Sharing is believing
2008-04-22 04:03 Filed in: Beau's
lymphoma treatment
Sharing
To have a share or part; take part. That’s one way to define it. Growing up I had to learn to share with my brothers, and it wasn’t always an easy lesson. As a former kindergarten teacher, I had to reinforce the concept quite often. This past week of hound sitting I have been part of a variety of examples of sharing like:
*Giving the bassets toast crust leftovers from breakfast.
*Peaceful moments with the Beau and Maggie on the couch.
*Seeing distress in Beau’s eyes knowing he’s seeing the same in mine.
*Beau looking into my eyes with a look that I know in my heart meant “thank you for taking care of me.”
*Sharing how Beau was “back to his old self” with Bitsy, his South Paws technician.
Yes, today Beau was back at South Paws for his scheduled treatment. This marked the beginning of cycle 3 with the week 1 treatment of vincristine. I am happy to report that he has been resting comfortably since his return home today. He has lost a few more pounds since last week, but Bitsy told me that it was not a concern. His CBC was within normal limits, and they were happy to see that he was much better since his last unscheduled visit. I was told to decrease his prednisone dosage starting tonight, and to continue with the metronidazole until he finishes the pills he has. Oh, and Beau did some sharing of his own…charming this nice woman by sharing that sweet gaze of his with her while in the waiting area this morning. She was so enchanted with him, and was tickled to be there in the afternoon when I arrived to pick him up.
But that’s not all. Apparently there was an instance, that had I known, I would have stopped it from happening at all.
It revealed itself last night, and continues into tonight.
Yesterday was a pretty nasty day here in Virginia, with thunderstorms and lots of rain. It was the kind of day where you didn’t want to get out of bed or go outside, so the hounds and I shared the couch pretty much all afternoon.
That evening Maggie started having diarrhea. As matter of fact, I am beginning to think that Beau must have had a stomach bug that he has since shared with her! Oh great… how do you teach a basset the difference between good and bad sharing?
With Maggie’s system in turmoil, Ken has shared the recipe for cooking a bland meal for her. I am sharing more of my time with her by getting up more times than ever during the night to let her out. That’s ok… at least she is drinking and eating, unlike Beau’s bout with it last week. So once again, I am learning to deal with a bit of stress. So needless to say, until this passes, I’ll be thinking of the bottle of wine that I plan to open Sunday night once Caren and Ken return home… and at this point, I am not too sure I’ll be sharing it.
To have a share or part; take part. That’s one way to define it. Growing up I had to learn to share with my brothers, and it wasn’t always an easy lesson. As a former kindergarten teacher, I had to reinforce the concept quite often. This past week of hound sitting I have been part of a variety of examples of sharing like:
*Giving the bassets toast crust leftovers from breakfast.
*Peaceful moments with the Beau and Maggie on the couch.
*Seeing distress in Beau’s eyes knowing he’s seeing the same in mine.
*Beau looking into my eyes with a look that I know in my heart meant “thank you for taking care of me.”
*Sharing how Beau was “back to his old self” with Bitsy, his South Paws technician.
Yes, today Beau was back at South Paws for his scheduled treatment. This marked the beginning of cycle 3 with the week 1 treatment of vincristine. I am happy to report that he has been resting comfortably since his return home today. He has lost a few more pounds since last week, but Bitsy told me that it was not a concern. His CBC was within normal limits, and they were happy to see that he was much better since his last unscheduled visit. I was told to decrease his prednisone dosage starting tonight, and to continue with the metronidazole until he finishes the pills he has. Oh, and Beau did some sharing of his own…charming this nice woman by sharing that sweet gaze of his with her while in the waiting area this morning. She was so enchanted with him, and was tickled to be there in the afternoon when I arrived to pick him up.
But that’s not all. Apparently there was an instance, that had I known, I would have stopped it from happening at all.
It revealed itself last night, and continues into tonight.
Yesterday was a pretty nasty day here in Virginia, with thunderstorms and lots of rain. It was the kind of day where you didn’t want to get out of bed or go outside, so the hounds and I shared the couch pretty much all afternoon.
That evening Maggie started having diarrhea. As matter of fact, I am beginning to think that Beau must have had a stomach bug that he has since shared with her! Oh great… how do you teach a basset the difference between good and bad sharing?
With Maggie’s system in turmoil, Ken has shared the recipe for cooking a bland meal for her. I am sharing more of my time with her by getting up more times than ever during the night to let her out. That’s ok… at least she is drinking and eating, unlike Beau’s bout with it last week. So once again, I am learning to deal with a bit of stress. So needless to say, until this passes, I’ll be thinking of the bottle of wine that I plan to open Sunday night once Caren and Ken return home… and at this point, I am not too sure I’ll be sharing it.
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