So ... not exactly the weekend that was planned. Our plans were to do some shopping at the up-scale grocery store in Franklin Lakes, The Market Basket, and then go on to a liquor store in Wayne that was hosting Kathy from Real Housewives of New Jersey as she promoted her new Cosmo drink. I was looking forward to seeing her in person but it was not to be. As you know we spent Saturday in and out of vet offices. I’m not all that sorry about my lost chance to meet a “celebrity” since family comes first.Our dogs and cats are like our children.

Alex came home last night and passed the night fairly comfortably. I slept downstairs on the blow-up bed on the floor just to keep an ear out for him if he had any difficulties. He didn’t. One time he came and joined me on the bed and wanted his belly rubbed. His poor stitched-up shaved belly. The incision looks good, though it’s a long one. I can’t imagine how much he is hurting from having all that skin and muscle cut through. Right now he is on a pain medication that contains opiates, Tramadol, so he’s a little not-quite-with-it at times. He’s been getting lots of rest with short intervals outside to stretch his legs and pee. His appetite isn’t great but he will eat biscuits. Anything to kick start his appetite!

So, to recap a little. After acting off on Thursday evening, he was acting better on Friday. We were assuming it was because sister Bella had jumped on him again and wrenched his neck. I gave him aspirin throughout the day and he seemed to be better. But Saturday morning he was not better and we just knew something else was up. We took him in the vet who found an enlarged spleen on exam. Not exactly what I wanted to hear since the cancer hemangiosarcoma runs in his lines and one of the first places it shows up is the spleen (or lungs/heart). She did x-rays and blood work and when the x-rays showed a large mass she sent us down to the specialty vets in Paramus for an ultrasound. It was crucial to take a closer look and rule out involvement with other organs. His chest x-rays were clean which was a good sign.

In our consult with the vet before the ultrasound he was not optimistic. Alex’s blood work with higher than normal white cell count plus the mass in his spleen was not adding up to anything good. So, we left Alex for his ultrasound and went to eat lunch (which I could not force myself to eat). I was already preparing in my head to have to say good-bye to him before too long. BUT, it was a little bit different than I had imagined it would be. The vet said that actually the mass was pretty solid and not fluid filled like they normally see with hemangiosarcoma and it was completely contained within the spleen (something you could not see on x-ray). Added to that better than expected news was the fact that none of the surrounding organs (kidneys, liver) looked to be affected. Also on ultrasound they noticed that his prostate was larger than usual (he is intact and not neutered) so the high white blood cell count could be coming from a case of prostatitis and possibly nothing to do with the mass at all. At that point we knew we had to go ahead with the surgery and give him the best chance for a longer life.

Of course it was consultations, ultrasound and surgery on the weekend, so emergency fees were in place. We felt we could not take the chance on the mass bursting and rupturing the spleen if we waited until Monday at our regular vet. No way could we do that.

Another good thing was that once they opened him up for surgery there were no surprises and all the organs looked good, so a good chance whatever it is had not spread. It’s no guarantee of course, but a good sign nonetheless.

So now we just nurse him back to health. I have to keep in mind he just had major surgery and with all that opiate stuff in him he’s not going to be feeling all that good. He’s a trooper. He’s our Boo and we love him dearly.

Thanks for all your good thoughts. I’ll tell him for you.

Out for a quick yard visit this afternoon!

When I left Alex at the emergency vet I whispered in his ear “Be strong, Alex. You can do this.”

Our nine-year-old baby boy had to have an emergency splenectomy yesterday late afternoon. We spent the entire day starting at 8:50 a.m. at our regular veterinarian to 4:00 p.m. at the specialty/emergency vet clinic down in Paramus. What a day.

Alex is doing well and expected to be home later tonight if he tolerates the step-down in his pain medications this afternoon. More to follow ...

Please keep good thoughts as to his continued recovery!

If you’ve been checking back here to see if I’ve written anything this week you would have noticed that I didn’t. That’s because there is not much going on at the moment. It seems that all our energy for the past few months has gone into the Academy Awards trip, and now that it’s over with we are spent.

Winter passed us by this year although we did wake up to about an inch of wet slushy snow yesterday morning. Today there is a bitter wicked wind blowing outside so we are inside for the day. There is nothing I hate quite as much as the wind. If it’s not going to give me snow and true winter then it can just turn spring as quickly as it can. I’m done this year!

Since winter passed up by without nary a thought and spring has yet to arrive (although the witch hazel bush in my neighbor’s yard has popped, and another neighbor had one crocus up the other day, and my daffodils have broken ground) there is nothing to take photos of. Boring.

I saved another bird yesterday. Sam was sitting and staring out at the deck rather fixedly and when I looked out there was a poor little junco huddled in the coating of snow on the deck, shivering. I put on my gloves and went out and picked it up. Its poor little beak was opening and closing at an alarming rate and I could feel its little heart beating away. I held it for awhile and was not confident it was going to make it. Its little beady eyes were closed and its feathers were heaving up and down. It was raining at the time, so I really could not stand out there and hold it any longer. I went back inside and brought out a towel, wrapped the little junco in the towel and put it on top of the BBQ. I left the towel lightly draped on it so it would not weigh it down. I did other chores (splitting wood) for about fifteen minutes, then went to check on my little bird. When I opened the door I could still see the bird inside the towel. Damn, I thought. But the next second the bird was out of the towel and flying away! Off into the trees it went. Another soul saved. Makes me feel good inside.

Are you still reading? Bless you if you are. Pretty boring stuff.

In other news, the two amaryllis that I mentioned here that I thought were not going to bloom have fooled me again. They both have buds coming! Amazing! While the new one has yet another bud about to pop. I think amaryllis might just be the most wonderful flower bulb yet.

I hope to be as inspiring as my amaryllis in the week to come. At least I would like to think so. Here’s hoping.

I did not find Rodeo Drive very impressive. Not quite sure what I expected, but it was much lower key than what I had envisioned. Granted, we walked down it just before the shops opened, but still. Take a look for yourself.

I did not take my 35mm camera with me as Rick had his. I took my little “pocket” camera (Canon PowerShot SD800IS) and I wasn’t particularly happy with the photos, but c’est la vie!

A couple of storefront windows. I caught our reflections in the second one! (And now I see myself in the first one too! hah!)

 

Had to get in a sign that said Beverly Hills.

Venice Beach was, shall we say, a bit more interesting. I loved this film noir mural on the side of a building in a parking lot.

The boardwalk and the beach.

 

 

The boardwalk offered up a little something for everyone. These are a few of the things that caught my eye as we strolled along.

 

 

 

Anyone want to make a wish and become “Big?” I wasn’t brave enough. I’ll leave that to Tom Hanks.

Like I said: a little something for everyone!

 

And just in case you qualify for that prescription:

 

 

Street art.

 

 

(Homage to a Starry “Knight??”)

And this lends a whole new meaning to the term “fanny pack.” Need I say more?

As you can see, it was a strange place. Now I know where all the hippies from that era went. They are all still there. All of them still stoned out of their minds.

These were taken by Toni Lucatorto. Thanks, Toni!