Momentos - Part 3

I have never thought of you without Travis from the time I first saw him at Clicker Training class. That was the first time in my life that I had seen a dog that obedient. I was also impressed the day I witnessed your training him to Stay at a Flealess Market several years ago. You left him sitting on one side of the field while you walked away and hid behind a car. Travis never moved....for goodness knows how long! Finally, I enjoyed his demonstrations at Greyfest and his actual competition performance at an Alpharetta event. Both of you were awe inspiring. Travis was a Winner. His first winning accomplishment was coming into your life. He has earned his reward across the Rainbow Bridge. Be proud. - L.A.





I am so very, very sorry. I had no idea the end was so near. What a wonderful tribute and final gift. You and Travis floated around the ring. You made it look so easy. I am so glad you found each other. - S.J.







I had no idea. I am just heart broken for you. You and Travis did some really amazing things together. I'm glad you at least have those wonderful memories. I truly loved watching you and him run. You two were poetry in motion. Its amazing what you accomplished with a dog you were "stuck with". You know that I will always have fond memories of Travis. Just yesterday I was telling someone the story of Travis and Kelsi's first meeting (Jen:Travis grabbed her sheltie by the tail) and how that incident gave me even more respect for you than I already had. I got to see where you started with him and how far you came together. Our household sends your household lots of hugs. - D.G.




Oh, Jen, I am so sorry. Travis truly was a very special dog, the two of you were so wonderful to watch in the ring. I am sorry he had to go so soon, he was so full of life it is hard for me to imagine him gone. I regret that his last weekend to run was the same weekend that Brisk finished, I know how much you were hurting that weekend. I will never forget his grace in the agility ring, such a great dog! - C.P.

Momentos - Part 2

I can't believe I'm writing this condolence note through tears so soon after Travis' MACH2. The dog who we were afraid would think Apache was prey when we roomed together and who rose to such great heights in the agility world is gone! Apache is only 6 now, how can this be? I feel so bad for you. Travis was truly one of the greats, and I remember how you were so worried he'd think other dogs were prey you were afraid to take him into the ring at first. You've come so far with him. What an amazing dog! But then, you're an amazing trainer and handler! I remember how great a swimmer he was, too. The day you were throwing his bumper to him at the lake in Decatur and Dakota got hit in the head when he ran for it. He was always a much better swimmer than Dakota. Dakota has finally decided he loves to retrieve his bumper out of the ocean now (we just got back from Va. Beach), but it took him 9 1/2 years to decide that. My heart goes out to you. Nothing can replace him in your heart and soul, but I know you'll take comfort in the wonderful memories you have of him and the truly remarkable events in your lives together. Nothing can replace them. - V.H.




I just wanted to share my sympathies with Jen regarding Travis. I only met him briefly during our obedience training class, but he was so beautiful, so attentive to Jen's every move, and such a gorgeous representation of the breed. All my thoughts go with you today. - L.N.




It is difficult to find words to express the sadness I feel at hearing this news. Like so many others, I was in tears reading your message and am again while trying to formulate this response. Travis was such an incredibly special dog and a particularly special Greyhound. Your success with him and Katie is one of the things that helped me make the final decision to get a Greyhound. (Though I had no hopes of training to the levels your dogs have achieved.) Travis was, still is, always will be a superstar. He leaves us with a legacy most of us only dream of having. Whether it was fate or plain good luck that led him to you, I do not know. I do know that you were his best shot at a fantastic home. It is the two of you combined, both remarkably talented by nature but also gifted with incredible drive and determination, that achieved all this. You have every right to be proud of Travis and the special bond you had with each other. Several years ago I lost a 10 year old dog, Sugar Girl, to hemangiosarcoma in what felt like the blink of an eye. In a note of condolence, my mother wrote something I think is also very appropriate for Travis. I feel the same about Travis' departure as she did about Sugar's. I wish I could find the note because my paraphrasing will not do justice to her eloquence. Here is my best attempt: Travis is my hero. He lived his life honestly, always being himself, giving love and being loved for a good lifespan without seeming to age. When the time came to take his life of this world he thankfully gave you enough warning to be a bit prepared but did so quickly, gracefully and without putting his family through a prolonged, painful illness. When it comes my time, I hope people will say the same of me.God speed, Travis the wonderdog. May there always be a bumper available to play with for all of eternity. - L.L.

Momentos - Part 1

I purchased a shadow box that I will start putting together for Travis. One of the items I will place in the box is a paw print in clay that the animal hospital gave us. It was so much more detailed than I expected. You can really see the shape of his nails and the pores in his pads. My mom and I ended up staining it a neutral color and I love the way it turned it out. Here are before and after pictures.












I have also appreciated each and ever note and comment of support that has been sent to me. I wanted to keep and share my most favorite. It turns out that there are quite a few, so I thought it would be best to break up into parts. Here is part 1.











Regarding Travis teaching Notty the borzoi how to swim in Perry: LOL ... you know I STILL can't keep her out of the water. I will always be thankful to Travis for that. It's kind of cool having a Borzoi that is a 'water dog'!! - L.A.










I am so sorry to hear about Travis. What a beautiful tribute you gave him. I too remember your amazing accomplishment at the 2007 AKC Nationals like it was yesterday. You should be very proud. He was a very special dog and the two of you were just pure poetry in motion. Please know that our thoughts are with you and I feel privileged to have competed along side the both of you for those 6+ short years... - J.K.










Thanks for sharing his life and achievements with us again. He indeed lived a very full and happy life. I'm glad I was able to meet him and to see the two of you work together. If I could achieve a tenth of the teamwork you had with him I'd consider myself lucky. The world's light is a little dimmer today. - D.D.









I am so sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing the memories of Travis and his achievements. While you both know Kelli and I know next to nothing about agility, obedience and lure coursing, I do remember the one time I saw Travis and Jen run an agility course. I have always remembered how they stood out from the pack, and how graceful, athletic and perfectly in sync. What a gift he has been! We love you and will be thinking of you. - B.B.

Dear Reagan

Listen up, kid. It looks like you are the agility greyhound in the family now. I know everyone had wanted me to stick around longer, but I had other things to do. Mom especially wanted you to spend a year attending my agility trials so you would understand that there is a lot of relaxing and waiting at agility trials, but when it is finally your turn, it is pretty important stuff. I think you will get the hang of it. You have some maturing to do, but you will grow up soon enough.


I wanted to leave you with a few pointers. In agility, the way to really be a stand out is to focus on Mom. She will show you were to go. Lucky for you, Katie and I have already smoothed out a lot of her handling. Mom's handling actually makes sense now, so there is no reason for you not to go fast. She is pretty good at not sending you to the wrong obstacle and then screaming your name to call you off of it. Just pay attention.


The table is my least favorite agility obstacle. We, the greyhounds, hate having to put our bony butts and elbows on that hard, rough surface, but do it anyway. The faster you do it, the sooner you can get off of it. Its only 5 seconds. Mom will never let you skip it, so it is not worth arguing about it.


Weave poles are tricky, but I see that you are starting to get the hang of it. Make sure you concentrate. This is another obstacle Mom is not going to let you skip, so it is best to get it right the first time or you will have to start over.


You also need to keep the bars up. Right now, you are big, sloppy jumper and it sometimes gets you in trouble. Its ok to put in an extra stride to make sure you aren't starting the jump too soon and landing in the middle of it.


Also, Mom doesn't think she needs a red shadow and I know she says that she loves Katie best because Katie is independent, not underfoot, blah, blah, blah. But the truth is... Katie is not red. She is fawn. You and I are the red ones, therefore, only we can be red shadows. The trick is you have to be sneaky about it. The jig is up when you cut her off in the hallway or literally chase her to the other side of the house. You need to be a little more stealth about it. I used to let mom actually leave the room before I would get up. Then I would tip toe quietly to the room she was in. If she happened to turn around, I would freeze. She can't see you if you don't move. So, Reagan, you just have to work on your technique. Don't be so obvious about it.


So I pass the torch to you..... or should I say bumper (Mom never did let me play with fire). I will look down on the both of you. I will be the angel on your shoulder at your first trial. I will be so proud when you get your first MACH or qualify for a big event. I have no doubt that you will do well. Take care of Mom. She will take good care of you. A happy Mom = lots of good food!


Your brother,

Travis

New Normal

There is something kind of beautiful about the pain you feel when you lose someone special. It is so interestingly human to have tears streaming down your face. I don't doubt for a second that animals are emotional and have feelings, but I think what separates some of the human emotion from the non-human animal emotion is that they probably can't wrap their minds around the concept of "forever". Even if my other hounds loved Travis, they may not understand that he is never coming back. Therefore, they react as though he is just gone for the day. Over time, they get used to the new normal without missing a beat. Or maybe animals know a lot more than we do. Maybe Katie looks at my tears and thinks "Quit crying. He's right here. He's not really gone."




Today seems to be my sobbing day. I have already left work and as you can see "I'm working from home"...... OK, so I am actually blogging, but I am checking work email frequently just in case I have to do something. I think it is kind of strange that the real pain hits me a couple of days later. I felt very calm about the decision and the process of letting go, but the new normal really hits hard and takes some time to get used to. Life goes on.




For now I will continue my therapy sessions with Dr. Pepper and I am having lunch with my friends, Ben & Jerry. Stephen was sweet to pick them up for me.

The Day After

One day down.......... twenty something thousand or so more days to go. I like to believe that when we die we get to see the people and animals we have loved during our life once again. I think I believe we do, but at a time like this, I would like more proof.



Well, the house is clean again and rid of all the signs of a sick dog. The pee pads have been put away. Dog beds are back where they belong. The ex pen is out of the kitchen. Everything looks normal again except there should be a red boy lying behind me as I type this..... maybe he is, but I just can't see him. I have been thinking about this all day and maybe Travis simply wasn't built for old age. Maybe his plan all along was to sneak out while he was still on top. For the last year, I had told my agility friends that if they ever saw Travis jump funny or studder step to please let me know. I did not want to be one of those competitors that continue to run their dogs long after the dog should have retired. But Travis never faltered. His agility work never changed. He loved every second of it.




One thing that I really loved about Travis is that he always ran like it mattered. Even when we were training alone in the backyard, he ran like he was always trying to beat the clock. Some dogs run better in certain settings. They run well at home, but are nervous at a trial. Or just the opposite like my Teresa. Teresa said to heck with the at home practice. She loved the trials and the people watching her. But Travis was always the same dog. It didn't matter if we were indoors or out. It didn't matter how the judge dressed, where he or she stood, or if the judge was male or female. To Travis, "what judge? I didn't see a judge." He was always so focused. When you stepped into the ring with him, it didn't matter what was going on outside of the ring because we never saw it. When we stepped into the ring, only he and I existed. The world was shut out.





I also really loved his head. He had this big, beautiful head. His forehead was quite broad and he had this huge black nose he would rest on the crate bars so you could see his front teeth. I always wondered if he did that on purpose to get my attention. But his big head was all in proportion to his body. His lips were so pliable. You could stretch them far out to the side so he would look like he was in a wind tunnel...... and that curled tail. I loved his curled tail and his "furry hams". No bald thighs for Travis. Most of all, he has the most beautiful,ageless eyes.






Reagan has some big paw prints to follow in. I'm not sure I'll every touch that kind of success again, but I'm sure going to try. I don't want all that Travis taught me to go to waste.




I have put in a request for no drama for 12 months. I simply can't take anymore. I've asked for no paralysis, no illness, no amputations, no bone cancer scares, and so on. I want 12 months of peace.

Final Brag

Most of you probably saw this in an email already. I just wanted to add it to the blog for anyone who may not have seen it and for the sake of record keeping.



Its with a broken heart that I report to you that Travis (MACH2 Never Expected CDX JJ) passed away last night. He lived hard, played hard, and he fought his illness hard. I begin seeing the slightest signs a few months ago, but it finally took a hold of my beautiful boy over the last few weeks.




Everyone's dog is special to them, but Travis really was special. He was special to everyone who loved him, to everyone who knew him, and to everyone who just happened to get to see him in action. He was all about "action". He had more energy than any greyhound I have ever known. He was so youthful and enthusiastic about everything. He simply never aged and maybe his plan all along was to get in and get out before anyone could label him a senior. I take a lot of comfort in knowing that he and I were perfectly suited for each other. I have so many awesome memories and got to do so much with this unadoptable misfit greyhound I originally felt "stuck" with. While working through his issues in late 2001 and early 2002, I would have laughed in your face if you had told me Travis was going to be a super star. I am so proud of everything he did, so I want to brag just one more time.... I know you all have kindly indulged me over the years.




Travis was the #1 greyhound in AKC Agility years 2005, 2006, 2007 and I am sure for 2008 as well. He is the second greyhound to earn a Master Agility Championship and the first greyhound to earn a second one. Travis ended his agility career less than a month ago with 44 double qualifying scores and 2,868 points. He is the all time, #1 lifetime achieving greyhound in AKC Agility. He significantly raised the bar for all other agility greyhounds. He was such a thrill to compete with. He was fast, smooth, and so responsive. I love the countless compliments we received. Travis was a favorite in the southeast, but I think I had the most fun taking him to trials outside of our region and surprising spectators with just how awesome he was. One person told me that she had gotten up to leave when Travis stepped inside the ring. She thought "this should be interesting" and so she stayed. She told me she was glad that she had stayed. Another favorite compliment was "We don't know who you are or where you are from, but you and your greyhound are awesome." My most favorite agility trial was the 2007 AKC Agility Nationals in Columbus, OH. Travis was the only greyhound to qualify to go and he placed 11th out of 129 of some of the best 24" agility dogs in the country that year. 11th behind 8 border collies, 1 lab, and 1 weimaraner and he won High Score for the hound group. He wasn't just a great agility greyhound, he was a great agility dog.




Although not his favorite sport, he joyfully earned his Companion Dog Excellent title in obedience. One time in the open class, I threw the dumbbell over the high jump for Travis to retrieve. It landed up against the gating, but the judge said for me to send him anyway. Travis flew over the jump and searched for the dumbbell, but couldn't find it. He came back over the jump and sat in front of me. He realized he was suppose to have the dumbbell so before I could say anything, he had turned and flown back over the jump, found the dumbbell, and brought it to me. It was so adorable. Unfortunately, creative obedience is not qualifying. The judge apologized for telling me to send him and allowed us to redo the exercise. This time I threw the dumbbell perfectly. Travis quickly found it, but trotted back "around" the jump instead of over it. We, of course, didn't qualify but I still smile about it. You all know how greyhounds aren't always the best at sitting. Travis had to work hard for those 3 minute sit stays. I had trained him to hold that sit no matter what and taught him to ignore a random person asking him to "down" during a sit stay. So once during the 5 minute down stay, Travis suddenly stood up as I was leaving the ring. The nice judge walked over to Travis and told him to "down", so Travis could at least finish the exercise correctly. Travis stood his ground. Although we had never practiced 5 minute stand stays before.... he held his stand stay perfectly and refused to listen to this random person telling him to down. He wasn't about to be fooled..... "good boy".




One of Travis' funniest traits was that he truly loved to swim. He loved retrieving bumpers from as far as I could throw them. He swam as fast and as hard as he could with lots of splash. This eventually led us to tossing the bumper off a dock and Travis loved that too. He competed twice at a Dock Dogs dock jumping event. Some dogs refuse to jump when they climb onto a dock so high above the ground in a parking lot leading to an above ground pool. It looks nothing like jumping in a lake where most practice. Travis had no issues with the set up and jumped like a pro. He would squeal and try to drag me to the dock when other dogs were jumping. He didn't come close to breaking any records (a greyhound mix does hold the record jump), but he is the only purebred greyhound I know of that dock jumped and earned a Dock Dogs Junior Jumper title. We had a great time.




Most of all, I want to remember how stunning he was. Travis did everything fast and at full force, but he was a true mama's boy. Such a wonderful soul. So thank you for letting me tell you about Travis one more time. As he reached what others would call "the senior years", I would tell him that I missed him already when I would think about it all having to come to an end eventually. I am so thankful for everything. I am so lucky to have spent 6 and a half amazing years with one of the most wonderful, special greyhounds ever. Do us this favor, take some pictures of your beautiful dogs today. You will be so glad that you did.

Time To Go

June 8, 1998 - July 26, 2008

Stephen and I let our beloved Travis go tonight. Animals are so good at hiding how bad they feel. Travis was no different and kept his game face until the end. Its so hard when they still look at you with those beautiful eyes and perky ears. But we knew Travis was feeling very ill when he lost interest in eating. He LOVED food and we knew that it would be time when he no longer looked forward to meals. With little energy to participate in the activities he loved, we felt that his quality of life had diminished significantly already and meal enjoyment was just the final straw.

It has been a painful month of grieving for me. Maybe it helped to have Travis here for the process. There is a big sense of relief and peace now. I always said I could not imagine Travis growing old. Being so beautiful and youthful, I never wanted to see him become arthritic or suffer from a long, drawn out illness. He lived hard, played hard, and now he is done. Although this month has felt like a year, it really was just one bad month out of 6.6 fantastic years with the most amazing greyhound. He and I were the most perfect match. In those 6 years, he got to do so much..... hiking, swimming, dock jumping, obedience, tracking, and most of all... agility. He had a great life and he added a lot of greatness to mine.

Travis insisted on never being left behind. Even today he wanted to go on one of our usual outings, but did not have the energy once we arrived. Tomorrow morning we will take our greyhounds for a hike. I am sure Travis will be right there with us again..... with health, strength, and energy restored.

Please remember Travis like this. This clip is from early May.

Second Wind

The first time Travis showed signs of jaundice in early July, the vets shook their heads and looked at me like it was the kiss of death. He had to be put on fluids immediately. So when I clearly saw the jaundice on Sunday and Monday, I figured I'd better prepare for the worse. Well, yesterday and today he does not appear to be jaundice. His skin is much more normal looking, the whites of his eyes are white, and is pee is a fairly normal pale yellow. I am not sure why. I didn't do anything different. He is still drinking and peeing large quantities. He has had a couple of accidents. But I am starting to wonder if this is going to be something to manage for a period of time (I'm not even going to guess what amount of time that might be). We just need to take it day by day. I need to get back into a routine, start going to the gym again, take care of myself, and start planning out the week for the dogs. Normally, I try to plan out a training schedule. Now that I am training a green dog again, its important that we get to a variety of places each week, so Reagan isn't doing the same thing everyday. Lately, I have just wasted time planning for something bad to happen.





I probably should work Travis a little. When I try to just give him the freedom to do what he wants, he mostly just stands in front of me waiting to respond to my next request. So maybe I should ask him to do something so he continues to feel useful.






I did start him back on more antibiotics and drugs yesterday and this time we are doing some Prednisone.





Lastly, the difficulty in caring for Travis is that Stephen and I both work full-time and our jobs are about 20 miles in opposite directions of the house. It does not make sense to come home from work for lunch, but Travis just can't go 10 hours anymore. He does have access to pee pads, but we would prefer that he not have to use them. Next week, we are going to try some daycare at his grandparents' house. My parents just happen to live on the way to work for Stephen and they have been kind enough to come a couple of times a week to let Travis out during the day. I'm thinking that if he could stay with them during the day 2 days a week and I work at home 1 or 2 days a week, that just leaves a day or 2 for Stephen to cover by coming home for lunch. So I am excited about the new schedule.

Hooded Hooey

Ok, lets switch to something more lighthearted. First of all, does this make Reagan a butt head? Or is that an ass hat? (Sorry FIL and MIL :-).

Since we were at the vet, I wanted to ask my vet about Reagan's female nether region...... lets call it her hooey (sounds like who-ee). It is rather tiny and it is sort of trapped under a flap of skin or a hood. My vet confirmed that she had a little bit of vaginitis and that her hooded hooey could be prone to chronic infections in the future. One option if it is indeed a problem, the hood could be surgically altered. There is a history of good results with the procedure.

Another option, I could allow Reagan to go through one heat cycle which could permanently increase the size of her hooey lessening the likelihood of problems.

Reagan is currently not spayed. Generally for pet owners, vets recommend spaying at 6 months since most dogs tend to start coming into season soon after 6 months. However, dog performance minded individuals see some benefits to allowing the dog to become an adult, complete the growing process, and allow all of the growth plates to close before spaying. The great thing about greyhounds, they tend to not come into season for a couple of years. I know people with 2 and 3 year old intact female greyhounds that have never come into season. I was planning on spaying Reagan at 18 months (October), but this puts a wrench in my plan. I did not particularly want to go through a heat cycle with Reagan. I have never been there or done that. My females have always been spayed. I'm told a heat cycle lasts for about 3 - 4 weeks and opinions vary between "its not that bad" to "its awful".

I'll have to do a little more research on the hooded hooey before I made a decision.

Yellow Fellow

Travis has had 2 fun days. If there were awards for managing liver failure, he'd be a Champion Yellow Fellow. I am so amazed by how well he does considering all of the ugly symptoms. However, I am talking about Travis.... I wouldn't expect anything less from him.

Last night I took Travis to the indoor training building to see Ridgeback friend, Anne. She cuddled him and as usual she gets him too excited and he jumped up on her. This time I let him. Travis is funny because he sort of chest butts like a player on a footfall field instead of putting his feet on the person. He also fetched his bumper several times. The building provided a good place to play indoors with air conditioning.

I stopped hiding medicine in food, so Travis' appetite is back. He loves the Red Barn and Blue Buffalo canned food and it agrees with his digestive system. He must be thinking he is pretty wonderful since I reserve both as training rewards only. Canned food especially was for jackpot worthy training sessions only. I'm taking the approach of snacking him throughout the day and he is loving it.

This morning, I took Travis for an easy hike and he had a great time. Katie got her staples out today, so I had my vet look at him again. He is definitely jaundice, but he has gained 3 lbs. She had no guess as to how long we have. She explained that when the toxins really start to build up in the body, it will start causing a sick feeling. Most dogs will stop eating at that point. If he quits eating, I think that will be my sign to let him go.

I teeter between misery and relief. I am terribly broken hearted, but there is some relief in knowing where this is headed. There's no more fighting over medicine. There's no begging him to eat cottage cheese and rice. I love fixing his snacks as much as he loves eating them now. Rest is now a waste of time, so I am being less cautious about getting him outside or letting him play too much. We can just do what we want now.

Take some pictures of your hounds today! Here's the sweet boy being a little silly on his bed yesterday.

I Hate Yellow

I have never been a fan of yellow, but now I hate it. Jaundice is not pretty. I can see it everywhere. He is drinking more water than ever. But in true Travis fashion, he still has his spark. Cute tail wags and he loves his Red Barn.

Sharon (saramurphy100) made this pretend magazine cover for me. Very thoughtful. Travis never made the cover of a magazine, but he should have :-). Travis actually has a Celebrating Greyhounds article coming out next time about his MACH2. I wrote the article blissfully unaware of the coming weeks.

Game Face

Today, I think I know what jaundice looks like. The insides of his ears and the whites of his eyes have a yellow tinge. Yesterday, he threw up breakfast and peed on a dog bed he was lying on. He is very suspicious of the food I offer. I have stopped adding the powdered supplements to any meals. He does not need a reason to turn his nose up at something. He eats like a child who does not want to eat and pushes the food around on the plate. Travis carefully chews chicken backs he used to inhale thoughtlessly. Now he thinks about it. Administering 15 pills a day has become quite an ordeal. Creme cheese was working well, but Travis tasted one of the antibiotics this morning so now its just a dirty trick. A couple of days ago, he started to chew treats and was finding the hidden pills. Nine of the pills are liver support supplements. Maybe I will just stop with the supplements. I know I can shove them down his throat, but I'm not sure its necessary at this point. Its more important that he actually eat. Right now I am feeding Red Barn meaty rolls and Blue Buffalo canned food. Both are extremely high quality, meat based dog food and he seems to like both.

Despite it all, Travis maintains his beautiful game face. He still wants to go on the daily outings. Today, I took him to my agility field and he wanted to play with his bumper some. Friday was a good day. He played some with his bumper and I gave him a bath. Travis even wrestled with a dog bed briefly. I always thought that was so funny and wish a had a video. He grabs the dog bed with his front legs as if it were an imaginary deer and then bites it. Such a silly boy. Yesterday, I told him how awesome he was. That he was the world's greatest agility greyhound. And that I am so proud to be part of the equation. I told him that my favorite agility trial was the 2007 AKC Agility Nationals in Ohio. He was the only greyhound to qualify. He placed 11th out of 129 dogs in the 24" height class proving that not only was he a great agility greyhound, but also a great agility dog. He beat a lot of the best dogs in the country including a lot of border collies that weekend and it felt good. He even won High Score prize of $200 for the hound group. I also told him that his dock jumping was the coolest. It was fun having the only purebred greyhound at the Dock Dog events..............

Fifteen

These posts are getting boring, but I'm afraid that if I neglect the blog, some of you will think Travis has died. I promise that if anything really bad happens, I won't be able to sleep and I will probably be blogging my eyes out. No tears this week.

I would say that Travis remains the same. He has moments when he has some energy, but mostly he sleeps. He does tend to be in whatever room I am in, so he has resumed following me around. Now he just waits to see if I am really coming back or not before he gets up. Used to, he would jump to his feet in a perfect synchronized motion with my own...... so annoying, but I'd be happy to have it back. Travis used to be such a jerk in the morning. Crying as soon as the first alarm sounded. Now he sleeps and waits patiently as I hit snooze 3 or 4 times. Thank goodness Katie and Stacker have picked up the slack.... not! They used to be quiet in the morning, but now every alarm is a reason to get up, click the nails on the hardwoods, stretch, and maybe cry a little. Sometimes Travis will be silly on his bed, chew on my arm, and horse play a little. I really love that. He is eating good now that he is back on raw food. He's probably eating a little less than double what he used to. Appears to be gaining a little weight. Still drinking more water than usual. Respiratory rate is still high.

I am working from home today, so I took my 3 hounds to my agility field this morning before the hot temperatures set in. I walked Travis around, let him do a tunnel 2 times, and groomed him.

I imagined that at age 15 this might be what Travis would be like. I thought it would be something he would evolve into over time. What causes one to change so quickly? I was just bragging about how youthful he looked and behaved just over a month ago. He ran his last clean agility course 19 days ago. He practiced agility like he always did just 16 days ago. What just completely knocks the wind out of you?

Yikes!

Do your research when it comes to drug prices. I had Kroger order doxycycline for Travis. She mentioned that the price was $240 for a 14 day supply, but if she ordered the smaller tablets, she could get if for $160. I was shocked, but I'm appreciative that they were able to figure that out and save me $80. I have no prior experience with doxycycline, so I did not question it. Later on I mention the price to another dog friend and she doesn't think the doxycycline is usually that expensive. So I call another dog friend and she assures me that doxycycline is an inexpensive, generic antibiotic and that I am paying way too much. Stephen checked out some prices online and sure enough, they are much lower. He then calls CVS and their price is $28. Kroger is suppose to match the price of competitors so I take my CVS price with me. The pharmacy is stunned. She starts doing some more research because obviously they are being ripped off by the supplier they are using. After a few more minutes, she is able to get it for $5.60. And then I find out that it is listed on the Kroger $4 generic drug list. Can you believe that? $240 to $4.

Nada

I still have nothing interesting to report. Travis is still a tired, skinny boy. Maybe a little better, but certainly not worse. I'm hoping that if he did have cancer we would have seen more of a decline by now since we decided not to give him the steroid that could slow its progression. We opted not to use a steroid because it would also suppress the immune system's ability to fight an infection if that is what we are dealing with. We are going to start him on a stronger antibiotic today since our other 2 varieties are running out and haven't made a big difference. I have switched him back to raw food. He has been such a @#$%& about eating. I do not believe it is at all from the lack of appetite, but simply that he is on strike for chicken backs. He loves his meat and bones.

Reagan seems to be having a brat week, but that is to be expected here and there. She is over 15 months old now.

Katie is wonderful and perfect as always..... there is no wonder why she is my all time favorite. She doesn't mess with her bandage. She is never underfoot. I started her on some Chinese herbs for kidney support because her creatinine is a increasing. Its generally a little higher in greyhounds anyway and no cause for alarm if other kidney values are normal (and hers are), but her creatinine has increased over the last 10 months. The vet warned me that the herbs are bitter tasting and to start slowly on them. Well, unlike Travis, she loves her herb flavored yogurt or anything else I mix it with.

Okay

No big report today for Travis. Not fantastic, but not bad. I'm going to start feeding him twice a day (every 12 hours) instead of 3 or 4 times. He is getting way too picky. I never thought that Travis would be picky, but knowing that more food is coming in a few hours gives him no reason to eat something he doesn't really want to.

Katie is great. I change her perfectly wrapped bandage every 2 days. She is such an angel and has always been so good about leaving wounds and wraps alone. I tried to give the surgical site some air time, but couldn't keep idiot Reagan from trying to sniff or lick it. I think I'm home free because the owner of the foot leaves it alone, but not Reagan.

Reagan got 2 days of some really good training this weekend. I worked her really hard at my agility field. It paid off because she is sound asleep now and too tired to follow me around the house. She is practicing weave poles for her meals everyday. "Will weave for chicken backs and necks", she says.

Picture is from the early days when Travis first learned to swim. He is probably 4 years old here. It was scary watching him swim to and retrieve a bumper the first few times. He'd go under water and I'd get ready to go in after him, but then he'd come back up. He was just so fearless and never let a little water in his ears bother him. He was just such a natural.

Good Catch!

Reagan probably isn't going to be a dock jumper, but maybe a frisbee catcher! Took me forever to finally get one of her leap catches on video. She does it all of the time, but never when I have the camera.

The Ultimate Tease?

Yesterday, Stephen was sweet and took Reagan on a hike with his hounds to tire her out for me. She didn't look tired when she arrived home, but once she settled in she didn't move the rest of the evening. It was wonderful to not be chased from room to room and to know she finally had gotten plenty of exercise for one day. That afternoon, I had noticed that more of Travis' personality was showing and his energy level was better. While they were away, I took Travis and Katie out in the front yard to sniff around and I groomed them like little horses. Back inside, Travis was silly on his bed and he wanted to wrestle some. I went to bed that night feeling the effects of another upside.

Today, I started out by taking one of Katie's antibiotics instead of mine. With 5 different bottles of antibiotics and countless other supplements, you can understand the confusion, right? :-) But dare I say Travis is having a FANTASTIC DAY!!! . His personality and energy has just come flooding back. Today I got him out of the house and took him to my agility field. I handed him his bumper to see what he'd do and he ran 3 laps. He then brought me the bumper a couple of times. I just traded him a treat and then gave the bumper back to him, so he could lope around some more. After a few minutes, I stopped him and went into my parents' house. The last time I let Travis run at all, he was exhausted afterwards. Well, Travis laid on one of the dog beds and did his silly routine of rolling around and then even playing with me some. He also had his eye on the rawhide their dog had dropped. He was just so alert and charming. So then we got home. I felt the big test would be to see how exhausted Travis would be after a busy morning. He wasn't. All the other dogs had crashed, but Travis and Reagan continued to be underfoot and following me around. He even trotted through the house. I finally had to gate Travis into the bedroom so he'd have to take a nap. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with today. I hope its not just a big teaser. This really is such a huge, dramatic difference though. I think he has even gained some weight. These pictures are from yesterday and today.

I also am starting to feed chicken backs again. He was so happy to have one last night. I'm going to substitute 2 of his meals for a chicken back. Maybe he decided that life is worth living if he was going to eat chicken backs again! Hey, I'll do anything!

Perry

The Perry Georgia fairgrounds has always been my favorite dog show venue. The April show is especially fun. It is the biggest dog show in the southeast. For some reason, my dogs and I have never done especially well at Perry. They always run well, but the Qs are sometimes hard to come by. I am not sure why, but it did not matter, we always had a great time. This April Travis ran awesome. He qualified 5 out of 6 runs. This weekend there is another agility trial in Perry. I was really looking forward to this trip. I had found out that Heather (Greytblackdog) lives in Perry, so I was going to meet up with her. My sister, Denise, and some other folks were going to come down to cheer Travis on and then we were going to enjoy a cookout at Heather's Saturday evening. Pam Davis was coming. She had hoped she would get to see Travis run in a trial before he retired.

Travis was on Pam's first greyhound haul out of Jefferson County Kennel Club Track (JCKC) in October 2001. JCKC is a dead end track and at the time had no adoption program to speak of. Travis was lucky that Pam and her crew of volunteers hadn't started a week or 2 later. What started out as a rescue effort for 11 greyhounds turned into 21 greyhounds. And they had 3 days. Travis was one of the last 4 pulled out of the kennel. As they left, a rat scurried across the floor. Travis went to Pam's house to hang out in her kennel for a few days. She discovered his affinity for retrieving ............ and for small dogs when he had an unexpected introduction to the Davis' cocker spaniel. He scared the crap out of her, but luckily he had a muzzle on. Travis was smart. Pam said that once he learned the dog door he was in and out, in and out, practicing his new skill. He was a lot more dog than the typical greyhound is. Pam called me and asked me to foster him. At the time, all of SEGA's greyhounds were placed in foster homes. We didn't have a kennel yet. Pam said he was a "retrieving fool" and warned me that he might not be adoptable. Well, he wasn't and I'm still fostering him today :-). Just kidding, I eventually paid the adoption fee and signed the paperwork. So Travis has a special place in Pam's heart.

The picture is from the Celebrating Greyhounds article Spring of 2002.

But You Want To Know

The advances in veterinary medicine have been both good and bad. It is wonderful to have lifesaving medicine, tests, and procedures that we didn't have years ago. But it also comes with problems. For one, I think it causes a lot of guilt. My recent experience with Travis had me dealing with 2 vets that couldn't understand that my dog is a being with feelings. Thank goodness my regular vet is not like this. A procedure such as X-rays aren't painful, but Travis doesn't know that this will be a painless procedure. All he knows is that he's been stuck with a lot of needles lately, so why should this procedure be any different. Biopsies and aspirations are most likely painful. I was assured it isn't that bad, but my dog does not know how bad it will be going into a procedure. All he knows is that the procedure may hurt and he is going to experience some stress about it. So when we got to the point of eliminating the problems we could afford to fight and possibly heal at his age, I decided that I did not need to proceed with further tests. When I finally said "no more", vets #3 and #4 both said, "but you want to know". Sure, I would like to know, but not at the expense of putting my dog through more pain and stress. I am not typically a guilty feeling person, but for someone who is.... I can see where such statements could really pressure someone into pursuing more tests and more treatments. Its as if not doing more tests makes you a sub par dog owner. I think a better approach would be for a vet to get the owner's perspective before recommending further work. And I do mean "recommend". Vet #4 was already writing down the order for the next round of tests without even asking me. I had to stop her and briefly argue with her about it. Its sad that during such an emotional time, you have to really be able to stand up for yourself.

While your hounds are healthy, you might start planning ahead. Imagine if you saved, $20 a month per pet for unplanned medical expenses. That really starts to add up eventually. Stephen and I have been doing something similar with our dogs. It came in handy when Katie had her spinal stroke. I had almost all of her expenses covered with savings set aside for our dogs' health care. I did not have all of Travis' expenses saved, but what we did have helped take the sting out of it.

Travis remains the same. He's eating, but being asked to consume 6 cups of food per day really takes the fun out of eating. I'm tempted to put him back on raw food just because its what he loves. He mostly sleeps all day. He still follows me around from room to room, but he doesn't have the energy to much of anything else. Normally, sitting home for a day called for driving me insane, but now he just hangs out with no complaint. I'm not sure if he is still losing weight since I don't trust my scale. He certainly isn't gaining any. I occasionally see glimmers of the young, healthy Travis, but mostly he just is not the same dog. Just suspended animation.... no better, no worse.

More pictures of Travis the way he used to be.

And Back Up Again

Travis seems to be fine this evening. Color looks fine. Food has stayed in his belly. He is totally over eating rice..... as in done. Tired of it. I got some cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese, giblets, and sardines to make things more interesting. I am going to have to cut back on the rice though. Its just so much volume... I think he's just getting full. I started him on Pepcid-AC to help prevent throwing up.

To add to my improving day, Reagan weaved like a super star. She has been jumping through the poles with her hind legs and not really weaving smoothly like Travis does. Today, she was fast and organized. My doctor appointment was a breeze. I hardly had to wait. And the client project I need to get done by sometime tomorrow has already been well started. I forgot that when I had free time a few weeks ago, I just randomly picked this client to get a head start on. Couldn't have happened on a better day.

Tortured

I'm starting to feel really tortured by this roller coaster. I can accept whatever comes, but please stop teasing me. The weight loss was a downer, my vet's exam comments were an upper, skipping a meal was a downer, eating good again and overall seemed to have more energy and personality last night was an upper, and then this morning he vomitted breakfast. The last time this happened, it was the day he went for his ultra sound and he was supposedly jaundice. So needless to day I am starting to fear the worst. Supposedly, the bilirubin in the blood causes one to feel sick to his stomach and its what turns the skin yellow. This happened on Stephen's watch so I haven't looked at his color yet, so maybe I am just assuming the worst. If this is what is happening again, I won't put him back on fluids. It took too much time from him (3 days in the hospital) to buy about a week with us and it wasn't exactly a fun week for any of us. Sitting home all day isn't what Travis is about. And to add more insult to injury, I think I have an infection on my eyelid and I just don't have myself together enough to sit with my thoughts in a waiting room. I am barely functioning at work. So this is my complaint for the day.

Treading Water

These pictures are from Travis' last agility trial.

Ups and downs, but generally just the same old, same old. I get the feeling Travis is starting to lose some interest in food. The only meal Travis has ever refused is ironically rabbit. Other than that, Travis has always cleaned his plate and everyone else's bowl. He used to spend a lot of time in our dog room licking bits of chicken off of crates. Not even Katie spends that kind of time on it. But today Travis didn't want his cooked breakfast. I offered him a chicken back and he ate that. Since then he has eaten his cooked meals. I stopped adding veggies and will add tastier proteins like turkey, eggs, cheese, etc. Hopefully that will help. Other than that, he is mostly unchanged I suppose.

Poor Katie is hobbling around. I feel terrible for walking her in with a sore toe only to make her walk out very lame. But in the end, I think this will be best. The current pain will be short lived where as a dislocated toe would have been a chronic problem. I changed her bandage today and the surgery site looks very good.

My complaint for the day is that vet hospitals really suck at bandaging. I'm not sure if bandaging is skipped in vet school, but I have never been happy with the wrap my dog comes home with. In the future, since I am good at bandaging, I'm tempted to save $20 and just have the hospital tell me what time to be there with my supplies and I'll just do the bandage myself. I don't think I would be annoyed if I wasn't charged extra, but since I'm charged ~$20, I want a perfect bandage. And if anyone from my vet hospital reads this, I'm not picking on you.... I'm picking on all vet hospitals. Kudos for at least making it easy to take off and redo :-).

Bandaging 101

1. Do not shave an area you are going to place sticky tape to. Vet #3 did this to Travis where he had the catheter. OUCH. I'd rather the tape pull off some hair rather than a layer of his skin. Seriously, it looks like someone sand papered his bare skin.

2. Do not use sticky tape as your primary bandage. I love elastikon, but the stuff is hard to remove if you use too much of it. Just use enough to stick the bandage to some fur, so the bandage will remain in place.

***Kudos to my vet for not using too much sticky tape on Katie.

3. Its not a bad idea to first cut your piece of sticky tape or elastikon and stick it to your shirt. Let it pick up some lint so it isn't quite as sticky. It feels much less like a wax job to the dog when its time to remove it.

4. Cotton should be placed between the toes. I do not want my dog to be in anymore pain than she is because her nail is stabbing the toe next to it.

5. And for doG's sake, for $20, I don't want to see any wrinkles or flaps. I want it to appear as though an expert (or myself :-) did the bandage.

That wraps it up for me!

Midget Clips

OK, got the hubby out back today and he filmed Reagan doing her thing.



Here is Reagan teetering. Its getting close to full size. Notice her 2-feet-on-2-feet-off (actually I think its just 1 foot on which is fine).

This is Reagan working on weave poles. This method is called Weave-O-Matics. Over time you start to bring the poles more and more upright. This method worked really well with both Katie and Travis.

Here is Reagan fetching her toy.

Starving

No, not Travis. Katie would just like you to know that she is starving. Despite the fact that Mom fed her an extra 2 big chicken backs yesterday at 10 PM (we feed only in the mornings), she still was quite unhappy about her skipped breakfast this morning. If only I could reason with her. Katie did not have to arrive at the vet hospital for her toe removal until 11 AM, so I had this face glaring at me all morning while I worked. Katie is the face of food motivation. When I teach greyhound obedience training classes, I always ask that the greyhounds not be fed prior to class so that they are extra hungry and excited about the treats. Katie, the exception to the rule, had to be fed prior to classes, events, shows, and training sessions just because she becomes too food motivated and has to have the edge taken off.

Her toe amputation went fine. Stephen will be picking her up on the way home from work. He is excited about making the toe into a key chain. Kind of like a lucky rabbit's foot.... this would be a lucky greyhound's toe (fat and mangled, but lucky nonetheless). And, of course, it would be a little piece of our "Pumpkin" that could last forever....... just kidding :-). That would be terrible!

Nothing to report on Travis. No change.

Reagan is a little pistol. She has no patience for this geriatric stuff. I am still working her everyday otherwise she would drive me even crazier with more energy. She is really turning into one of my greyhounds..... a well trained, pain in the butt. Sometimes I just have to put her in a crate to get her out of my way. She follows me everywhere in the house..... not quietly like Travis..... but races after me. Its a double edge sword. I love for them to be alert and ready for anything, but it would just be nice to be able to turn them off sometimes.

I need to get Stephen in the backyard so he can film Reagan's teeter and weave poles. She is coming along very well. The teeter is getting close to full size and she's slamming it down with no problem and she is offering a 2-feet-on-2-feet-off contact (where her 2 back feet remain on the board and she holds the position until I release her). Her jumping is coming along. She is starting to learn how to cross (change sides with me). Her front crosses are pretty good (me crossing in front of her). In the weave poles, here rear end is still disorganized, but I think it is getting better. Still no rush though. She turned 15 months yesterday. She already knows so much more than Katie did at 32 months or Travis at 41 months.

Here she is getting acquainted with Daddy's belt :-). She's a fighter.... going to teach that belt a lesson.

Fighting Hard

I took Katie to the vet for an x-ray of her toe. We confirmed that one of the toe joints is indeed dislocated. Broken toes tend to heal, but dislocated toes generally do not if you deal with it conservatively with rest and bandaging. It is being removed tomorrow so she can return to her activities as soon as possible.

Our scale lied yesterday. Travis looks especially thin today. His pelvis is starting to show and dents are appearing where strong muscles used to lay. He weighed in at a dismal 57.5 lbs on the vet's scale (60.5 lbs a week ago on the same scale). I found that rather disheartening. But Dr. Castle said not to give up. His heart feels and sounds strong. His color is good. His eyes are bright. He is eagerly eating 4 meals a day. Dr. Castle double checked the x-rays and didn't see anything alarming. She didn't think his lymph nodes were swollen. So I left with some renewed faith and Liver Happy Chinese herbs.

I think the picture below was taken when Travis was around 5 years old. He looks like a shiny, new penny..... such a baby then. Do us a favor, takes some pictures of your hounds. Don't wait until it is too late. Our casual (non-action) pictures and the digital video clips were all taken from our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1. I think I spent $200. It was money well spent.

Busted

Unfortunately, I think Katie has busted a toe. With her left leg still having a residual neurological deficit (that sounds really smart, doesn't it? :-), it does some crazy things sometimes. The left hind leg doesn't always seem to respond as quickly as the rest of her body, so I was aware that it was more likely to be injured if she was running, jumping, and spinning. I try to maintain a healthy balance of restricting some activities to prevent injuries without asking her to reduce her active lifestyle. I suppose we are lucky it is just a toe. I am not sure if it is broken or dislocated. Either causes a toe to become painfully swollen. I will have it x-rayed next week to determine for sure. If it is dislocated (or maybe even if it is broken), I am tempted to go ahead and have it amputated. That sounds really extreme, but I have seen far too many greyhounds waste a year of life limping around on a bad toe that just won't heal. The problem is that if ligaments are torn, they do not grow back together without surgical intervention. On a 10 year old dog, I can't really justify orthopedic surgery on an outside, rear leg toe especially when such a toe is rarely missed by the dog. Best of all the dog can resume normal activity 4 - 8 weeks after a toe is amputated. I do not want to waste too much time making a decision or she will start to lose overall muscle tone from being inactive and also lose some of the neurological function she worked so hard to regain. Never a dull moment.

It is the little toe on your right. You can't see it in the photo, but it is very red and swollen on the inside. For now, Katie will have to stay on a leash and ice the toe a few times a day.

So Far So Good

No bed wetting last night. I still got up at 2 AM to let him out. Doing that has me so tired. I don't know how people trained by their dogs to do this every night can make it through the day without a nap. Maybe you get used to it.

Travis has gained a little weight. He was 63.5 lbs this morning.

I have been reviewing everything over and over again in my head and came to a couple of conclusions. Normal bilirubin should be well below 1. Travis initially tested 1.2 along with other elevated liver enzymes. Less than a week later, vet #2 says it has increased to 5.6 which prompts her to examine him again and declare that he is jaundice. To be honest, I couldn't see the yellow myself, but then I don't always have a good eye or feel for the medical issues, so I took what she said at face value. He then received fluids for the rest of the day and again the next morning before seeing vet #4. Vet #4 and her vet tech didn't see any jaundice. "Good", I'm thinking the fluids are working. The next day vet #5 looks at him and repeats blood work that indicates a normal bilirubin and says that clinically he looks fine. He mentioned that sometimes during the lab process, blood cells are broken open causing a false, excessively high bilirubin level. Vet #5 thought that may have occurred with vet #2's blood work. So I am starting to think that maybe he was not exactly knocking on death's door like I was lead to believe by vet #2. I am not denying that he is sick or that we are out of the woods yet. We could still be dealing with something serious like cancer. But maybe his blood work isn't really that bad. Still holding out hope that I'm being put through the ringer for no reason.

This morning I took everyone to a friend's house who has a nice, flat fenced in front yard. Travis got to play for a minute or 2.

No News....

Is good news, right? Nothing interesting to report today. Travis is alert, active, and eating his Mama's cooking with gusto. I let him lope around with his bumper this morning. Just a little exercise to keep the blood pumping, the body useful, and his mind happy. He's still drinking a lot of water, but that might be due to the Prednisone not being out of his system yet. He also wet the bed last night, but then he spent the night before and most of all day receiving fluids, so I'm thinking that is not something to be worried about unless it continues. I have some pee pads made for people with incontinence issues. It is a washable 3 X 3 foot pad that protects the bedding underneath. Travis is not much of a bed fluffer so this worked well last night when he wet his bed.... I just had to wash the pad and not the whole bed (see picture of him lying on the bed, the pee pad is the plaid square on top of the bed).

Some Good News

Travis had bloodwork done this morning and his biliruben was normal which was a huge improvement. The point of putting him on fluids for a few days was to flush the blood of the biliruben, but I don't think such an improvement was expected. The other liver enzymes were a little elevated, but better. My understanding is that the biliruben is what causes the jaundice which Travis is not at this time. The vet who examined him today said that clinically he looked fine. He suggested that I take him off the Prednisone just in case Travis was fighting an infection. Prednisone suppresses the body's immune system and keeps it from overreacting. It is sometimes good for surpressing some cancers which Travis may have, but if he is just fighting an infection, it would be best if he had full use of his immune system. So fingers still crossed. It certainly gives me a reason to quit crying and to have some hope.

We picked Travis up around 2 PM. I'm so glad he is home and has the catheter out. He's a little thin and starting to look and feel like a couch potato, but otherwise he seems fine. He is eating well. I am going to keep a journal of his days to keep track of his progress. We have all of his medicines and supplements organized. I am going to feed him cooked food several times a day while he is on the antibiotics. My thought is that if he continues to do well, I will recheck blood a few days before the drugs start to run out. If he starts to decline, I will recheck it then. Thanks for all of the support!

Comfort Food

Stephen and I just finished a Papa Johns pizza and a romantic comedy. Good distraction for the occasion. I took Travis in for fluids this morning and decided to try reviewing the case with a specialist. I was referred to Georgia Veterinary Specialists. Unfortunately, the next open appointment is next week, so the only way to get in the back door today was to go in as an emergency. It was quite exhausting. We sat in the waiting room forever and we sat in the exam room forever. I think I have determined that if I am not willing to put my dog through every possible test available and refinance my house to pay for it all that its probably not the hospital for me. They simply wouldn't listen to me. The estimate was ridiculous and padded with so many additional charges. My credit card was actually maxed out..... luckily I had another. Don't worry. For those offering to loan me money, thank you, but its not necessary. I too have excellent credit :-). I just think there is a point when all of the medical tests are about satisfying a human need to have an answer and to not feel guilty and less about the dog. I am ok with not knowing. If we get lucky and its an infection or a tick disease that responds to the antibiotics, then wonderful. Vet #4 said that if by some miracle the drugs did make him better, without all of the medical tests we would have no way of knowing which drug cured him. You know what? "I don't care."

Travis appears to have responded well to the fluids. He still LOVES to eat. He's perky and he looks good. He does not appear to be jaundice today. He is staying at the Georgia Veterinary Specialists ER tonight and part of tomorrow for fluids. Tomorrow I will have the catheter taken out and I will take him home. We are done with vets except for checking his bloodwork as needed. I have done some research on liver friendly diets. Eggs and cottage cheese will be on the menu. HE IS ON MILK THISTLE and other herbal support! Thank you to everyone who suggested milk thistle. And most importantly, Travis and I will play. We will do whatever he wants to. If anyone can pull off a miracle, Travis can. Everything he does is Never Expected. And if he doesn't, that's ok too. Travis has had an amazing life and I'm lucky to be apart of it.

Thanks for all the nice comments and emails.

Time for Ben & Jerry's ice cream.....