Sorry for my outburst of personal misery the other day. Sometimes it all just gets to me. I know my small problems are nothing compared with some of the awful things other people go through. I hate to be a whinger. Thank you all for your support via emails and comments (and even a visit!), it means a great deal to me.

On top of Sailor, Alex broke out in a horrendous “hot spot” on his face and needed treatment. It’s amazing how quickly they can crop up and become an infected and inflamed mess. Poor Alex is now sporting the newest dog fashion of the one-sided-facial-shave with the “must have” accessory—the plastic e-collar. Oh woe is he! Three times per day he has to have his antibiotics and his wound cleaned and spread with panalog. He is not the best of patients to be tended by one with not much patience. We are managing. My legs will have bruises for weeks and the furniture is also suffering the brunt of his inadequacies of maneuvering with a plastic cone on his head.

Sailor has started on the last chemo protocol that we can try. This one is a five week cycle. He gets two different drugs injected at the vet, then home with prednisone and another drug (Matulane). He goes back in 7 days for another injection and stays on the at-home meds for another week. After that he gets three weeks off. We won’t know if this one is working until after the second injection. We are hoping he can handle this protocol as there is a 30% chance that he could become sick from it (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). It’s even more expensive than the previous treatment. The Matulane alone was $236.00 for 14 capsules! ouch.

It’s been gloomy and rainy all week, but it looks like the sun may just come out today. The grass outside my window is actually looking green and the forsythia hedge has a glow of yellow about it.