Detroit transplants living in Dallas

Author: Matt (Page 6 of 41)

Tragedy And Restoring My Faith In Humanity

In general, I hate people. I hold myself to a very high standard and when others can’t or don’t follow suit, disappointed doesn’t quite reach the level of adjective I tend to reach for. Then something happens that changes everything, puts it all in perspective, and in a moment nothing is the same. Life is funny like that.

Tuesday night our good friend John Walker was involved in a horrific accident while leaving his second home, the music studio, to be with his wife and children, and at this time he remains in a coma and in critical condition at the Baylor ICU. Hearing any kind of news like this is shocking, but to have it strike so close to home and within your inner circle is devastating. How does the universe allow something like this to happen to such an amazing person? I was numb, angry, I hated people even more, and I didn’t want to acknowledge it. The normally emotionally stalwart C shed tears, and I’m not ashamed to admit I cried.

But then something started to happen. Word spread. My Facebook feed lit up, exploding not with informal half ass condolences some might expect, but truly inspiring and emotional outpourings of love, energy, and support. Having the privilege of getting to know John since moving to Dallas it was however no surprise. You may not have met him yet, but he is already your friend, and one that you could count on for anything. Soon friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, business contacts, even people he never directly met were mobilizing, coming together to offer anything and everything they could, and I am absolutely humbled by the response. A donation page was set up and within 24 hours $13,500 had been raised to assist John and his family through this trying time, with many additional benefit events in the works. Even more importantly a Facebook group 900 strong has people pledging and scheduling to help with the kids, house cleaning, cooking, transportation, and anything else to help the family keep focused on John and his recovery. To be sure, he has a long road ahead, but he WILL get there with the kind of support he has.

Live life, love and be loved, smile, and surround yourself with good people.
I’m both honored and proud to know John and so many other good people here. He is an inspiration, as is the overwhelming outpouring of support that I have borne witness to.

For anyone who would like to contribute please visit: http://www.gofundme.com/2for2w

Conversations at the Dog Park

Random Dude: Is that a Boston?
Me: No, French Bulldog.
Random Dude: Oh, Frenchie? [long pause] You know they can’t swim right? [longer awkwarder pause] Their head is too big.
Me: That’s why he has a life jacket.
Random Dude: I’m not the fucking ASPCA, man!

Treatment Update

Monty - March 2013
More good news today with Monty’s March checkup with the neurologist, and after nearly eight months today is officially his last dose of Prednisone. We had planned on one final chemo treatment with Cytosar, but the CBC again came back with a slightly below normal white count so we felt it best to forgo this in favor of dropping the Prednisone to continue stepping him down off the medications. This leaves 10mg Omeprazole (Prylosec) and 2.5ml Omega-3 Fish Oil daily, and 50mg Cyclosporine every other day as the only ongoing treatment.

Monty seems happy, and his activity level and interaction is nearly on par with his pre-diagnosis self. He’s one of the lucky ones, and we couldn’t be happier.

Bailey’s Turn

Bailey - March 2013
Not to be overshadowed by Monty, it was Bailey’s turn at the vet today for his first senior checkup. Yup, our big kitty is now a card carrying member of the AARC at 12! He’s had on-again off-again digestive and GI issues over the years, so fortunately this trip was preventative in nature and not an emergency. Even so, with the sounds he was making during the 10 minute drive to and from the office the ride was excruciating. Dr Naugler ran a full gamut of tests including physical, blood profile, urinalysis, and fecal review, in addition to updating his rabies vaccination.

Many of you may know of the tummy troubles Bailey endures from time to time, be it the constipation, picky eating habits, or vomiting if you look at him funny. He’s always been that way and we’ve learned how to deal with it. We’ve tried good food, bad food, canned food, dry food, raw food, baby food, and even stranger things like boiled pumpkin without much luck in either getting him to eat anything other than certain Friskies and Fancy Feast varieties. He eats and seems happy, but I’ve never been overly excited about what I give him. He also has a bit of an OCD streak when it comes to cleaning himself and has several bald spots because of this. Past vets tried to treat this as a psychological issue with steroids, but this was probably the worst thing we ever did for him as he was MISERABLE and did not last very long. So the news today that the recommendation going forward would be to transition to a special hypoallergenic diet did not come as a complete surprise, but the reasoning for it caught me off guard for what I have been overlooking all this time. The OCD cleaning could be caused by abdominal irritation due to food or food allergy and probably has nothing to do with boredom or psychosis, so I’m either the worst pet parent ever or, well I couldn’t think of anything else because I felt like the worst pet parent ever.

So changes are afoot for Bailey’s diet, and this could get “fun”. First up to taste test are the deliciously named canned foods “Intestinal Low Residue Pate” and “Hypoallergenic Senior Feline”, so wish us luck!

Sunsets In The City

The city is a giant canvas used by the sun as it splashes light throughout the mirrored canyons. Somehow I managed to catch some pretty spectacular views two out of the last three nights…

Sunset in the City - 08 Feb 2013

Sunset in the City - 10 Feb 2013

Living With GME

Every day I grapple with the anxiety of living with a dog diagnosed with GME, and I’ve found the uncertainty to be the most difficult for me to manage. Monty is one of the lucky ones to have made it nearly 7 months without any symptom relapse and for that we are thankful beyond belief. There is however a constant cloud of doubt, suspicion, and fear hanging over our daily life. Seemingly insignificant events end up being run through a litany of logic and tests to the point of where I struggle to just let go and relish the moment or time for what it is. Case in point: today on our morning walk Monty ran full steam into a sidewalk patio chair seemingly oblivious to its existence. If you’ll remember back in July this was one of the initial symptoms which alerted us that something was very wrong, so this set me off on the crazy brain train for the rest of the morning trying to make connections and justifications that may or may not even exist; was this just a simple accident because of the partial blindness, or is this the start of a full on relapse? I’m not sure it’s possible to monitor his behavior any more closely, but you can be sure I’m keeping my eyes on him…

So if you have found this site because you are going through something similar, remind yourself you are doing the best you can for your companion. Be vigilant, but do not allow the fear and guilt to consume the precious gift of more time you have received.

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