Roller Coasters.....continued

It seems like just yesterday that I last wrote, but, it was a while ago.  For those of you who are new, and maybe haven't read the first couple of blogs, I started this blog to write about Gracy, my little princess, who has been battling lymphoma, and Keys, my big girl, who fights a daily battle with allergies. 

When I last posted, Gracy had just finished up with her second round of chemo at the beginning of December.  I am happy to say that she is still in remission!  YAY!!!!  Each checkup brings worries and fears, and this week was no exception.  Gracy has had intermittent vomiting for over a year.  It got so bad last summer, I really thought I was going to lose her.  Many tests were done, and no real answers as to why were given, although we did eliminate A LOT of things.  What finally started her on a path to living a "normal" life was the treatment for visceral epilepsy and food allergies.  Even though things are much better, she still continues to vomit on occasion, or, a lot.  In December, we started weaning her off the phenobarbital and we were at a place where we knew it wasn't helping.  So, back to the drawing board we went.  A couple of weeks ago, we brought in a Dr. who hadn't looked at her case yet, and he gave us a new game plan.  The first of which was to treat her again for a stomach worm.  The dose we had previously done was no where near the dose that he believed would even be effective.  So, that is where we are.  She finished her last dose this past Monday and we have to give it another week to see how it works.  That would be tomorrow!

You might think that things sound like they are headed in the right direction, but, there is always something!  She had a major vomiting fit last Sunday, which spurred more testing on Monday and Tuesday this week.  During this, they found a spot in her lung, which for a couple of very long hours, they thought it was lymphoma.....UGH!  Once her blood work was done (high white blood cells) and another Dr. saying that he just thought it was pneumonia, we jumped on the pneumonia band wagon.  She spent a night in ICU and is now on antibiotics.  It just never ends with this kid!  Follow up rads on Thursday showed much improvement and she continues to improve!

I continue to be humbled by this girl.  She has been such a light in my life and has helped guide me to who I am today.  My career path changed, for the better, because of this dog.  She has taught me that life is short, to fight for what I want and it truly is the little things in life that do mean the most.  She might not be the most special dog in the world, but she is in my world!  I am so honored that she waited to be really cute in that kennel until I was able to come rescue her.  We are a great team!  We continue to rescue each other, every day!  Never forget, it is not just a dog!