he is feeling a little better tomorrow. Poor little guy. But I do think he is feeling better tonight than last night! So it’s all worth it. I just hope Angelus will accept a belated birthday celebration. I think he will.
But for now…the huskies are sleeping and I think maybe I will try to read and likely fall asleep within minutes…
Just got off the phone with Storm’s doctor. The 2 tumors were benign. Not cancerous. Breathing now.
The pathologist had left already so she is calling him first thing Monday AM to have him cut into the healthy parts of the liver lobes (and not just the tumors) to see what’s going on inside them. Look for other things – specifically but not limited to – blood clots. If he is throwing clots, this can also cause problems but this can be addressed with blood thinners. That would be great.
We still don’t have an answer as to why the tumors are growing and this is a reason to worry and wonder but more pathology can hopefully help us. But hearing this is not aggressive cancer is the best thing I could have heard tonight. I think Storm knew it was good news because then he got up and went to eat his ground turkey and take his antibiotics. And then we went out to pee, drink some water and lay back down.
I think a glass of bubbly is in order. And a lot of skooshing. A pretty good Friday night after all.
Storm is home and resting. Poor little guy has just been through so much this week. The doctor said he was talking and wanting to run around and be husky-like (their code for crazy spaz I think.) She said he would refuse his dry dog food until they offered him chicken. And then would want both (Angelus taught him that trick.) These are all good things. She said his vitals are good and stable. And his bloodwork came back even better than expected. All good things.
But we still don’t have the biopsy results back. She said she was still hopeful they would come back today as the lab knew they needed to be done. But it’s after 5pm on a Friday so who knows. I might get to stress about it until Monday. I suppose that’s better than having bad news all weekend. She said she was worried it was an aggressive cancer based on the speed of the tumor creation. But there were also plenty of things to point to it not being cancer. I love science and medicine – it’s so black and white and explains everything…I should just get a dart board…
So right now I am hanging out with him on the floor in our hallway. It’s one of his favorite spots to sleep when it’s not actual sleepytime. Hopefully, like last time, he will rest a lot this weekend and just get better and better every day. And hopefully, like last time, we will hear benign…and maybe even some kind of explanation. I am hoping that since they took the 2 liver lobes that had the growths, it means they took the badness out. I know life isn’t that simple but I’m still hoping.
Spent another day at the vet hospital. Had to rush Storm to the vet this morning after his fever spiked (was 106.5 when he got there) and he wouldn’t even get up to go to the car. After another ultrasound and seeing the mass changing from yesterday, they booked him into surgery right away. They let us see him right before he went in. He was pretty drugged up and feeling pretty ok and all smiley…he just looked so cute and sweet sitting there like “what’s going on guys?” You have to hold it together though so he doesn’t feel your stress. Much easier said than done.
He was in surgery for 2 hours. They took 2 masses out – along with 2 lobes of his liver. It seems the blood flow to the mass was clotted/stopped so the tissue started dying on the inside. So the body fights back with the fever. They said the rest of his liver, along with the rest of his insides, looks great – tumor free. But it looked great last time and here we are 5 weeks later. The doctor said neither she nor the other doctors there have ever seen anything like this (they have been in the business a long time.) Great. Storm is always wanting to be different to get all of the attention….
They sent off the tissue to a lab in Davis. Supposedly one of the best with longtime Davis faculty now working there. The doctor said she will also have them look at the previous samples to see if anything could have been missed .
I also spoke with the surgeon who said he was a trooper and a fighter. He went over the details of the mass and removal and sounded very positive. The internal medicine doctor also sounded positive and said there was no reason to give up. But she also acknowledged that if they grow back again so fast, that is not good.
So back on cancer-watch. We will have results back tomorrow or Friday. But even if it’s not cancer, and the 2 tumor/masses were benign – so was the previous one. But they just keep growing and hurt him anyway. And this was FAST. Unheard of fast. Awesome.
But I have to stay positive. He made it through surgery with flying colors. The doctor called me tonight and said his fever was down to 100.5 (that’s normal for dogs) and his blood pressure and other vitals were all great. He is on some good painkillers so he is sleeping but has poked his head up to look around. She said he was doing very well.
So with 4 hours of sleep last night, and just too much stress and sadness this week, I will try and get some sleep tonight knowing he is getting his fluids and antibiotics and his fever is down, and the reason he had a fever is gone and out of his body. And I need to focus on that good news. Because I really cannot handle a what if they come back bad news scenario right now. I am generally a positive person but this little doggie just cannot catch a break lately and that is totally not right. He is just full of love and happiness and it’s just not right. So then I cry. Because while I refuse to “need” anyone, I need my huskies. So staying focused on the fact that he came through his surgery successfully and we will go from here is important. Because he needs that. And so does Angelus, who misses his little buddy. And he will feel better when he gets out and home and that is what is important right now.
Just got back from 4 hours at the Emergency vet with Storm. He had seemed somewhat off today. Then this afternoon started shaking/trembling non-stop. The only emergency vet in the are is in Reno so off we went.
He has a fever, which can cause the trembling (which makes sense since it happens to humans too.) Due to his history, the doctor did an ultrasound and he has another tumor on his liver – baseball size again :( I don’t understand how this possible since we JUST got one removed. She said it is not unusual for tumors to grow rapidly, especially if they are cancerous. She also did some x-rays on his abdomen/chest to check for fluid in his abdomen and other tumors. “Good” news is none showed up.
I need to try and get an appointment with his specialist tomorrow. I am hoping this doctor just can’t read ultrasounds or there is some simple other explanation for this that is NOT a tumor.
But Storm doesn’t feel good. Which is very sad because he was just singing and howling on Friday. And having a good time on his walk in the the bits of snow we found on Saturday. And he is the sweetest doggie in the world and deserves a lot better than this. And his Mom wishes she could make him all better. And is pretty tired of the world being such a f***ing unfair place.
I’m going to make sure he goes to sleep in his bed now and hang out with him. We both need sleep.
Storm can TOTALLY do a duet with Mishka!!! He is a great singer too!
I need to get my new iPhone 4 so I can video Stormy when he sings :)
Every morning when we’d come into work, Storm would ah-rooo as if to say “Storm has arrived”. He would be so loud, that our Customer Service Manager commented how customers would ask about the noise every so often (who were on the phone with the reps who sit in the cubes closest to the back door.) Oops…so I would try to get him to not do it when we came in and asked people to not try and get him to sing (he would sing aka howl on command.)
Slowly, Storm stopped ah-rooing every morning when we came in. And then just stopped. He would still sing on command, especially if food was involved, but now on how happy own. That was actually one of the big signs to me that he wasn’t feeling well which led to his 50 doctor appointments and Cushings diagnosis (and then liver tumor discovery and surgery.)
This morning Storm ah-rooed when we walked into the office :) And then just a little while ago he ah-rooed some more and ran around for no reason (no small critters in sight!)
Storm is officially feeling much, much better. And this makes his Momma (and even the people here on the phone) very happy :)
Storm ahrooing in the snow - winter 2007
