Another Unknown Growth

[Sam I Am]

Happy gottcha day!

 

[hheldorfer]

You were rescued by the best possible mommy in the world, Addie.  Celebrate!

[Autumn & Lola]

Happy Gotcha Day, Addie and Whits!  So glad you 'got' each other!

 

[Malcolm's Dad]

Happy Gotcha Day. Soon you will be back to normal and running your household.

[Kathryn]

Happy gotcha day to both of you. I sense neither of you will let go.

 

 

[Dempsy's Mom]

You were an adorable puppy and you are a beautiful young gal - Happy Gotcha Day Addie!!  Hope you had a good day! 

[_whits_]

Cairn Talk! GUESS WHAT?!?!? MY GRANDPA IS HERE! I'M SO EXCITED. 

Mommy says I still have to go to the doctor for a few more days to zap away all the bugs in my leg, but I don't care cause Grandpa is here!

[_whits_]

[_whits_]

Week 3 of radiation is complete! 4 more treatments to go!

[Sam I Am]

Almost there Addie. 

 

[hheldorfer]

Have fun with your grandpa Addie!  

[Hillscreek]

Who doesn't love it when grandpa comes to visit. Have fun Addie.

[Rylee's mama]

Almost done, Addie! Have fun with you grandpa but who doesn't

[Autumn & Lola]

Almost done, Addie!  Woo-hoo!  Your grandpa is so cute and looks like lots of fun!

 

[_whits_]

To celebrate radiation nearing its end but before the side effects are likely to kick in (doc says final week of radiation and two weeks after are the worst in terms of burn and lethargy), Addie, Grandpa, and mommy went on a weekend road trip. We drove up to the Chadd's Ford area of Pennsyvania to see where the Battle of Brandywine took place (site of Lafayette's first battle; Lafayette is my favorite Founding Father) and then a bit further on to Valley Forge.

Addie is my history and battlefield buddy. She's been to the site of the battle of Bull Run at Manassas (twice), Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown (twice), Antietam, Mount Vernon, and Arlington National Cemetery.

She had a great weekend. Due to the oppressive heat we spent most of the time doing driving tours but she LOVES car rides. We got out at a few stops and she had a blast exploring. Attached is her at the Brandywine Lafayette Cemetery, investigating a wall the British hid behind during the battle. At Valley Forge a park Ranger even volunteered to babysit her while my dad and I explored the inside of Washington's headquarters. Our tour guide at Valley Forge was so impressed with how much she seemed to enjoy traveling and how well-behaved she was in the National Park.

oh! And Addie wants Packy to know that she saw FROGS for the first time! She chased a little one about the size of a cotton ball and almost caught it until mean mom made her leave it alone and she saw a big one about the size of a computer mouse and mean mom still wouldn't let her try to kill it. I told her she needed proper training from Packy before she could hunt frogs.

I surprised her with a bath when we got home, which she wasn't super happy with (okay, which she was appalled about) but she was pretty filthy from rolling around in history. 

My dad keeps telling me how impressed he is at how brave Addie is being about radiation. He went with me to a treatment and the veterinarian in him was utterly overwhelmed by the worried Grandpa in him. But he recovered from his worry enough to ask a lot of questions I would never think to ask and he always enjoys investigating other practices to see how they run things. 

Edited July 24, 2016 by _whits_
I have a compulsive need to correct my typos.

[kjwarnold]

"Addie, watch our for those frogs.  Frogs and toads taste GROSS!  Kirby never listens to me and stills tries to get them, then he ends up foaming at the mouth snd rubbing his face in the grass to try to get the taste out.  He's such a dope, I always warn him."

Your Friend, Packy

 

 

[hheldorfer]

What fun!  Addie amazes me with the way she's taking everything in stride.   

By the way, in some of your pics Addie looked like she was almost accepting cuddles from grandpa.  Is that the way it works?  Cuddles for grandpa but no cuddles for mommy?

[Sam I Am]

Once a vet always a vet I suspect. How can you ever stop loving animals, especially when you are a grandpa to Ms Addie. How wonderful to have all that knowledge you can tap into! I hope she recovers quickly from the radiation symptoms and no doubt she will, like most Cairns, they tend to not show discomfort much. 

[_whits_]

1 hour ago, hheldorfer said:

By the way, in some of your pics Addie looked like she was almost accepting cuddles from grandpa.  Is that the way it works?  Cuddles for grandpa but no cuddles for mommy?

Addie always welcomes cuddles from members of her pack when they first arrive and each morning she sees them. That includes mommy. 

Then she must return to work and not be bothered the rest of the day, unless she specifically requests cuddles. 

I will say that she is far more willing to ignore me and give me sass than she is to do so to her grandparents. And she gets table scraps from her grandparents, so allows them to interrupt her hard guard work more often.

But if we're out traveling, mommy must be by her side and in sight at all times. Otherwise she acts like I'm about to drop her off in the middle of nowhere and never come back. She acted like by turning her over to the park Ranger for 15 minutes I'd abandoned her to orphandom and starvation and broke out into enthusiastic butt wiggles when I returned. 

[Autumn & Lola]

It sounds like you all had a great weekend!  I'm so glad Addie did so well and enjoyed herself in the midst of all this annoying treatment. You, Addie and Grandpop were only 30 minutes from my parents' house!  I've been to Chadd's Ford/Brandywine/Valley Forge many times in my youth.

I hope the next couple weeks go very well and smoothly for you and Addie.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Autumn & Lola

[_whits_]

One more treatment to go! Addie gets formally "discharged" tomorrow. She'll have follow-up appointments but no more daily radiation after tomorrow. 

Her leg is losing hair and is starting to look a bit like lizard skin in places, but actual radiation burn has yet to appear. Unfortunately her tech assures me it's coming as it's unavoidable, but there's hope it will be mild. I'm actually a little nervous about it not showing up yet, as it means her oncologist can only really talk me through hypothetical treatment tomorrow. Due to the location of the treatment (her radiation field is all the way down to her toes), the tech is guessing I'll have to come in to get in bandaged once the burn shows up. I know I'll be sent home tomorrow with antibiotics, steroids, and painkillers for when the side effects appear. It's a little intimidating thinking of not going every day, actually, as it's been nice to ask loads of questions at every treatment. I know I can come back for follow-ups as needed but it's still a little scary facing a new unknown phase of recovery. 

Grandpa left today. It was so nice to have him in town for a few days. He really brought some cheer and excitement to Addie. It's sweet how attached she is to her grandparents (and they to her!) even though she only sees them every few months. 

The end is in sight as sometime next month the last of the side effects should fade. It's been a long and distressing summer, but I'm so grateful I noticed the infiltrative lipoma so early and especially grateful there's treatment to save her leg. I am, as always, thankful for the amazing support from Cairn Talk. 

[Rylee's mama]

Go Addie!!!I'm so happy and excited for you. I wish you and your mommy the best of luck regarding the recovery and side effects. Just power through whatever comes your way!

[sanford]

Beautiful Addie... You have a lot of folks pulling for you! Keep up the good work!

Love and kisses,

Ruffy and Sanford

[Sam I Am]

You look a little fed up Addie, but it soon will be over. You too Whits, no doubt it will bring some  normality back into your life. Hopefully the side effects will be mild, if any, and with meds Addie will heal soon. Big hugs to both of you

[josie&holly]

Hope the side effects are not too difficult to deal with and that Addie is soon back to being fully "normal" [whatever that is for a cairn!].  Glad you both had a lovely weekend with Grandpa!!