Today, we went in for Tim's blood draw. We will see the doctor next Friday for the results.
Everyone that works at the myeloma dept. at this hospital could not be nicer. They are always
smiling and polite. I sometimes think that they must have employee meetings where they are
told by their bosses that they had better behave this way towards the patients OR ELSE. I've even thought that they must get to thinking the old, "there but for the grace of God, go I" type of thing being around cancer patients all day, so they have that grateful thing going on all the time. I know Tim's doc, in his sometimes tackless manner, told us once that myeloma is a cruddy disease and he walks out of work often thinking he's glad he doesn't have it. Thanks doc. That's an obvious piece of information we didn't need put into words. But there is one guy whose personality stands in stark contrast to everyone else there. Dino. He spends his days taking blood all day. He takes blood, receives 24 hour urine
samples and walks them across the hall. Boring job, I admit, but gosh, make the best of it pal.
It's also pretty low stress too. You don't have to make life or death treatment decisions. You don't have to give people bad news. I swear he just has no personality and always looks like
he's just a little miffed about something. He speaks in a monotone. In 3 1/2 years, I don't know if I have EVER seen him smile. You try to make conversation and show some interest in him and you get one word answers. Today, Tim sits down for his draw and it goes like this:
Denise:How long have you been doing this?
Dino: Too long.
Uncomfortable silence thinking he is going to give me the real answer. He doesn't.
Tim:Did you get away anywhere for vacation this summer?
Dino: Not really. My wife gave birth.
Waiting for details that never come. Didn't even smile when he said this about having another child.
Denise: OH that's great, what did you have?
Dino: A boy
Waiting for more details and maybe a smirk or something.
Denise: How nice. One of each now(he has a girl). What did you name him?
Dino: Luca
Denise: Ah yes, very italian(goes with Dino of course).
Dino: Yup
Waiting for more details. Anything. A glimpse of emotion. Nothing.
Tim: When was he born.
Dino: the fourth of July
Tim and Denise: OH How cool!
Dino: grunt
For those non-USA'ers the 4th of July is our Independance day which is when we apparently told England, "You're not the boss of us. We can do a great job of screwing everything up all by ourselves."(and we did)
Then Dino asked Tim the same thing he always does when he realizes he's being asked to partake in conversation.
Dino: How's business?
Tim goes into his medium, short version of this answer and I am always shocked that Dino asks him this 'cause Dino got an estimate from Tim when he bought a house a few years ago
but went with a cheap(what we call hacker) flooring company instead.
By this time we were done and said our good-byes but I swear I have never met a duller, more un-friendly guy. I mean he had a baby for heaven's sake and you have to pull it all out of him like he's not even that impressed or happy about it. I said something joking around one day to
the doc during Tim's appt. and they laughed at the idea I'd met carp with more personality but they agreed. He's one heckuva Eeyore for sure. I feel like shaking him sometimes and reminding him that this ain't no picnic for the folks on the other side of that needle either and
he could perk up just a little. Wonder what his wife is like. I get to feeling mopey just being around him for 5 minutes. He's a disgrace to
us Italians. Heck, I'm only a quarter Italian and I can barely wait on a line without striking up
a conversation with someone. This guy needs some happy pills or something.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Most important lesson learned
I just read something on an MM blog I follow that shocked me a little. This very funny guy got a private e-mail from a woman who was a little miffed that he would joke so much about MM.
She is quite upset about her dad's diagnosis and can't understand the humor so many of
us use to cope with MM invading our lives. I left a pretty long comment on his blog
but I think this subject deserves its own post on mine. Needless to say, and I have blogged about it before, Tim's diagnosis was a horrible blow at a bad time. For some time afterward, I found myself mourning. I was mourning our life as we knew it. It would never be the same and it takes some time to get around to accepting that. I cried a river(mostly in private) for a long time. I cried in the car, the shower, dark movie theaters, you name it. If crying burned calories, I'd surely have gotten back into my skinny jeans. Tim, on the other hand, in a show of courage that I could never have imagined, accepted the hand he was dealt and got on with it. He told me that he was not going to spend what time he had left crying and moping and he certainly hasn't. I feel that it would be selfish of me not to buck up for him then and try to keep my spirits up. I also believe that if the mom goes down, the whole family goes with her so I put on my big girl pants and have been stronger than I have ever been for the sake of Tim and Olivia. I realized during all those tearful breakdowns that I could not function as a wife, parent, or caregiver when I was like that. I also know that it bothers Tim to know how his cancer diagnosis affects his family so I don't want him to feel worse about that. More importantly, I learned one of the biggest lessons I had to learn from this journey and that is this: YOU SHOULD NOT MOURN A PERSON WHO IS ALIVE. I think that was part of what was behind a lot of those tears. I was so worried about what the future held, I was "what iffing" myself into a miserable existance. If you are going to lose a loved one, as one blogger put it, there will be time for weeping and wailing later. It struck me that to mourn someone that was standing right in front of me was the biggest waste of precious time imaginable. I decided instead to make great memories and try my hardest to live in the present. Hence Tim's brandy new pickup for Christmas. Seize the day.
Some of these blogs I follow are written by the wittiest, most hysterical people and so many times, they have made me crack up on a day that I really needed that. The shock of a cancer diagnosis will send anyone reeling and some days it is really hard to be happy. But I do know that I would really regret not making the most of our time together no matter how long that is.
Some time ago, I stumbled onto a blog about a boy in Mass. who has relapsed neuroblastoma which is fatal. He was dx'ed when he was 7 months old and has been on chemo his whole life.
He just turned six. As bad as our situation is, I can't even imagine how hard it is to watch your child suffer and so many of these kids with NB have died. I just read a quote that this boy's dad
posted on his blog and since I was unable to figure out how to cut and paste it, I will just paraphrase it and you can look it up yourself if you desire. It's by Robert Brault and basically, it says not to worry about life expectancies. It says that instead of ticking each day off from some "allotment" you think you may have, you should consider each day of your life as a treasure to add to your
chest and with each day lived, your treasure will grow, not diminish. It is so hard not to obsess about the future, especially when you're in the position we're all in with cancer affecting ourselves or our spouse. But I can see no way to be somewhat OK right now unless you try to live for
today and make the most of it. And laugh whenever possible. Tim's doctor is a riot and we are always busting each other back and forth. We appreciate it and wouldn't have it any other way.
Even during some of the worst of times these last few years, Tim and I have joked with each other to break the tension and some things that have happened have been downright funny.
As I always say, laughing beats crying anyday.
She is quite upset about her dad's diagnosis and can't understand the humor so many of
us use to cope with MM invading our lives. I left a pretty long comment on his blog
but I think this subject deserves its own post on mine. Needless to say, and I have blogged about it before, Tim's diagnosis was a horrible blow at a bad time. For some time afterward, I found myself mourning. I was mourning our life as we knew it. It would never be the same and it takes some time to get around to accepting that. I cried a river(mostly in private) for a long time. I cried in the car, the shower, dark movie theaters, you name it. If crying burned calories, I'd surely have gotten back into my skinny jeans. Tim, on the other hand, in a show of courage that I could never have imagined, accepted the hand he was dealt and got on with it. He told me that he was not going to spend what time he had left crying and moping and he certainly hasn't. I feel that it would be selfish of me not to buck up for him then and try to keep my spirits up. I also believe that if the mom goes down, the whole family goes with her so I put on my big girl pants and have been stronger than I have ever been for the sake of Tim and Olivia. I realized during all those tearful breakdowns that I could not function as a wife, parent, or caregiver when I was like that. I also know that it bothers Tim to know how his cancer diagnosis affects his family so I don't want him to feel worse about that. More importantly, I learned one of the biggest lessons I had to learn from this journey and that is this: YOU SHOULD NOT MOURN A PERSON WHO IS ALIVE. I think that was part of what was behind a lot of those tears. I was so worried about what the future held, I was "what iffing" myself into a miserable existance. If you are going to lose a loved one, as one blogger put it, there will be time for weeping and wailing later. It struck me that to mourn someone that was standing right in front of me was the biggest waste of precious time imaginable. I decided instead to make great memories and try my hardest to live in the present. Hence Tim's brandy new pickup for Christmas. Seize the day.
Some of these blogs I follow are written by the wittiest, most hysterical people and so many times, they have made me crack up on a day that I really needed that. The shock of a cancer diagnosis will send anyone reeling and some days it is really hard to be happy. But I do know that I would really regret not making the most of our time together no matter how long that is.
Some time ago, I stumbled onto a blog about a boy in Mass. who has relapsed neuroblastoma which is fatal. He was dx'ed when he was 7 months old and has been on chemo his whole life.
He just turned six. As bad as our situation is, I can't even imagine how hard it is to watch your child suffer and so many of these kids with NB have died. I just read a quote that this boy's dad
posted on his blog and since I was unable to figure out how to cut and paste it, I will just paraphrase it and you can look it up yourself if you desire. It's by Robert Brault and basically, it says not to worry about life expectancies. It says that instead of ticking each day off from some "allotment" you think you may have, you should consider each day of your life as a treasure to add to your
chest and with each day lived, your treasure will grow, not diminish. It is so hard not to obsess about the future, especially when you're in the position we're all in with cancer affecting ourselves or our spouse. But I can see no way to be somewhat OK right now unless you try to live for
today and make the most of it. And laugh whenever possible. Tim's doctor is a riot and we are always busting each other back and forth. We appreciate it and wouldn't have it any other way.
Even during some of the worst of times these last few years, Tim and I have joked with each other to break the tension and some things that have happened have been downright funny.
As I always say, laughing beats crying anyday.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Losing friends
Yesterday, we got some terrible news. A man we know very well was killed in a car accident
Sunday at the age of 58. His brother was driving and survived with injuries but Billy did not
make it. We are stunned. Tim has known him for over 30 years and he owns a delicatessen
in our town that we go to often. Tim and I get in arguments often when he is driving. I
do not like long car trips and am a worry wart through and through and Tim does not drive
as carefully as I would like. Despite his MM diagnosis, he still goes through his life thinking
bad things won't happen to him. I, unfortunately, have had so many cruddy things happen to me, that I expect the worst all the time. NJ has such busy roads with scads of obnoxious drivers
and the cell phone issue just makes it more dangerous these days. I am paranoid of the time when Olivia is old enough to drive and told Tim yesterday that I think we should move to a more rural area when that time comes. About 5 or 6 years ago, we were going to so many wakes
that our neighbors couldn't believe it. We live 2 blocks from the most popular funeral parlor in our area and it seemed like Tim and I were always walking down the street in our black clothes with our neighbors seeing us and saying, "not another one?!" As we saw a lot of our friends losing their parents, we feared losing our own. Many of the deaths we saw were very sudden and sadly, some of these people were in their 50's or early 60's. I told Tim at one point that I felt like we had moved into a period of our life that would be marked by
losses. He was pretty upset yesterday after we got this news and told his mother on the phone that it just felt like we are all dropping like flies. Tim's ex-boss, who is someone I've known since I was a child because I grew up being friends with his daughter, died quite suddenly from
an aneurism about 4 years ago. My father has an aneurism in his head that was found just a few years earlier when he was CT scanned after he was rear-ended by a truck while driving. At that point, I really started to worry about my own parents and I can remember very vividly thinking that the wind would surely be knocked out of my sails to lose them but that as long as I had Tim and Olivia, somehow I could muddle through. They are my world and I literally build my life around theirs.
Needless to say, Tim's cancer diagnosis brought the mortality thoughts even closer to home than I expected. Events don't always happen in the so-called "natural order" of things. The older generation doesn't always go first. I hate going to wakes. I hate when Tim is going to wakes. I hate that life is so damn fragile that a split second on the highway wipes out a life and destroys
countless others in the process. I hate that kids get sick and parents see their children suffer.
There should be a natural order of things. You're born, you live, you get old, you die, you go to heaven and see all your loved ones that went before you. PERIOD. Anything other than that makes no damn sense to me at all.
Sunday at the age of 58. His brother was driving and survived with injuries but Billy did not
make it. We are stunned. Tim has known him for over 30 years and he owns a delicatessen
in our town that we go to often. Tim and I get in arguments often when he is driving. I
do not like long car trips and am a worry wart through and through and Tim does not drive
as carefully as I would like. Despite his MM diagnosis, he still goes through his life thinking
bad things won't happen to him. I, unfortunately, have had so many cruddy things happen to me, that I expect the worst all the time. NJ has such busy roads with scads of obnoxious drivers
and the cell phone issue just makes it more dangerous these days. I am paranoid of the time when Olivia is old enough to drive and told Tim yesterday that I think we should move to a more rural area when that time comes. About 5 or 6 years ago, we were going to so many wakes
that our neighbors couldn't believe it. We live 2 blocks from the most popular funeral parlor in our area and it seemed like Tim and I were always walking down the street in our black clothes with our neighbors seeing us and saying, "not another one?!" As we saw a lot of our friends losing their parents, we feared losing our own. Many of the deaths we saw were very sudden and sadly, some of these people were in their 50's or early 60's. I told Tim at one point that I felt like we had moved into a period of our life that would be marked by
losses. He was pretty upset yesterday after we got this news and told his mother on the phone that it just felt like we are all dropping like flies. Tim's ex-boss, who is someone I've known since I was a child because I grew up being friends with his daughter, died quite suddenly from
an aneurism about 4 years ago. My father has an aneurism in his head that was found just a few years earlier when he was CT scanned after he was rear-ended by a truck while driving. At that point, I really started to worry about my own parents and I can remember very vividly thinking that the wind would surely be knocked out of my sails to lose them but that as long as I had Tim and Olivia, somehow I could muddle through. They are my world and I literally build my life around theirs.
Needless to say, Tim's cancer diagnosis brought the mortality thoughts even closer to home than I expected. Events don't always happen in the so-called "natural order" of things. The older generation doesn't always go first. I hate going to wakes. I hate when Tim is going to wakes. I hate that life is so damn fragile that a split second on the highway wipes out a life and destroys
countless others in the process. I hate that kids get sick and parents see their children suffer.
There should be a natural order of things. You're born, you live, you get old, you die, you go to heaven and see all your loved ones that went before you. PERIOD. Anything other than that makes no damn sense to me at all.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Puppies and puberty
Well, it's been an eye-opening few days with our new pup. She is a total love but housebreaking is going to be tricky. She does know what she is supposed to do outside but because this poor thing had been stuck in a cage, she is not even crate-trained because all her life, she had no choice but to go potty in her crate where she was sleeping and eating. I think I will go buy some
stock in the company that makes our brand of paper towels. She is teething like crazy too and bites everything and nibbles on us too. The scary thing is Olivia had an allergic reaction the other day all over her face and I had to give her allergy meds. She has never been allergic to dogs but I have to assume that having scratches on her face made her react to the saliva(this dog is a big kisser). Liv has a doctor's appt. today so this is one thing I will be talking to her doc about. Liv has been having stomach issues. I swear that this is all about her hormones kicking in. I've had IBS and food intolerances forever and it always seemed linked to my hormones. She
started getting headaches too. I just got out a little care package the girls were given in school.
Being the always prepared type, I am going to give her a little pouch of necessities to carry in her bag in school just in case "the curse" shows up. So I just read the pamphlets that were included in this kit. I had to laugh. I know we need to look at this as a happy time(though it never was for me thanks to severe cramps and endometriosis) but this stuff was too funny.
They included a "HAPPY KIT" which contained small pads. Honestly, opening that gives me
no feelings of joy whatsoever. They have questions and answers about puberty and periods and all the changes your body makes. One question is "When will my breasts stop growing?" While
I can't see a girl wanting to know that, unfortunately, if Liv takes after me the answer will be
"about 20 minutes after they start growing." The book says, "you will start thinking and behaving more like an adult." Yeah, I'm not holding my breath on that one. Has the author of this booklet actually been around 12 and 13 year-olds lately?!!! It says that wearing a bra will provide support and coverage and make you feel more comfortable. It's been 95 degrees here this week. Any woman who lives where it's hot and thinks having that slingshot on makes them more comfortable, raise your hand.......anybody?....I thought so. You can paint a rosy picture all you want but sometimes these things us women have to deal with just stink. The booklet shows a calendar with 3 days marked "I have PMS" and then 5 days marked, "MY PERIOD'S HERE!!!" Somehow, I don't think most of us have that kind of enthusiasm though after skipping a few cycles myself and one pregnancy test later, I must admit, I almost wrote that on the calendar myself this month. 'Cept I had PMS for 2 and 1/2 months. I warn Tim that these next few years may be interesting. Olivia's hormones are ramping up just when mine are giving up. I guess delaying motherhood until the 30's has this backlash of putting you in a hormonal
flux just when your kid(s) are too. Bad planning. Hopefully, our daughter does not have the terrible pain issues I had. There is a question that says, "what should I do if I have cramps?"
I am an old pro at this. My advice: Take pain meds around the clock and score a few days off
of school. If necessary, book a flight to the UK and give Bernard a little shot to the shins. ;o)
"What to do if the cramps are REALLY bad?" Kick Bernard's car.
Just kidding B!
Ugh, the puppy just peed the floor again. I gotta figure out how to strap those darn pads to
that little whizzer.
stock in the company that makes our brand of paper towels. She is teething like crazy too and bites everything and nibbles on us too. The scary thing is Olivia had an allergic reaction the other day all over her face and I had to give her allergy meds. She has never been allergic to dogs but I have to assume that having scratches on her face made her react to the saliva(this dog is a big kisser). Liv has a doctor's appt. today so this is one thing I will be talking to her doc about. Liv has been having stomach issues. I swear that this is all about her hormones kicking in. I've had IBS and food intolerances forever and it always seemed linked to my hormones. She
started getting headaches too. I just got out a little care package the girls were given in school.
Being the always prepared type, I am going to give her a little pouch of necessities to carry in her bag in school just in case "the curse" shows up. So I just read the pamphlets that were included in this kit. I had to laugh. I know we need to look at this as a happy time(though it never was for me thanks to severe cramps and endometriosis) but this stuff was too funny.
They included a "HAPPY KIT" which contained small pads. Honestly, opening that gives me
no feelings of joy whatsoever. They have questions and answers about puberty and periods and all the changes your body makes. One question is "When will my breasts stop growing?" While
I can't see a girl wanting to know that, unfortunately, if Liv takes after me the answer will be
"about 20 minutes after they start growing." The book says, "you will start thinking and behaving more like an adult." Yeah, I'm not holding my breath on that one. Has the author of this booklet actually been around 12 and 13 year-olds lately?!!! It says that wearing a bra will provide support and coverage and make you feel more comfortable. It's been 95 degrees here this week. Any woman who lives where it's hot and thinks having that slingshot on makes them more comfortable, raise your hand.......anybody?....I thought so. You can paint a rosy picture all you want but sometimes these things us women have to deal with just stink. The booklet shows a calendar with 3 days marked "I have PMS" and then 5 days marked, "MY PERIOD'S HERE!!!" Somehow, I don't think most of us have that kind of enthusiasm though after skipping a few cycles myself and one pregnancy test later, I must admit, I almost wrote that on the calendar myself this month. 'Cept I had PMS for 2 and 1/2 months. I warn Tim that these next few years may be interesting. Olivia's hormones are ramping up just when mine are giving up. I guess delaying motherhood until the 30's has this backlash of putting you in a hormonal
flux just when your kid(s) are too. Bad planning. Hopefully, our daughter does not have the terrible pain issues I had. There is a question that says, "what should I do if I have cramps?"
I am an old pro at this. My advice: Take pain meds around the clock and score a few days off
of school. If necessary, book a flight to the UK and give Bernard a little shot to the shins. ;o)
"What to do if the cramps are REALLY bad?" Kick Bernard's car.
Just kidding B!
Ugh, the puppy just peed the floor again. I gotta figure out how to strap those darn pads to
that little whizzer.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
We are a dog family again
Well today, we went to pick up our new puppy. It was a long day. We left the house just after 9:30 in the morning and hit a ton of traffic because it was a beautiful beach day and the rentals
down the shore run Sat. to Sat. so we sat in traffic for almost an hour and got to where we were
going about 40 minutes late. We didn't make it back home until after 5 this evening. But, we fell in love immediately with this tiny, little bundle of love and
kisses. It is the floppy-eared beagle mix shown in the last post but she is tinier than she looks
in the photo. She weighs only about 8 pounds. She got car sick on the way home right after we
switched drivers and Tim had to clean it up. He was thrilled but this is also why we took my car
instead of his new truck. We were prepared though and had everything covered. She is still a bit queesy but other than that is doing really well. She's had a rough week.
They got her in after some woman took her away from a backyard breeder. She'd been stuck
in a cage in their back yard. She is so happy to be with people, her tail wags constantly. She just
loves everybody and when we stopped at a rest area everybody walked up to meet her. She makes everyone smile, she is that darn cute. Olivia is over the moon. The puppy is glad to have a family and a real home. Now I just hope she is OK when I take her to our vet to get checked out on Monday. Her tummy is still not
right and I am hoping it is the just leftover motion sickness. This poor thing has changed homes several times this past week, had all her vet work done, spaying and shots, so it's been a
tough few days for her. Then she spent all afternoon in a car and had a bath in the kitchen sink when she got here. What a day. She is now zonked out on a dog bed that is WAY too big. Hopefully, she gets her appetite back tomorrow and feels better. She's going to her first "dogfest" in the park. Should be fun. I'm sure she'll be the belle of the ball.
down the shore run Sat. to Sat. so we sat in traffic for almost an hour and got to where we were
going about 40 minutes late. We didn't make it back home until after 5 this evening. But, we fell in love immediately with this tiny, little bundle of love and
kisses. It is the floppy-eared beagle mix shown in the last post but she is tinier than she looks
in the photo. She weighs only about 8 pounds. She got car sick on the way home right after we
switched drivers and Tim had to clean it up. He was thrilled but this is also why we took my car
instead of his new truck. We were prepared though and had everything covered. She is still a bit queesy but other than that is doing really well. She's had a rough week.
They got her in after some woman took her away from a backyard breeder. She'd been stuck
in a cage in their back yard. She is so happy to be with people, her tail wags constantly. She just
loves everybody and when we stopped at a rest area everybody walked up to meet her. She makes everyone smile, she is that darn cute. Olivia is over the moon. The puppy is glad to have a family and a real home. Now I just hope she is OK when I take her to our vet to get checked out on Monday. Her tummy is still not
right and I am hoping it is the just leftover motion sickness. This poor thing has changed homes several times this past week, had all her vet work done, spaying and shots, so it's been a
tough few days for her. Then she spent all afternoon in a car and had a bath in the kitchen sink when she got here. What a day. She is now zonked out on a dog bed that is WAY too big. Hopefully, she gets her appetite back tomorrow and feels better. She's going to her first "dogfest" in the park. Should be fun. I'm sure she'll be the belle of the ball.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Ah yes, the pet adoption run-around
So I get an e-mail back yesterday from the dog shelter in CT. It said, "congratulations, your
adoption is approved but so sorry, that dog is spoken for." GGGRRRRRRR! I wrote back and
asked why I was told the dog was available and got an explanation that was either all lies or
meant that they already had people interested in the pup when they told me she was available to us. This brings back memories of 1995 when we were looking for a dog. The old bait and switch tactics are still being used. I like to rescue a dog
because I find purebred dogs tend to have more health problems so I like the mutts(though Sophie cost us a lot of money in vet bills in her lifetime). Oh heck, I woulda given that dog my kidney if she
needed it. Anyway, the problem with rescuing dogs is mainly the amount of pitbulls or unhealthy dogs they are trying to unload. While I am sure there are many good pitbulls and staffordshire terriers, they are not for me. I have heard too many stories and they scare me. We had a woman killed not far from here a few years ago and Tim's aunt's dog( a little poodle)
was attacked and killed by one out in CA last year. I don't totally believe that they have to be trained to fight as too many that are involved in attacks were not. We had several shelters call us back then telling me they had lab mixes(which I specified was all that I was interested in) only to drive out there to see a litter of pits they were hoping we'd
fall in love with once we saw them. One time, after several of these episodes, I had a shelter call me and say they got a batch of lab mix puppies in and I better come quick because they would go fast. I told them straight out that my husband would have to cancel an estimate and it would take an hour to drive there
so they better not show me pitbulls. She said, "oh no, these are labs." He cancelled his appt. and we drove out during rush hour to see a litter of pits again. I let them know I was NOT happy with them. While I have all the respect in the world for folks that give so much of themselves to
help animals, these kinds of tactics are just wrong and give them all a bad name. Too many of
these people are not above lying and telling people what they want to hear to get rid of an animal only to complain how many are turned back in to shelters. Well, DUH! This is not something I want to do especially with our kid involved. It takes us 3 seconds to fall in love with an animal so I am trying to get as much useful information out of these folks as I can before we lay eyes
on more than just a photo. So, though I am second in line, that first shelter said, to pick from the litter that the other pup was from, I'm not sure I want to deal with them now. I'm also a little afraid of how muscular in the front legs and the chest the pups look to be in the pictures as that is one way you can tell you have pit in there. Also, they are being trucked up from Georgia so I really don't think they know much about these dogs at all other than what the mother is 'cause she was rescued with the pups. I thought these dogs were found in CT. We found this other pup(for now we'll call her Plan B) but we have to travel 2 1/2 hours one way to see the little thing. The woman I'm dealing with seems pretty nice so I hope she is being straight with me. I've got better things to do than drive 5 hours to get ticked off. Heck, I can get ticked off at home.
adoption is approved but so sorry, that dog is spoken for." GGGRRRRRRR! I wrote back and
asked why I was told the dog was available and got an explanation that was either all lies or
meant that they already had people interested in the pup when they told me she was available to us. This brings back memories of 1995 when we were looking for a dog. The old bait and switch tactics are still being used. I like to rescue a dog
because I find purebred dogs tend to have more health problems so I like the mutts(though Sophie cost us a lot of money in vet bills in her lifetime). Oh heck, I woulda given that dog my kidney if she
needed it. Anyway, the problem with rescuing dogs is mainly the amount of pitbulls or unhealthy dogs they are trying to unload. While I am sure there are many good pitbulls and staffordshire terriers, they are not for me. I have heard too many stories and they scare me. We had a woman killed not far from here a few years ago and Tim's aunt's dog( a little poodle)
was attacked and killed by one out in CA last year. I don't totally believe that they have to be trained to fight as too many that are involved in attacks were not. We had several shelters call us back then telling me they had lab mixes(which I specified was all that I was interested in) only to drive out there to see a litter of pits they were hoping we'd
fall in love with once we saw them. One time, after several of these episodes, I had a shelter call me and say they got a batch of lab mix puppies in and I better come quick because they would go fast. I told them straight out that my husband would have to cancel an estimate and it would take an hour to drive there
so they better not show me pitbulls. She said, "oh no, these are labs." He cancelled his appt. and we drove out during rush hour to see a litter of pits again. I let them know I was NOT happy with them. While I have all the respect in the world for folks that give so much of themselves to
help animals, these kinds of tactics are just wrong and give them all a bad name. Too many of
these people are not above lying and telling people what they want to hear to get rid of an animal only to complain how many are turned back in to shelters. Well, DUH! This is not something I want to do especially with our kid involved. It takes us 3 seconds to fall in love with an animal so I am trying to get as much useful information out of these folks as I can before we lay eyes
on more than just a photo. So, though I am second in line, that first shelter said, to pick from the litter that the other pup was from, I'm not sure I want to deal with them now. I'm also a little afraid of how muscular in the front legs and the chest the pups look to be in the pictures as that is one way you can tell you have pit in there. Also, they are being trucked up from Georgia so I really don't think they know much about these dogs at all other than what the mother is 'cause she was rescued with the pups. I thought these dogs were found in CT. We found this other pup(for now we'll call her Plan B) but we have to travel 2 1/2 hours one way to see the little thing. The woman I'm dealing with seems pretty nice so I hope she is being straight with me. I've got better things to do than drive 5 hours to get ticked off. Heck, I can get ticked off at home.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
the puppy problem
When we lost our Sophie dog 2 years ago, though we were definitely devastated, it opened up
opportunities in travelling that we did not have before. Our dog was a very anxious animal and
we feared she could never tolerate being kenneled and had no other options other than the in-laws to watch her. (everyone else had pets and she was quite anxious around other dogs too and she chased cats)
I swore it would be awhile before we got another dog and yesterday, I fell in love with this little
border collie mix in CT on petfinder.com. Though I am loving being able to travel to new places with Tim and Olivia, we are not loving being sans dog. We are all animal lovers and to wait a few years makes
little sense in a way as Olivia will be out with her friends more than at home by then. On the other hand, I know of about 4 families who got dogs in the last few years that are not so happy.
The dogs either never house trained or ripped their furniture up and they wish they never did it.
A girlfriend of mine actually tried to get rid of her hyper yorkipoo several times. Sophie was great that way. She never trashed our house and once trained, she never went in the house till she was so ill at the end. It's a hard decision. Olivia keeps saying she'd rather have a dog than go on all these vacations but that is
easy to say. I have to believe that we can get a dog that is not so skittish this time. We have a wonderful,
family-owned kennel just down the street from us and friends and family that we can trade dog-sitting with too as long as this one gets on with other varmints. For once, Tim has shown some
softening in his resolve not to get another dog. He was so upset to lose Sophie that he actually
told me it was harder than being told he has cancer. Then there is also the hope that the vet bills would not reach what they did with Sophie but I think I would buy insurance this time. Sophie
blew out both her ACL's 2 1/2 years apart(she thought she was a football player, I guess) and the surgeries cost us 5 grand.Total vet bills over her life probably hit about 10 to 12K. We need to think very carefully about this but all resolve goes out
the window when you lay eyes on this little cutie. I just think it would bring so much joy to us all.
And they say being around animals lowers your blood pressure. I guess I should adopt a baker's dozen of them then. And a llama. I definitely want a llama.
opportunities in travelling that we did not have before. Our dog was a very anxious animal and
we feared she could never tolerate being kenneled and had no other options other than the in-laws to watch her. (everyone else had pets and she was quite anxious around other dogs too and she chased cats)
I swore it would be awhile before we got another dog and yesterday, I fell in love with this little
border collie mix in CT on petfinder.com. Though I am loving being able to travel to new places with Tim and Olivia, we are not loving being sans dog. We are all animal lovers and to wait a few years makes
little sense in a way as Olivia will be out with her friends more than at home by then. On the other hand, I know of about 4 families who got dogs in the last few years that are not so happy.
The dogs either never house trained or ripped their furniture up and they wish they never did it.
A girlfriend of mine actually tried to get rid of her hyper yorkipoo several times. Sophie was great that way. She never trashed our house and once trained, she never went in the house till she was so ill at the end. It's a hard decision. Olivia keeps saying she'd rather have a dog than go on all these vacations but that is
easy to say. I have to believe that we can get a dog that is not so skittish this time. We have a wonderful,
family-owned kennel just down the street from us and friends and family that we can trade dog-sitting with too as long as this one gets on with other varmints. For once, Tim has shown some
softening in his resolve not to get another dog. He was so upset to lose Sophie that he actually
told me it was harder than being told he has cancer. Then there is also the hope that the vet bills would not reach what they did with Sophie but I think I would buy insurance this time. Sophie
blew out both her ACL's 2 1/2 years apart(she thought she was a football player, I guess) and the surgeries cost us 5 grand.Total vet bills over her life probably hit about 10 to 12K. We need to think very carefully about this but all resolve goes out
the window when you lay eyes on this little cutie. I just think it would bring so much joy to us all.
And they say being around animals lowers your blood pressure. I guess I should adopt a baker's dozen of them then. And a llama. I definitely want a llama.
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