Nampa's Biggest Fan

Millie had another wonderful day out today.  We headed out just before 7am to cheer on Nampa (my dad) and several thousand other runners as they made their way through the Illinois Half Marathon.  As luck would have it, our place was just about half way between mile marker 4 and mile marker 11.  

Millie had a lot of fun things to look at & enjoyed watching runners as they passed by.  When I saw somebody I knew, I'd get very excited & start yelling and ringing the cowbell I brought.  Millie would feed off of my excitement and wag her tail a hundred miles an hour.  

She was exceptionally well behaved, especially considering the crazy things going on around her.  She even got a few drive-by hugs from dog loving runners.  The only real "incident" came when a Bichon surprised her (and me) when it snuck up behind us and jumped on her amputated leg (stump).  Talk about a death wish.  I was able to grab her before the little exuberant fellow became decapitated.  Ahh, lovely unaware owners and those damn flexi leashes...always keeping things interesting.

A little too early for Mil.  She decided to nap until things got interesting.

Go Nampa go!

Cheering on runners at mile marker 11.

Cheering on Nampa

Millie had an excellent day today.  We started off the day by grabbing breakfast at Einstein bagels (of course we got her a bagel too!) before heading out to Sullivan, IL to watch my dad compete in a mini triathlon.  My dad has participated in this particular event a few times, and I believe this was Millie's third time coming to watch.  One year we even snuck her inside to watch the swimming portion!

We arrived just in time to see my dad come out of the pool & hop on his bike.  Here is Millie and Evan rooting on the participants.  If you look carefully, you can see a cowbell in Evan's hand.  :)

Another big plus for Millie (besides the day out, bagel snack, and road trip) was that there was no short supply of hugs.  A fair number of kids came up to say hello, and even some adults.  She soaked it all in.

She was also able to convince Nampa to share some of his post race sandwich.  How, you may ask...

With this adorable, pleading face!  The drool slinger was thrown in for added help.

We had a wonderful day out and had a great time cheering on my dad.

My dad even placed in his age group!  Nice work Dad!!

Meadowbrook - 1.6 miles!!

It was such a beautiful spring day today.  I called my mom and asked if she wanted to meet the girlies and I after work for a walk through Meadowbrook (a local park).  This was going to be quite the challenge for Millie, but I knew with a lot of breaks she could do it.  

Gotta start the day off right.  This is what Millie's breakfast looked like this morning -- full of 

supplements and medicine.  Thankfully she is a big fan of food, so the pills go down 

without her even realizing they are there.  

Millie was excellent during the walk.  She hopped along -- happy to be out of the house, but also pleased it was at one of her favorite parks.  Sugar could not have been more excited.  She refused to show any of her good dog manners, and instead practically pulled Nana through the park.  Yes, I swear she's 13.

All told I bet we took 6 or 7 breaks - some with water & some just to take a breather.  The girls even saw some deer (by girls I mean Sugar, Millie was oblivious) and met some new friends (this time I mean Millie only.  She let several little kids come say hello & wagged her tail throughout.).  The whole trip was 1.6 miles.  1.6 miles on three legs while dealing with a bladder infection & a few days post chemo!  That's amazing!!  I am so proud of Millie.  

4th Round of Chemo

I took this video a few days ago, but you can really see how well Millie is moving these days. 

(Yes, that is Hallie in the background complaining.)

Our morning started much earlier than usual.  Sugar had an upset stomach last night, so we had several emergency walks in the middle of the night.  I also had my alarm set earlier than normal for two reasons -- 1.  I needed to wear a suit to work & 2.  Millie had her fourth round of chemo today.  I drug myself out of bed & gave Millie a Cerenia (anti nausea med) and started my morning routine.  I didn't feel great, but I felt okay enough to keep moving.  When I got to U of I, my stomach was killing me.  They were running behind and said it'd be a few minutes.  Five minutes later & I was throwing up in a trash can in the waiting room....yup, in my suit.  Awesome.  Thank goodness the waiting room was empty & Millie was very well behaved.

At 1:30 I peeled myself out of bed & went to pick Millie up.  I still felt crappy, but felt like I had a reasonable chance of making it out without repeating the morning.  I heard her coming before I saw her.  Well, that isn't exactly true.  I heard, "Millie...wait...Mil...hold on...Millllllllllie."  The poor technician was being drug along by my three legged sled dog of a Mastiff.  She was pumped to see me & in great spirits.  While paying the bill, she was wagging her tail so hard into the desk, it sounded like somebody was using a hammer.  She also solicited petting from the woman next to me.  What a nerd.  The technician told me that her neutrophils were in the normal range today, which is much better than any of us expected (since last time they were quite low).

The afternoon was spent cuddling and sleeping.  She seems to feel great & doesn't appear nauseous at all.  Ugh, we love Cerenia!

Only one more IV chemo treatment to go!

Time to Brag

Today was a beautiful day outside - cool, but sunny.  I've been a bit stressed this week (for a variety of reasons, but most recently because Hallie started limping on a front foot), and really needed to get some fresh air.  The nice day and the need for some head clearing seemed like a perfect excuse to push Millie to her (our) new distance goal.  I didn't really set out with a goal in mind, but decided instead to see how she did.  Drumroll.....we made it 1.2 miles!  This is huge considering our trip down the street and back is only about a half mile.  

I couldn't be happier and I think we both needed it.  She worked hard to do it, but she had a blast.  She hasn't been on a proper walk since her amputation, and I suspect she had a little cabin fever.

Beautiful Piper seeing us off

 Dandelion fluff is pretty, but is sure tickles your nose and makes you sneeze when you inhale it.

Glamour shots

Oh, and we also tried to eat some pine cones.  Well, I showed them to her, and she really 

felt that a nibble was necessary.  

 I took Mil home for a rest and some water & went back out with Sugar.  Isn't she gorgeous?!

A very nice gentleman got out of this car & asked what kind of dog Sugar was.  I replied, "Oh, she's a mixed breed."  He said, "Oh, that's the name?  Mixbreed?"  Me, "No. No.  She's a mixture of a couple different breeds."  Him, "Oh, so it's called Mixbreed?"  Me, "No.  Dogs of different breeds mated and she was the result, or a mix of a few different breeds."  He left confused.  Now that I think about it, I should have said, "Yes.  She's a Mixbreed.  It's really rare, but they are surprisingly really affordable.  They come in lots of different colors and shapes."  Poor Lil Sexy wasn't smart, but he was very nice & he liked Sugar.

You'll Never Eat String Cheese Again

I am happy to report that Millie hit a big milestone this weekend.  We walked to the end of the street & back!  Twice!  Well, we did it twice, not twice in one day.  Anyway, I've been working hard on building up her muscle  and stamina since her amputation.  On our "poop walks" we go a little further and further each day.  It has been a long time coming, but she did it!  Next step, another distance goal.

On Sunday we had what I will refer to as...the string cheese incident.  A few hours after our walk, Millie ran in between Evan and I, panicked.  At first I couldn't figure out what the problem was.  Then....I saw it.  What can only be described as the worst vaginal discharge I have ever seen...or..."the string cheese incident."  I'm not kidding.  This stuff was disgusting, and I LOVE gross stuff.  Show me puss, and I'm there.  Maggots in a wound, fine.  This. Was. Gross.  The discharge itself was about as big in diameter as string cheese, about 12 inches long, and orange/yellow/brown in color.  Poor Millie frequently gets vaginal discharge when she has a UTI, and when she does, she does not like it at all.  She panics until it is wiped away.  This was no exception.

At 1:00pm I still hadn't heard from U of I regarding the culture results from Millie's cystocentesis last week.  So, I called them.  Not surprisingly I had to leave a message.  About an hour later U of I called back to let me know that the results of the culture were negative, or sterile.  When I told her about the "incident" she repeated that the culture from Millie's bladder was negative, so everything must be fine.  It was at this point that I said, "No.  Everything is clearly not fine.  No normal dog has string cheese coming from its vagina."  The technician suggested I take Millie back to (insert name of a clinic I've never been to) to see if they had any additional recommendations, since the culture was negative.  Really?  Thanks.  Helpful.

Millie's regular vet thought that what we were dealing with was a severe case of vaginitis.  She routinely gets vaginitis (thanks to malformed lady bits), because she is immunodeficient due to chemo, she's more prone to these kinds of things.  They happily refilled her Baytril, and I'm hopeful that another ten days of the stuff will do the trick.  Ugh, I love my regular clinic.

Looks like I may have to invest in a giant, two liter size, bottle of Baytril.

Baytril, Baytril, Baytril!

Sunday evening Millie and Sugar were cuddled up on the dog bed (yes, they finally lay on the crib mattress dog bed!!) together.  Millie was being extra cute and very snuggly.  Poor Sugar was being pushed out of the bed & wasn't all that thrilled.  A short while later Millie suddenly got off of the bed & laid on the floor.  I noticed Sugar inch down & start to smell a wet spot.  Yup, urine.  Awesome.  Poor Mil was so embarrassed.  I wiped her up & threw the cover (yay waterproof mattress pad!) into the wash.  She seemed to feel fine & slept through the night without asking to go out...well, maybe once...I honestly can't remember now.  Anyway, if she did ask to go out, it was only once.

Monday afternoon I came home from lunch to grab a urine sample to bring to her regular veterinarian.  The urine I collected had...dischargey...eww...floaters.  That can't be good.  Sure enough, my friend Ashley, the office manager & technician at the clinic, called to let me know Mil had another raging UTI.  The sample had red and white blood cells, and too many to count.  In short, it was much worse than her last raging UTI.  My poor girl.  We talked a bit about the timing of the UTI as well.  Her last UTI was just about a month ago, and we confirmed it one day after her second round of chemo.  I had a suspicion that since the chemo was suppressing her immune system, she would be more susceptible to getting UTIs.  They agreed.  On another note, but also related, Millie is basically a UTI waiting to happen -- on a good day.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say she gets one every 3-5 months.  Her girly bits are a little...malformed...so she gets them at the drop of a hat.  That or vaginitis.  This is why she gets wiped with a baby wipe every single time she pees.  Anyway, since Millie was due to U of I the next day for recheck bloodwork, and because the UTI was so nasty, her regular vet wanted to touch base with U of I RE:  treatment.  Our resident was not in, but I spoke to one of the chemo techs.  They wanted Millie in first thing for a cystocentesis (veterinary procedure where a needle is placed into the bladder through the abdomen & a sample of urine is removed) and recheck bloodwork.  They would culture the urine sample to determine the best antibiotic to use.

Today was a bit rough for Stink.  We woke up early & she wasn't quite sure why I wasn't understanding her requests to go outside.  She patiently waited by the door & eagerly wagged her tail when I walked by.  When Sugar got her walk Millie was sure she was next.  I literally ran her out to the car & into the clinic so she didn't get one chance to squat.  U of I was running behind (how you are behind at 8:30am baffles me), and I thought Mil was going to explode.  She was pacing & whimpering (and probably didn't appreciate the picture I took of her -- see above -- in her anguish *side note, the flash makes her look old...sad face*).  Finally, they took her back.  When they returned, I immediately took her outside & I swear she peed for five minutes.  The culture should come back in 4-5 days, so in the meantime she is on Baytril (our usual UTI warrior).

In all honesty, with the exception of the excruciating wait this morning, she seems to feel great.  Poor Stink & her malformed lady bits.

Karma Visits

On Friday evening, Karma came to stay for the weekend.  Karma is my friend's 10 month old Pit Bull puppy.  She's been coming to visit since she was a baby, when her mom found her in a cardboard box at a gas station (she was roughly 5 weeks old).  Generally speaking, Millie is not a fan of other dogs.  Well, that isn't exactly true....Millie is a fan of them so long as they agree that Millie will forever be the boss.  Her signature move is to run up to a new "friend", chest bump them to knock them off balance & then bite their back.  As they crumple to the ground, she stands over them.  What a bruiser, right?  So, back to Karma....  I wanted Millie to be able to have a dog friend, but since Karma was itty bitty...the traditional throw down wasn't going to work.  So, we started very slowly....

Baby Karma

 Itty bitty Pittie & Millie

Karma would come stay the weekend, or just overnight a few times a month.  Slowly, Millie started to realize that the puppy (while annoying at times), could also be quite fun.  Sugar is excellent with puppies, and disciplines annoying pups with appropriate responses (a growl, rather than biting off her head).  Over time, Karma became a member of our family.  So much so, that they would have cuddle parties and play.  

Here's a video of Karma & Millie playing in November 2011 (when Karm was about 

5 months old & Millie had four legs.  

Before this weekend, my girls hadn't seen Karma in a few months.  I was a little worried that we'd be back to square one.  I was also concerned about Millie being extra bossy as a result of the amputation.  When I brought Karma in, you could see Sugar's joy.  She had perky ears, was wagging her tail, and doing play bows left and right.  Millie was barking from her crate, so I let her out & reminded her to be careful.  Poor Karm got sniffed up one side & down the other.  Luckily, everything went well.  At one point, Karma jumped on Millie to encourage her to play.  However, she landed right on Millie's amputation site.  I don't think it hurt Millie, but she certainly wanted to let Karma know that was not okay.  Millie growled & Karma listened.  I was proud of both of them -- Millie for giving an appropriate response & Karma for respecting it.  After that, we were good to go.  

What usually happens is Millie will play with Karma inside, but not outside & Sugar will do the opposite.  I had to make a trip to St. Joseph to mow for my parents, so I decided to bring the crew with me.  My girls love playing in Nana & Nampa's backyard, and I figured it was a quick way to wear out a 10 month old Pit Bull puppy.

Packed and ready to go

 Karma loves the St. Joe yard too!

Karma & Sugar were having too much fun, so the fun police (Millie) came to break it up.  On a side note, Millie looks ripped in this picture.

Another "must have" of the St. Joe house -- bark at Gabe, the neighbor's Labrador.  

*Also note the thick drool slinger developing*

Karma definitely thinks of Millie as a cool kid.  Any chance she gets, she's glued to Mil.

Enjoying the sunshine.

Karma taking out Sugar.

My favorite picture from the afternoon!

Nerd is rolling in ....something...

Pretty puppy

Millie relaxing while Karma continues to roll in...something...

After playtime, I came back to the house to do some baking.  The cake I was making called for peanut butter, and Millie happily helped with clean-up.  Look at that mug!

Saturday was the two month anniversary of Millie's amputation.  Not a bad way to spend it, huh?