Sixteen Months

Treasure had her appointment with Dr. Earl yesterday. Each time we have a recheck, I count off two more months of her life that I didn't expect to have. On the 28th of December it will be exactly 16 months since the first vet gave us her diagnosis and prognosis. We are continually amazed at the tenacity of this little Westie. She really lives up to her reputation.

So, the appointment... First, she weighed in about a pound lighter than last time - not a good sign except that yesterday was one of her "fasting" days. She does that periodically. So I wasn't too concerned. When Dr. Earl came in the exam room the first thing he noticed was her eye. Just in the last three days the cornea of her left eye flared up again so she is back on some prednisone drops, a little stronger than before. The eye had been clear for four or five weeks. Her right eye is fine with just artificial tears every day.

Next up was her ultrasound. As usual, both the technician and Dr. Earl commented on what a perfect patient she is during the exam. After looking at the tumor from all angles, Dr. Earl is satisfied that it has grown less than a millimeter and is still self-contained. That's wonderful news. When we discussed her frequency of urination he asked how she was doing with her meds. She still tolerates the cancer drug, but has rejected the antibiotic for two months. He has changed that to another med in hopes that she'll handle that better. Often a bladder infection will occur and this is more a precautionary measure.

The antibiotic presents a new challenge for us - getting it into her stomach! I can bury it in her food and she roots it out and leaves it in her plate! So this morning I tried the "peanut butter" approach and she found fifty ways to swallow peanut butter and leave the pill! Finally I was able to mold it in a piece of cheese and, unless she spit it out later, that seemed to work. This pill is touted as "beef-flavored chewable", but I've yet to see a pill that can outsmart a Westie!

Here it is, 9 a.m., and she's had her pill and eye drops, and now she's taking a Westie nap beside me. And I'll continue to marvel at my little miracle dog this Christmas, much more than I ever allowed myself to consider just sixteen months ago.