And they're off!

Hang onto your hats, it's CYCLING SEASON!

Yes, the Santos Tour Down Under is rolling along nicely. But it's SO far away, and there's been SO much going on lately (and by that I obviously mean Lancegate) that it's hard to get my brain to actually BELIEVE it's racing season.

 I'm not sure if this race is being televised, however I'm not going to get to watch it even if it is, as I'm away on work travel living out of a suitcase once again. But peeking in at Velo and Cycling news, it looks like it's going to be a very exciting season! Greipel looks like he's really hit the ground running this year with the same successful lead-out-train he had last year. It would appear that he and Cav are poised to have some serious head-to-head sprints, which will be truly exciting for the fans. I'm anxious to see Boonen as a lead-out-man, which he has promised to do.

And in a very short amount of time, winter will be over! And you know what that means...yes...yes...you know it....spring cleaning.

OH, right...and the Spring Classics! And speaking of Boonen, he's got some SERIOUS work to do defending his Classics titles. Is he up for it? Last year he won FOUR. That's quite an accomplishment, and I have no idea if he will be up to the enormous task. But I wish him luck. And I hope to actually SEE some of these races this year...but can't promise that.

Our spare dollars seem to be heading towards a certain spoiled rotten biddy of a fur-baby for the foreseeable future. Jeannie went down on Tuesday with her to see an oncologist in Santa Barbara. He discussed our 'options'...which include radiation therapy, radical amputation, chemotherapy, change of diet, and doing nothing. Well actually, neither he nor our surgeon even consider the change of diet (homeopathic) as a serious option...that's just our thoughts.

The radiation option isn't a good one. For one thing, the tumor(s) haven't returned yet. But both our oncologist and our surgeon agree that with this particular type of cancer, it's just a matter of time. The tumor has little 'fingers' that spread into the tissue around it, and it's nearly impossible to get enough 'margin' (removal of healthy tissue) to get them all. And with this type of cancer in around 95% of the time it comes back right where it was before the surgical removal (which we had done already). And being as the tumor hasn't returned yet, there's really nothing to radiate.

Which brings us to option #2: radical amputation. This is sadly the best option, as it is the only way to nearly guarantee removal of enough tissue to preclude it's return. For PG, that would require the removal off her entire left rear leg all the way up to (and including some of) her pelvis. But we're hesitant to do that, now that we have saved the leg during the first surgery. We'd only consider that at this point if it becomes necessary. Considering the cancer hasn't yet returned, we are hopeful that we can head that decision off with options 3 and 4: chemotherapy and diet.

He discussed a low-dose chemo treatment that we can put her on that would offer us hope of stopping  the tumors from returning (which is also why our diet change from 'dog food' to only chicken and veggies). He says that quality of life is paramount at this point and with whatever treatment we do. The low level chemo pills (we can buy them at Costco) have a long list of side effects, and getting the dosage right (ie: low enough) so that she's not miserable and sick is the goal. We're not totally sure how often the pills would be given, nor how long (more questions we need to ask). For now we had blood-work done, and then 30 days from now we do it again and he will make the dosage determination at that time. We are putting her on Rimadyl for now, getting her ready for the chemo (which is why he needed a 'before and after' blood panel: to make sure the Rimadyl isn't causing any problems...it's a doggie ibuprofen basically, but canines don't do well with actual ibuprofen.

Of course, we are scared and totally NOT sure how to proceed, but we agree we have to do SOMETHING. This seems to be our best option as of this moment. And the cost isn't too extravagant. There was a 5th option, which was the anti-angiogenesis (sp?) medication, which basically helps stop (or slow) the growth of new blood vessels, effectively starving tumors as they try to grow. However that medication would run us about $500 a month for the rest of her life.

Scratch treatment plan #5.

And so...the only real problem so far is that she still has no feeling from just above the 'hock' (I'd personally call it a 'relbow', which is a real-leg-elbow. It's the joint above the paw/ankle, and below the knee. I have fabricated a special 'splint' out of plexiglass and formed it's shape via a heat-gun. It is velcro'd into place and then wrapped over with an ace bandage. Without that she would stand on that leg toes straight down, and the poor toes will fold under where she could break them, and/or the ankle being as she can't feel them. I pull the splint off every day and check out the foot, it has a few open sores from the first brace we had (bought it online, but it was big, bulky, and even though was the right size just wasn't the answer we needed. I've actually made 2 of the smaller braces now, the 2nd one being better than the first as I could see changes to make. So far it's working quite well, and her surgeon said simple is better. Only we have to be prepared to continue with this as long as it takes, which could be the rest of her life if the nerve doesn't regenerate.

So there you have it. Our little girl is dong quite well, and she is as happy as she's EVER been. We attribute this to her new diet. She always HATED Dog food. But NOW, you pull one of her little meals out of the fridge and she comes RUNNING! She used to be a little 'biddy', but now she's quite loving and happy. Honestly, we can't believe how much happier she is now that she's living like the queen she always thought she was. She's getting special meals, and LOTS of personal attention from her servants. Yes, she's living the dream!

And so...we have a lot on our minds just now besides cycling season, but I'm glad it's here none-the-less. So put on your party-pants and get ready to rumble.

Game ON!