health updates

It happens..we get old and start falling apart. I am running a senior dog community at this point, so it is going to happen more often.
Since returning from Italy, we have had a few 'health scares'.
I detailed all of Dante's illnesses prior to leaving. Kristen and Gyeong took excellent care of him and we are definitely showing improvement. He is now on pancreatic enzyme supplements which have drastically improved his bowel function and his Cushing's meds are regulated. So we have significant progress with him. He seems to be gaining weight, is feisty and stubborn again..so he must be feeling well.Right after we returned, Shiloh (who will be 14 in August), had a small seizure. It definitely took me longer to get over than it did her...but she checked out OK at the vet. She seems healthy and happy now. apparently..they just happen sometimes. I would prefer if it didn't happen again..i don't think my emotional well being will fair well.Oh Henry..
Henry, who will be 12 in August, stopped eating completely a few weeks ago. Nothing stirred his appetite..tuna, chicken, turkey, rice, yogurt, baby food, oatmeal..you name it..we tried it. he was sad, depressed. So we went the vet on day 3. Everything looked normal so we tried some anti-nausea meds. On day 6 of not eating, we went back. After numerous blood tests, fluids and Xrays, everything looked normal. So we went to an internal medicine specialist who did an ultrasound. his lymph nodes were enlarged. This is typically due to Inflammatory Bowel disease or Lymphoma. They did a needle aspirate of his spleen.
The aspirate showed some 'unhappy' cells meaning his immune system was out of whack for some reason. We started him on antibiotics and took him home. Either diagnosis would improve with antibiotics, for a short time.
He has improved. On day 10 of his fast, he started to eat small amounts. he is now eating regular meals (of chicken and rice only) and seems to be a bit perkier. We are just watching him for now..this may continue..it may not. We didn't want to put him under anesthesia to do a biopsy which would have given us a definitive diagnosis. It would be for our benefit, not his.So for now..we are keeping the old man happy and hoping he has time ahead of him.
So we are moving forward hoping everyone continues to improve.
We have been getting fresh local produce from Dominion Harvest delivered to us..this past week it had Hanover Honey..
I call this "heaven on a plastic cutting sheet" Local goat cheese and honey with an Italian white wine..And for the first time in a long time, we have a true foster. Dancer is 2 and kind feeling like the kid who gets dropped off at grandma's retirement home for the weekend. Shuffleboard and Bingo are not her bag.
I will have a photo filled post soon. We have a pretty cool weekend planned with the Park pack.

Back to what we do best..festivals!

I hope you enjoyed my Italy journal (one, two, three, four and five ). Now we are back to our normal spring/summer ways!
after all that great Italian food, we needed a little change. So we met my childhood friend for sushi in charlottesville. It was really great..we may have to go back.Mandi and I..we were friends in kindergarten..who knew we would be meeting for sushi so many years later.We watched Petey for a bit..I didn't get many photos of him. But this one reminded me of E.T.My parents came to visit so we could go to the Cooper SPCA festival. Now, normally..I would not post of a photo of my mother like this..BUT it is a bit of revenge for what is to come.


We head to Cooper Vineyards for the annual SPCA festival with all the greyhounds. Kristen, Gyeong, Bob and my parents came along as well. We corralled the greyhounds on their new tasting deck. it made it really easy b/c we didn't have to hold leashes. The deck was enclosed so they weren't able to get anywhere.And then my mom takes my camera. She isn't accustomed to the shutter speed on the 7D and just did the paparazzi thing and fired at will. I decided since we had a million photos from her, I would post some of them no matter how degrading they may be for me.She liked to zoom in and just fire off..without really waiting for us to prepare...
After about 25 photos, I had to get stern..of course she kept snapping!I wasn't really mad..I couldn't that gig for long..But we had a nice picnic of cheese, meats, crackers and Cooper wine.The dogs watched people milling about down below. And the old ladies conversed.Of course, no real surprise as to where Cali ended up..Then my mom took the camera again..and I have a million of these..So Gyeong turned tried retaliationAnd this is what I call "And then the wheels fell off"

The next weekend, Richmond had its Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival..which is always a fun, if not unusual time. The crowd is definitely different from what we are used too at the wine festivals! Gyeong and Jason are the Bourbon drinkers..so we did a lot of watching.You never know what you will see if you are observant..And they brought 9 dogs with them and we had 7 already..so it made for a very doggie evening!
We have a few more fun things planned before it gets blistering hot...