What a Roller Coaster!!!!

Where to begin....It all started on September 7, 2010 when I finally made an appointment for Maggie after she'd been cough for several days. I was lucky enough to get into Noah Animal Hospital the same afternoon that I called. The doctor did some blood work and prescribed some antibiotics and cortisone pills for the cough. In that same visit her blood work came back with high ALT levels. ALT is short for alanine transferase. This is an enzyme that is present in the cells in the liver. In order for it to be found in elevated quantities in the blood stream, liver cells have to be leaking the enzyme. So rises in this enzyme indicate damage to liver cells sufficient to cause them to leak the enzyme. He gave her some pills to stabilize that as well. We made a second trip on September 15, 2010 as he wanted to run her blood work again to see if the medication had worked. It did help but it also showed that her kidney and creatin levels had increased this time. While waiting for the doctor to call us in I was rubbing Maggie and discovered a rock like bump on her belly. I mentioned this to him during our appointment. He took out a needle and took some fluid from the bump. He ran in on a slide under his microscope and did not like the looks of it and told me he would have to do surgery. Luckily she was already scheduled to have her teeth cleaned on September 17, 2010. He told me he'd clean her teeth and if he had time would do surgery to remove what he was now calling a tumor. I suggested removing the tumor and if he had time to clean her teeth. We we lucky that he was able to do both. We picked up Maggie that afternoon and she was completely bandaged and had beautiful teeth.



She got home and ate like nothing ever happened. We removed the bandage the following day to find about a 3" slit with 12 staples. It did not hold Maggie back, she was such a trooper and extremely inspiring. Now it was the waiting game for 10 days. Was the tumor going to come back malignant or benign. We took her in again on September 26, 2010 to have her staples removed, check her blood work once again and get the results from her tumor. Her kidney and creatin levels had balance out but the ALT levels had tripled. She is currently on meds again to decrease that level. Unfortunately he had no results on the tumor so we had to wait another coupler days. On September 28, 2010 I called to see if they had received anything from the lab. The person who answered the phone put me on hold to check to see if any results had come in. When the phone was picked up it was to doctor and he gave us the best news...Maggie's tumor was benign.

We go in again on October 16, 2010 to get it checked once again. After a little research I found that their are numerous contributors as to why those levels increase. A few being the sedation from surgery, antibiotics, etc. Our girl seems to be doing well except for this crazy cough that doesn't seem to let up. More to come on our Mag Pie.

Lets go Cats!!!

What an exciting day!! We actually got to watch the Arizona Wildcat football team play. They played in Tucson against #9 Iowa Hawkeyes. Our team has been struggling for some time but we acutally looked like a real football team. It was a great game and we managed to win 34-27. The best part is I think we were ranked #24. We had some big supporters in the house cheering on our team!

Cool Stuff

Over the weekend I was looking at my friend Tyra's pictures. I want to say her photos were labeled CM. As I browsed these photos I kept wondering where these pictures had been taken. In one of the photos I see Creative Memories. So being the person I am I googled the information and came across Creative Memories. Their website is awesome! They have some great stuff for people like me that like scrapbooking but don't want to worry about putting a page together. Their all in one kits cover that. They have these fabulous picture panels on sale right now. They some what look like canvas photos but on a smaller scale. If you get some time check out Tyra's web page. Click on my title "Cool Stuff" and it will take you to Tyra's page or look at my links mid way down on the right side.

Happy Birthday McKenzie

We can't believe she is 10! When we rescued McKenzie 3 years ago, we never stopped to think of her age. She is a wonderful girl and it has been fun watching her age over the last several years. Granted, I think she has more energy now than ever. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!! We love you so much! XOXOXO

McKenzie's Adoption

In 2007 before Cesario was going to Iraq, I had decided I really wanted a dog. My friend Delcia had 3 lhasa apsos that I thought were absolutely amazing. They were small but not to small and had a ton of personality. I had no intention on purchasing a dog from a breeder so I began my search on Petfinder.com. I came across this perfect little lhasa named McKenzie. Here is how she was advertised:

Hi, my name is McKenzie. I'm a 6-year-old, purebred, cream-colored Lhasa Apso. I'm a sweet and loving girl, an affectionate friend, and typical of my breed, I can be independent and head-strong sometimes. I will make a lovely companion for someone that wants a small, sturdy dog that's part baby doll and part diva.

My family is putting me up for adoption because I have problems living with their other small dogs. I respect big dogs, but I don't like the competition with other small dogs. If I think I can get away with it, I will bully and scare dogs smaller than me. Being an only dog with someone that has lots of time for me might be the ideal situation.

If you think you might be good enough for me, I told you that I have an attitude, then maybe I can be Forever Yours".

I put our application in April and continued to see her on the website. In June I finally called the rescue and found out that she needed to go to a home with no other dogs. We were the only applicants that qualified. This past June was 3 years that we have had our precious girl. She is definitely head strong and as many of you know we have made a couple trips to the vet hospital because she decided to whoop Maggie's butt. She has proved that she needed affection and patience. I can't say that McKenzie completely loves Maggie but I think they make great companions.

Household 6

I happened to be on Facebook this morning and came across a post on Army Wives Network that talked about Household 6. I have often heard Army people use this term but never really new where the term came from.

What is Household 6?

A military man’s wife. The head of the household. The one that keeps up with the arduous tasks of washing uniforms, picking up smelly PTs, going to the commissary and PX, raising the children, packaging care packages…you get our drift! A HH6 is the one in charge of everything!

The name is derived from where said wife spends most of her time (the household), and the number 6 is the designation for a commander of a Company/Troop, Battalion/Squadron, Brigade/Regiment, Division or Corps.

Used in a sentence – “I’d really love to go with you on the hunting trip, but household 6 pulled my weekend pass.”

Now it all makes sense!