Well, it’s week 2 up here in Pennsylvania at Camp Yorkie. Beau took his pills yesterday without a hitch. In fact, we’re really lucky with both Beau and Maggie that way--when they need to take medication, all we have to do is put the meds on their food, and WHOOOOOOOOSH the meds disappear.

But the good news is that Beau has been relaxing in front of the fireplace (pellet stove, actually) and enjoying a pleasant holiday visit. He’s surrounded by family and his extended canine pack. Heck, there’s even a cat here.

Merry festivus and sloppy solstice to all!

Cheers,

Ken

Yesterday was Beau’s week 1 of cycle 3. All went well. (What was it that Lisa said about “routine” several months back?)

Next week, I’ll administer his chemo pills as normal. (24 tablets, and I have to wear latex gloves and SCRUB anything the tablets come in contact with.)

The good news about the pills is that he won’t need to go to the clinic, so he’ll be with us the whole time. In fact, we’ll be hitting the road for our Christmas visits with our families, so he’ll take the pills while we’re in PA at “Camp Yorkie”.

Yesterday’s session did go well, as I said. One interesting/funny bit... Beau and I got to the clinic quite early, so he was #1 in line for treatment. I always request early pick-up so he doesn’t have to spend even a minute longer than necessary at the clinic. (The place frightens the poor little guy.) I got the call just after 10, and went straight over as soon as I was able to get off the conference call I was on at the time.

When I arrived, some of the staff were in a meeting. The receptionists called back and asked for someone to pick up Beau. There was clearly some confusion in the back office over which dog to bring out. I said to the receptionist, “you’ll hear him,” and that was a big hit out front. Seems that the entire front office staff knows Beau by the distinctive acoustic signature he generates when he comes out of his treatments.

Sure enough, he came charging out of the back office doorway and literally dragged the technician along the hallway to where I was standing. At that point, all conversation in the reception area comes to a complete halt out of necessity. Beau the shingle shaker has arrived!

I immediately got Beau out to the car for the ride home, of course. It’s on this drive home each week that Beau tells me about everything they did to him in the clinic. How they poked and prodded. And heaven forbid the car comes to a stop--say, at a traffic signal.

All he wants is to be home.

But, I’m again happy to say that Beau is energetic, enthusiastic, and overall doing well. When we started down this chemo path (both times), we knew that managing his quality of life is very important. By that litmus test, the chemo continues to do its job.

Cheers and AROOOOOOOs,

Ken

All went well last week (week 4), even though it was a new chemo in Beau’s regimen. His doctors have now swapped out the old week 4 medication for a new one, as there’s a lifetime limit of 5 doses on the prior one.

So, other than Beau being so scared when we arrive at South Paws in the morning, he was bouncing and happy when I picked him up later in the day. Over the weekend, we took him to his regular vet for a blood test, but I’m pretty confident that will be ok -- he’s been energetic and happy all week.

In the meantime, we discovered that Beau and Maggie really enjoy romping through the woods behind our house. We’ve been walking them off lead, like they enjoy on the beach at OBX, around some of the walking trails in our woods. They absolutely love it, and seem to walk quicker and more vigorously than they’ve ever done walking the sidewalks around our neighborhood. (Who knew?)

Perhaps Beau thinks the woods smell like the leaf piles in Lancaster that he enjoyed so much.

Cheers,

Ken