Shilo's Road

Geez… I can not believe it has already been a year since Shilo was first diagnosed with cancer. Sometimes it feels like forever and I miss her so much, then other times I sware it was yesterdays and the tears flow. I still have the wall of Tripawd hero’s on my wall including Codie Rae, Nove, Caria Sue, Maximutt, Cemil, Zues. and of coarse Jerry.

On the good news front, we went and adopted through the animal shelter a new girl. Her name is Hope, and that is what she gave us. She is a funny girl with her own quarks and personality.

I finally think that I am strong enough to help others and give the support that I lacked for a long time. I can’t again tell you how thankful I was for this site in a time that I needed support. It was a life saver and I hope that I can be a part of the future. 🙂

This is definitely long over due. I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to truly say goodbye. Shilo Anne lost her tough battle with cancer 11/23/2009. She was such an inspiration, more so today then ever. I look over those last pictures we took and realize that was just 24 hours before we said goodbye and she was still trying to stay strong.

Christmas was so hard for our family without her here, she had been our heart baby. Not many fur babies reach the level of heart baby. You know the ones you think are more human then dog… That was Shilo, I swear that girl knew us better then we knew ourselves. I don’t know how many wonderful stories I could share with you on show her love graced our family. Her strength gave us strength… Her courage gave us such a new perspective on life, love, and strength. She was truly our best friend, our confident, and our heart.

Our last day together was sooo hard… We all knew time was short and trying to make the best of things was so difficult. I tried to get that paw print I talked about, but the stuff got stuck in her fur and she was definitely not happy with me at all.. I ruined the print and cried, I knew I might not get it again. And I didn’t…. The next day I came home from work to her dad saying that she had been getting sick all morning. I thought maybe we could take her to the lake for one last dip, but half way there she started getting sick all over the car. I knew she wouldn’t make it nor would she even be impressed by being there. The best thing to do was to let her go home.  So we turned the car around and headed back to the vet. We didn’t even call; I just walked in tears streaming down my face as I realized this was it. The people at the vet’s office came and gave hugs and we settled her bill before bringing her in, and as we said our goodbyes I just lost it. The Dr, Brian and I just bawled and she lay limp in my arms and her Dr. said she was gone. Dr. Plecia then asked the uncanny question, “Would we like a paw print?” I just bawled and shook my head yes. I couldn’t believe they were asking me for the one thing that I needed more then anything at that point. And so a paw print was made.

It has now been 1 ½ months since we said goodbye and life is more bearable but, we miss her terrible everyday. She was such an extension to  her Dad and I, I just can’t explain. I know that she will be waiting for us, as I look forward to the day I see her again. I love her and miss her so much!! My heart aches to feel the softness of her fur and the love she had for us in her soul.  We love you so much Shi Shi and we will never, ever forget you!!

Here are some photo’s from her last day with us….

11/22/2009 The last day she was with us…..

You can’t tell she was totally pissed at me for trying to get the paw print… I felt sooo bad….

And here she is trying to make me feel better…

Here is one of my fav’s… This was her favorite spot and she loved it when Daddy laid and looked out with her… Especially when he cracked the window where she could get all the smells in…

Pooped and tired, she finally slept pretty good for awhile until she woke me at 2 am. This was the last photo we got of her before we took her in for her last visit to the vet a 12 noon 11/23/2009. This is how I want to remember her, peaceful and sleeping… Instead of the image of holding her head in my arms and I whispered how much I loved her and feeling her leave me and go limp. If there are prayers out there, please prayer for that. I just want to remember this beautiful angel…

Here is Shi Shi’s collar and the paw print done by the vets office. Tonight was the first night I have taken it out since bringing it home… I can still feel every mark of her paws in the print. I am so thankful that they did this for out family… Thank you…

To all those who were there with us during our walk with Shilo, I am sorry I have been MIA for a bit. It was just to hard, and I had to find a place to really grieve. I can’t tell you though Caira Sue, Codie Rae how much your cards meant to me. They came at such a great time. Cherry’s Dad, Tazzie’s Mom, Emily’s Mom, and Jake’s Mom thank you sooooo much for the support. Adm and Jerry God knows how much I am thankful for you and this website. I would had lost my sanity that first week I brought her home.

There are many more who added their support and knowledge through our trials, and you will have to forgive this old brain of mine… Thank you so much… Shilo thanks you too….

Love – Alisa

Still living each moment, each day to its fullest!! Loving my baby girl & sharing her moments with those who love her just as much!  Thanks all for the support through the good and not so good times. Here are pics from the park  🙂 

Her love of the lazer light game –

My favorite expression, just look at those ears….

I just love my toys

Such a sleepy girl…..

Apparently Shilo wasn’t paying attention when that vet said her “c” spread (shh…. we aren’t going to remind her either). She had a wonderful day…

We started by going to the creek, granted I haven’t taken her near water since her amputation. So I didn’t think that she would be much interested getting in, let alone getting in when it was 48 degrees today. Geuss I was wrong!! 🙂

Above- The creek we were at.  It was a very beautiful day!

Above – Shilo and two of her favorite toys- her big sis Ashley and bro Jacob!

Above – Sitting pretty….

Above – Crazy girl, doesn’t she know it is only 48 degrees!!

Above – Ahh.. Mom was getting worried and had me get out….

Then we went to the doggie park, man did she have a blast.  One of these days I will get over to my dad’s and get the video’s uploaded.  For now I just have pic’s.

Above – Running around through the park… My hero – truely she is amazing!

Above – Playing chase with the stick!!

Above – Three legs are better!!

Above – What a day… On the way home just looking out the back window of mom’s car! Then when we got home, Mom made me some yummy roast and I ate almost all of it..

Above – A big nice yummy belly rub, put me fast to sleep!! What an awsome day!!

Well, while the girl is resting a bit from our afternoon I wanted to share some of her day with you all. The weather hasn’t cooperated with us too much but we didn’t let that get us down.

We went to the park she even convinced me to get out in the rain 🙂

A visit from her sister brought up her spirits hugely. She was running , chasing sticks, eating grass, and even ate some cheese. (First foods since Sunday) Mom just ate it up seeing me have such a good time!!

Here she is just the happy girl….

I love my mommy!!

Shilo says – By the way I have had a WONDERFUL day… We are going to Mom’s work now.. I get to go bye bye!!!

Talk to you all soon –

As you may have read in some of the blogs, Shilo seems to have found a few set backs with her fight on “C”. But we are not talking about that :-). We promised positive, and positive we will stay on our blog to the end.

So here is some recent news…. We still love going bye bye!! Oh – Ya

Our absolute favorite game that we just can’t ignore – chase the laser light. The laser is on the comforter..

This is our best but Nuk – we talked about him in our earlier blogs. This was before the “C” word but boy it sure makes Mom laugh everytime she sees it!!

And Mom always loves my kisses since I am not a very licky dog… Well actually from the looks of her tongue in the picture before, maybe I am glad she is not a licky dog.. 🙂

Well I have decided to change up my blog a little. We are going to concentrate on the pawsitive instead of the negative, and live each day as its own.  So our blog will be about milestones in the good way.. 🙂 

Like learning to dig with one paw (mom didn’t think I would ever do this again.. hehehehe)

Digging away

Running and playing with my stick again!!

Lounging in the grass of my back yard and sniffing the air!!

What a day!! I am pooped, aren’t I the angel..

I love you!!

Wanna play??

Aren’t I cute!!

Well, we had an exceptional day today!!! We were up and out the door to Oregon State University Vet Hospital at 7:30 AM. Shilo enjoys the drive but, the minute we hit the exit you can see she knows where she is going. She starts getting a little more anxious and hyped out the closer we get.

We dropped her off with the oncologist who explains we are doing the x-rays today, and if her Blood count is good will continue with the chemo treatment. We head back to pick her up at 3:30pm all excited to get our baby back, but nervous about the tests today. The vet calls as I am on the road to give us the news.

1st they took her weight, she gained 3 pounds since her last visit!! YEAH!! She lost so much after the amputation. Her coat is looking so shinny and she is starting to fill back out a little more.. Mom is going to have to start watching what she eats here pretty soon.. That will be nice for a change.

Just came home from chemo

Her white count although on the lower end of 3799 they went ahead with the chemo today.(Normally she has been running in the 5000’s. Both before her 1st treatment and a week after treatment it was around 5200. Her red count went back up to normal range, her platelets were good, and they did a renal profile all within normal reference range.. YEAH!!

The x-rays were resulted as No evidence of pulmonary metastasis (WOOHOO!!)

The oncologist was impressed and very pleased with how well she is getting around, stating that she was pulling him all over the yard and chased a squirrel (hehehe).

The only thing that I can say is different this time is she seems a bit sicker then the 1st treatment. I think though that it might me the white count difference(?).  Her first treatment resulted in a decrease in appitite and slight loose stools. This time she puked up a little, and seems to have very loose stools.  After my update I will go through the blogs to see what I might be able to give her to feel a little better. The vet gave her Dolasetron at the hospital and sent us with Maropitant to start tomorrow. I gave her some cottage cheese and liquids. At present though she is comfortably resting on the floor next to her dad. 🙂

We are so happy and blessed with the results!! So happy we cried and thanked God for helping our baby girl!!

Wow!!  Shilo’s 1 month amp came and passed in a blink… She is still doing great… We go in for her 2nd round of chemo and her x-rays this Wednesday. Please all keep their paws crossed for us. Well, I have a video of Shilo doing her singing for everyone Mom just needs to figure out how to get it on here…

LOL… Darn land line is not helping… We are doing the cottage cheese and lots of sardines. I can’t seem to find what I can put the flax seed oil in to get her to eat it.  Any ideas?? Let me know. She has always been a bit finicky about what she will eat and since her amp she has been more so then before.

The only other thing that I seem to notice is she must be having a lot of ghost pains, lately I have caught her trying to lick her leg. She has been doing it more and more, so I plan to mention this to her oncologist when we go in Wednesday.

Everyday we see her here as a blessing to our family, and we will continue to cherish every moment we get to spend… 🙂

Girl has become so camera shy....

Running through the yard

We just got back from the vet where they checked her white count. It came back GREAT!!! Yeah… So I geuss it will be back to chemo in 2 weeks.  They did say that her hematocrit (HCT) was high and asked if she was drinking a lot. I told them no more then normal… They said for her to increase more water if possible… I am not sure what that means but am googling it as we speak. At least what a high HCT indicates that is.

She is still eating and playing as normal. So I am thinking I shouldn’t worry…. but I do….