February 22, 2015 Pup of the Week: Answered Prayers for Koda, Summer Grace and Bella

           There have been too many Sundays that I have chronicled the aftermath of unanswered prayers.  On this Sunday I would like to celebrate the joy left in the wake of prayers answered in the affirmative.

            We begin with one of our oldest and most cherished friends who was with us when we cleared the land and built the dog houses to create this beloved spot for so many of our lonely friends.  Koda stands tall in his role as one of the leaders of our pack.

            A torn ACL tried to cut our dear friend down to our tiny size.  This combined with a careless vet who prescribed the wrong medication made a dire situation worse and put Koda on the gurney towards the operating room after many weeks of dieting to take some weight off the weary tendon.

            Luckily, in a plot twist reserved for movies, Koda’s original doctor returned to town, replacing the careless fool with the prescription pad, to do his surgery.  We gathered together to ask the All Mighty to guide the surgeon’s hand and to help Koda awaken after his surgery.  Thankfully he graciously granted our prayers.  And the next day, when Koda wouldn’t eat, he granted our prayers again by giving our friend his appetite back.  We are still praying that Koda fully recovers.  The Lord has granted out prayers through the hardest time, we are sure he will continue to do so.

            Having one answered prayer a week has been a challenge lately never mind multiple answered prayers but the All Mighty has been in a generous mood.  And answering multiple requests for the same dog is pushing the limits.  But it is what Summer Grace needed.

            Summer has gone through cancer treatment in the past and it was a struggle to keep her with us.  Summer’s Mom has been very diligent in checking her for any growths.  We can only imagine how her heart must have dropped when she found growths on her best friend as she gently stroked Summer.  Having been down this torturous path before her Mom knew what to do.  Summer was taken into surgery, and again we prayed that the doctor’s hand be guided and Summer recover.  And again our prayers were answered.  The growth was removed, and it was benign.  Our friend is on the road to recovery.

            Finally there is Bella, a very special dog in her own right.  While my pack spends days lying on blankets and searching for a warm lap Bella gives her time going to the senior citizen home and bringing smiles to the faces for those who were afraid they had lost their smiles.

            Bella became ill suddenly:  Vomiting, loose stools and no appetite.  Her liver enzymes were high and her doctor told her Mom that Bella must have eaten something toxic.  She was given medicine and was told it would pass.  But it didn’t, poor Bella grew progressively worse and her mother grew more worried.

            We prayed for an answer to what ailed our generous friend, for her to eat, and to keep down, and in, what she consumed.  Finally her doctor, after several Mom requests, acquiesced and did an x-ray which showed part of a toy in Bella’s small intestine.  The surgery, and the prayers, were performed, and said, via emergency, and again the prayers were answered yes.   Bella is home, eating correctly and holding her food down, well on her way to recovery, and returning to the senior center to help find more smiles.

            So we give thanks for three answered prayers this week, and ask that we be granted many more to come in the weeks and months ahead.

Summer is our March 10, 2013 Pup of the Week

Two weeks ago I named Chelsea, who is a very sweet girl, our Pup of the Week.  She sent me a beautiful thank you note but suggested she was not worthy.  The dog I should have recognized was Summer  While I think Chelsea was an excellent choice I agree with her about Summer, and, because she deserves it, and to make Chelsea’s wish come true, we name Summer Grace our Pup of the Week.  (Also, we must thank Chelsea for helping us with some of the information we relied upon in doing our writing.)

This story goes all the way back to before Thanksgiving.  And like Chelsea it came about because a growth was found that had to be removed.  Unlike Chelsea the news from the beginning was dire.  Summer was diagnosed with stage three mast cell cancer.  This was in the middle of her parents moving.  With the upheaval in their lives the last thing they needed emotionally and financially was for their beloved Summer Grave to take ill, but sometimes life plays mean tricks.

Summer had one surgery, then went back to the vet where her parents were given news that did nothing to encourage them.  They could do another surgery to widen the area of tissue they took then follow up with prednisone, or start either chemo or radiation.  There was a very good chance that the growth removed in the first surgery would come back.  While at the vets they did a test of her lymph nodes and got a rare bit of good news when the lymph nodes showed no signs of cancer.

Her parents decided to take Summer to a new vet and were hoping for a good visit.  They anticipated that she would greet the vet with “hiney wiggles and lots of prayers.”  Unfortunately they did not get the news they were hoping for.

The results were not good.  She spoke to the vet who had consulted with an oncologist  from the University of Missouri.  While the tests showed no signs of mast cells, and Summer was not showing any sign of illness, was eating well and had good energy, the doctors told her that another operation and prednisone would give her a 20% chance of living one more year, and chemo would give her a 50% chance of living two more years.  As her Mom said:  “I just keep thinking that they have her confused with another dog, it makes no sense to me. Can anyone help me make some sense of this?”

Summer then saw Dr Quigley.  The doctor thought with another surgery Summer would  have a better chance for a full recovery..  And the doctor inspired confidence in Summer and her Mom by getting on the floor with Summer and gratefully receiving kisses.

The decision was made to have Summer undergo a laser surgery to widen the margins of tissue taken.  Dr Quigley said she did great.  Summer had a ten inch incision, nine inches longer than her previous one. on her undercarriage.  They found a nodule at the site of the original mast cell and removed it.  She was put on prednisone, an antibiotic and a steroid.  The doctor hoped, if kept quiet, Summer could heal from the surgery in two weeks.

For the first few days everything went well   She was healing nicely, eating well, and did not have any reactions to the prednisone or the antibiotics.  She went on a walk, met her neighbors and checked out some deer droppings.  The sewing stitches were removed and the doctor said to continue her on the Prednisone.

But, as we all who love, try to care for, and keep from hurting themselves know, dogs are the worst patients.  After getting her stitches out Summer jumped from the recliner to greet her Dad at the door and split open her entire incision.  Her Mom’s heart broke as she saw the wound open again.  She put gauze on it, wrapped her in a white towel and took her to Dr Quigley who had to staple her back together.  The prednisone was hampering the healing and it would be another three weeks of trying to keep her quiet until she could back to her active, fun loving ways.  

Then she went back to Dr Quigley for even more staples.   Everything a pittie does, from barking to eating, is powered by their undercarriage, and those muscles are always in motion,  If the staples don’t work then she would have to regrow her own skin and it was doubtful she would grow hair in that spot.  Plus she had to wear a t-shirt to cover the incision so the staples did not get snagged.  Her Mom and family did not have a high confidence that the staples would heal the incision.  

A few days later the incision opened again at it’s widest part.  Her poor Mom was at wits end, saying she had never seen anything so hard to heal in her life.  It became more likely that Summer would have to regrow skin.  She had been cut down to one prednisone a day.  She also was putting peroxide on the incision but didn’t want to put anything else on it because she was afraid of loosening the staples.

A few days later Summer began to improve.  She was able to jump on the bed for the first time in months.   Her incision was healing nicely and the skin was starting to grow.  She was turning the corner.  

Then Summer’s Mom got a tip from Chappy’s Mom Vicki who told her about Vetericyn.  She put it on Summer’s incision and the next morning she saw healthy tissue growing in the exposed area of her incision.  Summer was even acting better.  

A few days later Summer had her staples taken out by Dr Quigley who said the healing looked good and the granulation in the center was healing nicely.  Summer was on the road to recovery.

Now what Summer needs is our prayers.  If she can make it through May without a recurrence of the cancer then she should be in the clear.  She has made it so far, and through so much, it just wouldn’t be fair if she wasn’t back to being her happy, normal self soon.

For those of you who have been praying right along I know you will keep it going, and any new prayers will be appreciated, so Summer can enjoy some very long Summer days.

Summer Grace and Sandy are our December 19, 2010 pups of the week

During my many hours of surfing the Internet searching for all things pertinent to pups I read several postings that professed the loss of a limb for a dog was not as traumatic as the loss of a limb for a human.  To this I say Chihuahua chitlins.  Can some hooman produce a list of three legged dogs they have interviewed on this subject?  Did one of these pup experts appear on Larry King?  Has Larry every said:  "Let's go to Hattie Mae in Fredericksburg?"

This month two of our very good friends, Summer Grace and Sandy both needed operations that turned them temporarily into three legged pups.

Beautiful Summer had been suffering from knee problems for some time now.  Then on Thanksgiving her other knee went (hold on, I need to look up the proper medical term) kaflooey.  Plus, to add insult to injury, she also had to go on a diet so she wouldn't gain weight while she was immobile.  Gosh, if you can't run and play, at least they can do is let you eat.

While on the Tanner Brigade injured reserve list (she is listed as doubtful for Sunday) and awaiting surgery her house was invaded by three other pups, and while she made fast friends with them, as she does with everyone, the young pups high energy level caused her Mom a great deal of worry.  Then came the big day and Mommy did everything to make her ordeal as bearable as possible even packing her favorite bwanky.  (Some Mommies may not know this but us dogs really appreciate things like this.)

Summer had to spend a night at the vets.  When she got home she was told no puppy activity for four to six weeks and she had to poop on a leash.  Let me tell you, with four good legs, getting enough slack to get the leash on the ground, positioning it behind you, squatting over it, and hitting it with your poop is hard enoughs.  On two legs it is down right impossible. 

Luckily Summer was given some nice drugs, not from the kind of dealer that mishandle your Christmas cards but from nice ones.  They made her sleepy, they made her want to spend all her time of her blue bwanky, but she still manged to poop on her leash.  Bazinga!

Plus they gave her a Brazilian.  I am all for providing health care relief the first responders to the 9/11 tragedy but who will speak for the three legged, forced dieting, pooping on leashes, bared whowho dogs out there in the world?

Her ingenious Mom began asking her friends about how to aid Summer in walking and soon she was able to hop around on her front legs while having her back legs held up.  She also got to eat green beans and pumpkin.  This may sound gross but it has allowed her to increase the power of the only weapon a three legged, Brazilian shaved, dog can wield:  Farts.  Her farts were so deadly it drove the three visitors from her house.  

Then her Mommy bought her the best gift a dog could ever have:  A fart fan.  Now she could have the wonderful smell of farts without having to produce them herself.  It was a Fesitvus miracle.  Soon Summer was getting around the house, and even in the computer room where she could communicate with us.

As Summer was going through her ordeal Sandy faced the same ordeal but by different circumstances:  He was attacked by Bambi's butt.  Bambi must somehow have access to the secret Tanner Brigade blogs.  The doe learned how to fire projectiles out her butt MacDougal style.  Sandy dove out of the way and heard something go pop in his knee.

Now poor Sandy was facing the same surgery that Summer had.  But just like Summer he came through it bravely.  And like Summer he got a Brazilian but I don't think male dogs can get a Brazilian.  Maybe he got a Colombian.  Whatever it was damn cold.  He did have an advantage poor Summer did not have.  While Summer only had her Mom as a nurse maid Sandy had Maggie and Bo.  The biggest threat he faced was his Mom drowning him with kisses.

Sandy got his staples out first and his mother was trained in physical therapy.  Or was she?  While she carefully worked his leg it hurt Sandy and he snapped at her.  Who to blame?  Mom?  Sandy?  No the bad trainers and Pocket and I are scratching at the bit waiting to be able to sue the butt thermometers off of them.

Sandy is already back to running around the fastest three legged dog in America.  Summer has some more rivers to cross.  She is going to have another surgery.  Hopefully, after that, she will be as good as new.  But of these pups have shown bravery above and beyond the dog call of duty.

Ans that is why Summer Grace and Sandy are our pups of the week.