Bits Of Dust

Archive for February, 2008

This weekend has been the weekend of bread. And breaking it.

Some loaves came out absolutely delicious, while others left a strange impression on our pallates.

The moral of the story? Don’t be a dough hole.

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The wife is in bread baking mode again, and she’s been baking some of the most delicious breads too.

Tonight, she is working on her “starter” whose name is Herman.

Needless to say, Herman is alive and well today.

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You find the strangest things when you look at the bottom of your food.

I know you smiled. I saw you.

Today was a very emotional day.

It all started at 6:30 when the alarm went off and I quickly woke up the entire family. There was never any doubt that we would all go together to take Flash to this very important appointment today.

We arrived about 20 minutes early, which was amazing seeing how the Atlanta traffic was. After completing the new patient registration form, they took us all into a small 10×15 room. I have to admire the kids for sitting there, listening to things they could not understand, keeping quiet so we could comprehend what the veterinarian was telling us.

Flash’s prognosis is not good. The deterioration in the bone is so bad that he is now at the point that just walking could cause hairline fractures and more pain. The veterinarian explained everything to us, he covered all the options. I am so glad he did.

The first thing Flash needs is an immediate amputation of his right front leg. They will have to take the shoulder and the shoulder blade too. His recovery from the amputation will be rather quick, but he will never recover from the cancer.

The veterinarian explained that there is no doubt the cancer has spread and Flash has at best 6 months to 1 year left with us. He discussed the options for chemotherapy, but even with the treatment that shows the best results, the most Flash gains is an additional 6 months to 1 year.

We will never know what Flash is thinking, or what he wants. I do know that if it were me, I would choose the quality of life over the quantity. It just seems more logical to me to allow him to live as a happy 3 legged dog for 6 months to a year, rather than have him laying around listless, drooling, in a heap of fur on the floor, too sick to notice whether or not we were even in the room.

So for now, we are planning on the amputation. He has pain pills to get him through til we can get that done in the next week or so, and after that is done, we will take it from there.

Blueberry muffins were not on the menu tonight, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying them.

Yum!

I intended to make a lot of food today, but it didn’t work out that way.

Rather than go through all the trouble, we just had hot dogs, baked beans, chips, dip, and lots and lots of fun.

The kids had a blast and we’re all exhausted. It doesn’t get any better than that.

So what did you do for the Super Bowl? I bet you ate chili didn’t you?

What happens when you take the wife and three kids to the grocery store at 4pm on a Saturday?

You end up with a pile of groceries on the dining room table and kids screaming they are starving and want to eat half the schtuff you just walked in the door with. At least we’re buying healthier schtuff now.

Our dog Flash has been limping for the last week or two, so we took him to the vet today. It turns out he has cancer. We have another appointment on Tuesday to find out how bad it is, and what we can do for him.

I know to many of you he is just a dog, but he’s a part of our family and I would appreciate some prayers if you’re so inclined.