Prison Farm

Hello everyone.

Guess what? I have another whisker. That's two now, one on each side. And lots of white hair. I went and saw Jacque and Jenny at the vet and they were very impressed with my new look. (That's me at the back, if you look closely you'll see my nose).

Mum and Dad promised me a special celebration for all my hard work growing another whisker and I could see the car getting packed. How exciting - a trip to the farm.

The air was fresh, it was a great day for lying around on the concrete waiting for cows to wander past. But wait on. What is that??

I'd forgotten. We have a fence to stop us chasing cows. Dad did most of the construction, and Mum helped with the finishing touches and the rock surround (all hand collected from around the farm). No escaping now.

As you can see, we aren't real impressed with our new space.

Third Check Up - 1st March 2010

The first day of Autumn dawned rainy and bleak - unfortunately it was the day of my third check up. I spent the morning curled in a ball, saving my strength for my afternoon and the trip in the car. Mum spent the morning buying Misty another bed, after yet another mattress has gone to dog heaven, courtesy of Misty.

Dr Rod nearly didn't recognise me - I've done such a good job growing hair on my nose. The pink skin where my scab was is gradually closing over and going black again. My lip is also healing nicely, and inside my mouth looks great. Tiny whiskers are pushing their way through and by next check up I should have a fabulous covering of hair. All white.

But, since last check up I grew two lumps - one fist sized bulge on my side and a small pea sized lump near my front leg. Dr Rod got me to lie down and before I knew what was happening I was having needle biopsies on each lump. Within five minutes we had the good news - they are fatty lumps, not cancer. Mum and Dad are very relieved.

We went to the farm on the weekend. I love the farm - lots of fresh air, exercise and best of all - a collection of bones to chew (which is what I was doing in the background when Mum took the photo of us above). Mum walked us all the way to the Mt Lindsay Road on Saturday - a very long walk for a dog. It rained all the way back, and its been raining on and off ever since. We did manage a quick walk to the travelling stock reserve on Sunday, but no walks to the river this trip. Mum says we have new cows, and that Misty and I aren't allowed to chase them, so we didn't have any unsupervised exploring time.

All this rain makes for good sleeping weather. Yawn, stretch. I probably should get back to it...

February 21st 2010 - And then there were whiskers

We had a hint last week that there might have been some progress on the whisker front. Mum didn't want to jinx it so we've been waiting patiently all week to take some photos.

The good news - I am regrowing my hair. The other news - it's white, ginger and blond. There's not much in the way of black ones. And there is definitely one white whisker way out in front of all the rest. The white patch in the centre of my nose is gradually going black - this is where I rubbed my nose when it was itchy.

To celebrate, Mum and Dad took Misty and me to the new bike path near home. It meanders along a creek and during last week's torrential rain (100mm one day) it flooded. Plenty of spots with washed up piles of grass and leaves and mud for an active dog to explore. You'll see we were pretty tired when we got home.

So, all in all, a good weekend. Only one more week before I go and show Dr Rod my new nose. Hopefully I'll have a bit more coverage by then.

Farewell the Lone Whisker

It had to happen. 

Mum and Dad did warn me that no matter how firmly attached The Lone Whisker seemed to be, its days were numbered. And on Saturday the unthinkable happened. No more whiskers! I do have a few lumps and bumps that might be new whiskers growing, but right now I am naked. 

We went to the farm on the weekend. Finally, after three long months, my chance to lie around in the sunshine and relax. But it wasn't to be. A big storm rolled in around lunchtime Saturday and it didn't stop raining all afternoon and all night. I was housebound. Forced to lie on my bed and sleep! Its a tough life but someone's gotta do it. Misty, as you can see, was determined to play in every puddle and spent a lot of time getting wet, and then getting dried off.

And you'll see from the photos, I've lost my bucket head. There's no more skin to lose, so I can't really do any more damage. I can't tell what's made me happiest -  losing the bucket, stopping the drugs, or getting some treats back.  Doesn't really matter.  My tail is wagging, and I intend to keep it that way.

Second Check Up - 1st February 2010

Its four weeks since I finished my radiotherapy and I had my second check up today. Dr Rod is very happy with me - my nose is healing well, I am eating well and I am happy. So today he stopped all my pain medicines and tomorrow I stop my antibiotics. Happy Days.

Now, about the bucket head. Dr Rod said if I promised not to scratch, I could take it off. So we tried it for a few minutes. But then it itched. I couldn't help myself, I rubbed it on my mattress and off came some fur. On went the bucket. Mum and Dad have made a plan - if they are both home and one of them is shadowing me, I can take the horrible thing off.

Mum is calling me "The Lone Whisker", kind of like the Lone Ranger but different. Over the last two weeks every one of my whiskers on my nose bar one has fallen out. Dr Rod says they should grow back, but they might be curly whiskers instead of straight. Mum says so long as the hair grows back and the cancer is gone, she doesn't care what it looks like.

Dr Rod is so happy with me, I don't have to go back for a full month. Hopefully by then my nose will be fully healed.

Celebrating Adoption Day - 11th January 2010

Today is the ninth anniversary of joining my pack. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was born at the Peninsula Animal Aid and when Mum picked me up, it was my first trip in the car. And I was a little bit scared. And I did a big vomit. And ever since then Mum jokes they called me Gromit because it was the only word that rhymed with Vomit.

Anyway, to celebrate, Mum baked cupcakes and I visited our local vet with Mum and a plate of cupcakes to see my friends Jacqui and Jenny and Jennifer (Sorry Trisha, you missed out). Tonight, after dinner I even got to have a cupcake. Dad broke it up for me and helped clean up the icing (it was everywhere). 

I passed my golden rule of cupcakes on to Misty. Paper case OFF. As a stealer of food as a young pup I learnt this lesson the hard way, when Mum reached in and retrieved a half-swallowed cupcake - still in its paper case. Anyway, Misty thinks cupcakes are pretty good, and icing is a food from the gods.

Again there's no photo of me today. My mouth and nose are still sore and they tell me this is about as bad as it will get. Mum says if you look straight on at me, it looks like someone drew a sad clown mouth on my upper muzzle with pink lipstick. That's the burn.

But I am getting my "happy" back. Tonight on our walk I wanted to play to the sports field, and I've been eating all my food without having to be coaxed. So I think we've turned the corner and I'm starting to get better.

Fingers crossed it continues.

End of Radiation - dose #19 - 5/1/10

It's over...

Today was my last dose of radiation. The last few days have been a bit tough and yesterday I started a new pain killer on top of my anti-inflammatories. It made me really drowsy and I slept all night. I yawned my head off on my morning walk and dozed in the car on the way to the vet.

We had a celebratory spaghetti bolognaise at home tonight and I'm now nodding off again - my belly is full and my eyes are drooping.

Here's some photos of my nose. Dr Val says the effects of the radiation will get worse over the next week, and it will start to heal within 2-6 weeks. I might have no hair on my nose where the burn is, or the hair might grow back white. Doesn't really matter. So long as the cancer is gone.

And that last photo - that was on the weekend. Mum was keeping me company stretched out on an air mattress, doing a crossword and watching the cricket. She went to get a coffee, and when she got back, Minty Bear and I were also watching the cricket. One of the good things about being sick - no-one goes mad if you lie on the bed.

I'm looking forward to a few quite days, although I'll miss all my new friends at the vet. I'm due back for a check in two weeks, or sooner if I'm not well.