Month: June 2013

I am so happy to report that things have been uneventful around here, recently. (No news is good news, right?) Athena did have a high enough WBC to get chemo #2 last Friday after being delayed for a week. Another CBC this Friday and we won’t have any more appointments for 2 weeks.

Watch a video of Athena running and playing:

Another video of Athena scratching the dirt and hopping around:

 

 

 

I wanted to start by saying Sally and Happy Hannah, here’s your sketch:

I really hope that you approve!! I will mail it to you next week, email me your address! 🙂

I titled this post Our Inspawration, because as I drew Happy Hannah, I was thinking about how much of an inspiration she was to me in this journey. *[I also can’t forget to add that Sassy, another big Rottie girl, was an inspiration.] My first vet told me that she did not recommend amputation for Athena, and when I asked her if she was your dog, would you amputate? She said ‘NO’. Yes, Athena has arthritis everywhere (on her chest xray, you could even see a big arthritic spot on her spine), and hip displasia, and has damaged cartilidge in her back knees. She was also considered overweight and was 108 pounds at the time of diagnosis. I was so devastated wondering just how would Athena be able to cope after amputation… everything seemed stacked against her. But, I didn’t give up on Athena, and seeing that OTHER big dogs could do it, gave me a bit of hope. (And, I found another vet!) Well little did I know!!! Less than ONE WEEK after amputation, she was going up and down the three steps to get to the backyard all by herself! She heard a delivery truck go down the neighbors driveway and she RAN across the yard, barking like crazy. I thought, well Athena won’t be able to scratch on the door anymore to let me know that she wants to come back in the house. Imagine my surprize just a few days ago when I hear a loud scratch on the door! I still don’t know how she does it, but she will give a scratch at the door when she wants to come back inside.

I guess what I want to say is that I hope that one day, Athena can be an inspiration for someone else the way that so many others around the Tripawds community have been for me.