How we spent our rainy day

Max with his portrait

Today was an icky rainy day, which meant the dogs slept most of the day and then around 4pm decided that it was time to PLAY!  Max included of course!  Nobody wanted to go out because it's cold and muddy out there but they sure wanted to run around squeaking toys, flinging stuffed animals, and de-stuffing stuffed animals. They wanted to play doggie tag, wrestle, and even run to the far side of the house, bark, then pretend it wasn't them just to get the rest of the dogs to come running fast to see what it was.. then go to the other side of the house and do it again. 

Max was right in the middle of all of it! Including a chase around the coffee table. He even took a flying leap over a dog bed!

I got in on the wrestling Match and Max pounced on my back, head butted me and even crouched down with his butt up in the air, front paws on the ground and play snapped and growled at me while he was wagging his tail!  His spirits are amazing! I just can't help but smile at him!

One thing I keep finding myself doing is worrying.. a lot! I find myself always looking for signs that could mean something is wrong, or something is getting worse.   I know I need to look for these signs but it is really wearing on me and I feel like I've been doing it for years... after talking with someone else who also has a dog dealing with the same stuff.. I realized  I have been doing this for a LONG time!  At least the last 3-4 years with one dog or cat or another.   I feel like I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.. and as much as I try to think that I need to live in the here and now, like Max is doing, I think I may need some re-training!  I think I might be about 4 years out of practice.

I was watching TV the other night, a show on OWN, and someone said something that stood out to me. 

"Worrying is praying for something you don't want to happen, so don't do it"

I wish I could remember who actually said the quote, and if anyone saw it, please let me know.  

So.. I've had Max on 10mg of prednisone 2x/week, every Tuesday and Fri and he's been doing great. His course fur was starting to get better, and his shedding had stopped.  He'd been on this lower dose for at least a month and everything was going great! Still full of energy, but his eye started to drop a little bit again, and he stopped hearing.  Just a reminder that we're still dealing with stuff in his head.  It could be that the CK is still doing its thing.. It's supposed to be able to keep doing it's thing for up to a year they say..  He's just 5 months out. I'm clearly not a doctor, and have no clue, but for some reason I think that as the radiation does it's thing and the tumors start to die, the swell and shrink in different locations and push on different things.  I'll have to check with a real doctor, but I seem to be noticing ebbs and flows of when his sight / hearing is better / worse. It would be interesting to be able to track all this.. but that would probably entail weekly MRI's which I wouldn't want to put him through.. or my wallet. 

Hopefully it's just dieing. He's definitely feeling great!  I do have him back on 10mg of prednisone 2x / week and natural hydrocortisone 1x week.    His appetite is good, his energy level is good, he's been walking, playing, catching tennis balls, playing with his puzzle game, and flinging stuffed animals.  He's a happy boy!