Lots of people ask me how I'm doing these days. The answer can change regularly, but for the last few days I've been having better days. Mommy and Daddy tell me that I'm taking them on an emotional roller coaster ride. I don't really know what a roller coaster is. No one in my family has ever bothered taking me to an amusement park. When they go on vacations I am forced to go to our local Pet Hotel and Day Spa. There I romp around with other doggies, swim in pools, get fed weekend brunches of bacon and eggs and get all handsome and groomed. It's really quite hard being forced to have so much fun. My Pop Pop (remember, that's Mommy's Daddy) loves to tell the story of what really happens when you get groomed at the Pet Hotel and Day Spa. It comes with an anal rinse. Do you hear me? That's right, an anal rinse. As my Pop Pop always says when he tells the story "I feel bad for the poor guy that has to do the rinsing." Trust me, poor guy that does the rinsing, I apologize from the bottom of my.......well, anyways.
Back to roller coasters. So I don't really know what roller coasters are but Mommy and Daddy have been talking about being on the emotional ones a lot lately. Mommy once told me about a roller coaster she and Daddy went on when they went to Disney World. It was an Aerosmith roller coaster and it plays the song "Sweet Emotion". When she and Daddy got off the roller coaster, Mommy promptly barfed everywhere. Her barf is different than mine. Mine is more kibble-ish since up until I got cancer I pretty much only ate kibble. Yawn. Boring. Now that I have cancer I get to eat REALLY yummy foods, and pretty much whatever else I want. Cancer has its perks, I suppose.
But anyways, there is a point to all this. If Mommy and Daddy are telling me that I'm taking them on an emotional roller coaster, I assume it's a roller coaster like the one at Disney World. The one that makes Mommy barf. Apparently they are emotionally drained from seeing me up, then down, then back up, then down, then up, then down. Then up, then down. Then up...... oh sorry...I got lost in a thought about someone throwing a ball for me in the backyard. Ball goes up, ball goes down. Up, then down, then up, then down. WAKE UP! Sorry, I was dreaming again! Man, I miss getting to go outside and play ball and frisbee and chase the bunny rabbits and eat the bunny poop. Those were the good old days. So my Mommy and Daddy tell me they will continue along on the roller coaster of expenses (and I hear them talking and I've become really really really expensive) just so long as I give them signs that I am doing okay. Which brings me to my post today, the good days , bad days and hopeful days. So I'm trying, really I am, to give them some "up" days.
Yesterday morning Mommy went to kiss me goodbye and she freaked out. Mommy tends to do that sometimes. If you ask her, she's just being protective and concerned. If you ask me she's a little bit annoying and overbearing. I mean really, how many of you have someone walking around watching every single move you make, sticking their hand on your nose to see if it's warm or cool, dry or wet, and kissing the inside of your ears to see if you have a fever? Yeah, I didn't think so. Welcome to my world. That's my Mommy. And those are my nose and ears being poked and prodded! But it's okay. I know how well loved I am. If she didn't love me she wouldn't be so overly cautious with me. My Sister and Brother- I think they find some relief in Mommy's attention being on me. If her attention is on me, then it isn't on them. So in other words my Sister and Brother's noses and ears are fairly neglected, unless you count when their own fingers are in them. Lucky them.
So yesterday when Mommy came to kiss me goodbye and she dog-handled my nose and ears she found my nose was dry and hot and my ears were burning up. I was pretty lethargic too. I mean, if you had all these pills and chemo running through your veins, you'd be lethargic too, right? But Mommy was still super concerned so she called the nice man at the place with the needles and treats and he said to bring me in. So Mommy and I loaded up in the car and went to see my friend, the nice man at the place with needles and treats. Remember how I said I was lethargic? I snoozed in the van on the way to see nice man. When we arrived Mommy helped me get out of the van and I sauntered in.
Since my collapse on Tuesday we seem to have misplaced my leash. It is somewhere around here but since my Mommy was convinced my nose and ears might catch on fire, we didn't have time to find my leash before we left. I got to go "a natural" to visit nice man at the place with needles and treats. Mommy wasn't super concerned about my state of "a natural" because I was so sluggish when we left the house. But when she opened the doors of the building so that I could go in and see nice man I went from a saunter to a jog.
You have to understand. In the last two weeks I have spent seven days at the place with needles and treats and my friend the nice man. I have even had two sleepover nights there. So I kind of own the place. My Mommy and Daddy tell me that if I want to get technical (whatever- I'm a dog- I'm totally not technical) but if I want to be technical, they own the place based on all the money they've paid to the nice man. But whatever. I may not own the place, but I certainly feel like I'm at least the Mayor of the place. So I went from a saunter to a jog, and I ran right back behind the desk and straight to an exam room. I know all the nice man's secrets now. I know where those treats are located. Meanwhile all my friends that work at the place with nice man were all saying "Hi Ollie!" See, it's really like I'm the Mayor of the place! They all know me there! Mommy was in shock- I was just laying lethargically in the van, and now I'm jogging through the place trying to find my friend, nice man, and get my paws on some treats. Mommy came back to the exam room and dragged me out. Sometimes she's really a stick in the mud. Sticks? Mud? Oh those are two of my favorite things. I love sticks and mud!!!! Maybe instead of saying Mommy was being a stick in the mud, I should say she was being a pill down my throat. I like pills down my throat a lot less than sticks in the mud! Okay, so Mommy was being a pill down my throat and she made me sit all dignified in the waiting area. Dignified is not one of my strengths.
Anyway- there I lay -like a good dignified doggy- on the floor of the waiting room, waiting for my friend nice man to come see me. When he came out to the waiting area he whistled. I popped up and ran over to meet him. My friend! Nice man! I really like nice man! He likes me too, I think. A lot. I trotted back with him to an exam room (see, if Mommy, the pill down my throat, had just let me stay in an exam room when we first walked in I'd have saved us all this trouble of having to walk back to the exam room again). Then nice man did the most undignified thing to me. Do you know how to take a dog's temperature? Yeah, that's right. Through the same place as the poor guy at the Pet Hotel and Day Spa that gives anal rinses. But this is no rinse. He's putting something in a place I thought was an exit only. But apparently it's also to take my temperature. Nice man, I really love you a lot, but I didn't think we were that close. My temperature was actually around normal and that is great! My heart beat and pulse was good too. So nice man took me back to the back and they gave me needle in my leg and put some medicine in me. This medicine makes me feel almost puppy-like! I followed him to see my Mommy, who was waiting in the lobby. Nice man was chatting with my Mommy and we started walking back to an exam room. I knew exactly what we were doing. As he was talking to my Mommy, nice man reached into a drawer. I got into position. A perfect, poised, "sit" with my head looking right up at nice man. If you have ever wanted to see a dignified dog, that would be me right at this moment. Nice man got a container out of the drawer and opened it. This is it! The magic moment! My favorite thing about nice man! He took out treats and gave them to me!!! I love treats!!! I love nice man for giving me treats!!! Then he told my Mommy how wonderful a doggy I am, how willingly I do everything he tells me to do, and how sweet I am. Awww, nice man, I think you're sweet too. If I had human treats, I would share some with you. Since I don't I will settle for the next best gift....I'll leave you a nice steamy present on your lawn. Sounds like an even trade to me- a treat for a treat!
When we got home Mommy told me that we need to ease up on this emotional roller coaster that we keep going for rides(!!!!) on. She even gave me permission to be destructo-dog while she was at work. I could get into anything I wanted. Well not really, but she said I could perform some of my old antics...messing up nicely made beds, chewing a stuffed animal, stealing food, whatever. Just anything to show her I'm feeling okay. Mommy says she'll settle for wet noses, seeing me eat ravenously and walking around okay. And lots of cuddles.
I wasn't really up for destro-dog mode while Mommy and Daddy were at work, but I was otherwise fairly perky last night. Daddy played with me and my new wubbie, my stuffed chipmunk named Chipper. I chased him around a little. I'm not quite as energetic as I was a few weeks ago, but I'm doing okay. We had family movie night and the kids loved on me lots too.
Mommy is a baker. She makes really yummy cakes and cupcakes. I'm her cleaner-upper. Here's how it works. Mommy makes frosting. Powdered sugar gets on the floor. I come lick up powdered sugar on the floor, then Mommy mops. We make a good team. So Mommy was SOOOOO happy when she went to make frosting and there I was out there to lick up all the powdered sugar on the floor. I had enough energy for that! So I guess today and yesterday could be considered "good and hopeful" days.
In case you're wondering my all time favorite frosting that Mommy makes is peanut butter butter-cream. It's like a dream come true for me!!! Before I had cancer Mommy never let me taste frosting. Sometimes I acquired it by stealth, like when my Sister and Brother ate cupcakes at the table and turned their backs. But now that I have cancer, Mommy will sometimes take a little frosting, put it on a spoon and put my pills in it and let me take my pills that way. That is the best way to take pills! And with all that's going on with my health and my expenses, Mommy is baking as much as she can to earn some extra money to turn over to nice man at the place with the needles and the treats. So I sense a lot of frosting in my future. Cancer has its perks sometimes.
Well, this has been an exhausting blog. I have a couple other blogs currently in progress, so stay tuned! Til next time!
Love,
Ollie the Wonder Puppy.
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