December Dissapointment

We received a call from Jeremy, the head trainer at 4 Paws for Ability, yesterday with some very disappointing news.  They had a whole litter of Golden Doodles in the final stages of training and we new that one of them would be Dawsyn's.  They were all gorgeous, smart dogs and we were excited to have one of them come live with us.  


As it happens, this particular litter has a quirk.  They all have skin/sensory issues and cannot tolerate the harness  or other skin "annoyances".  This means, that after all this training, they cannot be placed as service dogs.  Having previously been through a ten-day training program with Jeremy, we have full confidence that if this problem could have been trained out of these dogs, he is the man to do it.  He can't.  What a great disappointment for us and for the training team!  


Because Dawsyn needs a hypo-allergenic dog, this means another wait until they have another poodle cross suitable.  Possibly April.  


We are reeling from the news and wondering why, exactly, we have had such a run of bad dog luck.  Milkyway wasn't even two years old and had only been with us for 50 weeks when he died of cancer and now a WHOLE LITTER of dogs that would have been suitable cannot be placed.  We can't help but wonder if we are just not meant to have a service dog.  Please pray that we will have clear guidance over the next days as we have to make a decision about what to do.  


Also, we have already booked our flights for December so pray that we can cancel them without penalty.

NT vs SN (stolen from a friend)

Neuro-Typical (NT)  moms volunteer in the classroom to help out.
Special needs moms volunteer so they can take notes on whether the school program is appropriate for their child.

... NT moms look forward to an "empty nest."
Special needs moms wonder who will take care of their kids after they're gone.

NT moms read their children stories.
Special needs moms read their children social stories.

NT moms try to cope and accept their child's imperfections.
Special needs moms whose children are labeled imperfect or defective, nurture them to the full beautiful gifts from God that they are.

NT dads wrestle with their boys for play.
Special needs dads worry their child won't recognize when wrestling would be inappropriate and instead must teach them, "Keep your hands to yourself."

NT moms are asked to chaperone for field trips.
Special needs moms are required to be there just so their child can go on the field trip.

NT moms take their child's developmental milestones for granted.
Special needs moms realize what a miracle the human body is to be able to do what it does after spending hundreds of hours teaching our kids to roll over, crawl, walk, eat, play, etc.

NT moms cringe when their daughter misses a step or gets confused during a ballet recital.
Special needs moms cry special tears as their child painstakingly holds up one foot while leaning on a chair and says, “Look, mommy, I’m doing ballet.”

Is no news, really good news?

I have been horrid at blogging our journey!  It seems that living life just gets in the way of writing life.  I will start writing my Christmas letter soon but figured a quick update was in order before then.


Ben works hard, fishes as often as he can and doesn't golf nearly enough.  He enjoys photography and started his own blog to post weekly pictures.  He's not been happy with the format so has been about as faithful to his blog as I am to mine!  Stay tunes as we are searching for a better way to share his photos.


Marvel still hates doing laundry and cleaning house.  Some things never change!  Weekly golf was a favorite summer activity.  For the first time ever, summer was over too quickly.  I would happily have kept the kids home for another couple of weeks.


Matt is in Grade 9 at Didsbury High School.  He loves school, not so much for the education part as for the social aspect!  We enjoyed a summer of teenagers in our yard.  Water fights, campfires, s'mores and hotdogs.  I love having them around!


After many years of petitioning neurologists, Dawsyn has finally been weaned off Clonazepam.  She is much more alert, is learning so much more easily and is having fewer tonic clonic seizures.  It's been a great year!  Next appointment is October 5 when we'll decide whether or not to start weaning another drug.  


We have had a few dogless months but are planning our next visit to 4 Paws for Ability in December to meet our new Service Dog.  We are excited about the prospect of welcoming a new dog into the family but are less than thrilled with the prospect of two weeks away from home right before Christmas.  


I am having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that we will be in Ohio with a whole bunch of strangers.  I know we will meet lots of wonderful families again this time but can't help but wish that some of our "old" service dog family was going to be there too!  

Blessed

We have just heard back from a veterinary oncologist who has confirmed the tumour to be osteo sarcoma.  He suggested that even with an amputation, Milkyway would only have a few more months.  Our veterinarian has advised euthanasia sooner rather than later. 

As you can imagine, we are heartbroken.  

Three Months with No Post and This is What you Get!!

Okay, so here’s how the story has been unfolding …

Last July, Milkyway hurt his knee.  We let him rest it up and it healed.  This February, he injured it again and this time, it did not heal on its own.  We believed it was a torn cruciate ligament and would require surgery.   For those of you more scientifically literate than I, this is the vet’s description:

On physical exam, it was found that he was Grade V/VI lame and had a cranial drawer present in his left hind stifle joint, indicating an injury to the cranial cruciate ligament. Cruciate ligament injuries are most successfully treated with a surgery called a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO). Without surgery, the lameness will persist and arthritis will occur.

This morning, I took Milkyway in for his surgery.   About the time the surgery was supposed to begin, I got a call from the vet.  They had seen things on the x-ray that complicated matters and that made them decide that surgery was not the route to take at this time.   

There is a tumour on the knee and the consensus is that it is most likely cancer.   He needs a biopsy to determine what kind of cancer and whether or not it is spreading.   If it is a localized, non-spreading cancer, we can amputate and have a three-legged pet for many years.  If it is a spreading cancer, we can amputate and hope that it hasn’t seeded itself elsewhere.  If it is a rapidly spreading cancer, amputation may just lead to further discomfort for a life that will be far too short anyway.   From our financial standpoint, chemo and radiation are not an option for a dog; even a well-trained and well-loved dog.  

I guess the question of what we do next depends entirely on the result of the biopsy.  Regardless of what we do, we no longer have a service dog, we have a very expensive pet! 

On that note, 4 Paws will provide us with a new service dog as quickly as possible at no cost.  However, our next question is, do we really want another dog?  We would still have the expense of travelling and staying in Ohio to train with a new dog. 

At this moment, the thought of having a daughter with Dravet’s Syndrome, a disabled dog AND a second dog is almost more than I can bear!

Prayers for wisdom and grace will be greatly appreciated!!

2010 Christmas Letter

                                                                             December 2010

          As Christmas cards and letters slowly filter in, I realize how desperately far behind I am!   It is long past time for me to get busy writing my own annual missive.

          I remember being told that every year will speed by more rapidly than the last.  That is certainly proving to be true!   This past year has, in many ways, been uneventful but in others has seen much change.   

Matthew has grown from a boy to a man, complete with moustache and crackly voice!   He switched schools this year and has benefitted greatly from the change.  He quickly found his niche in his new environment and is doing well socially and academically.  He is enjoying the opportunity to be part of a band and has learned two new instruments.  In addition to continuing to play the piano, he also plays the tenor saxophone and timpani.  In January he will also be trying his hand at guitar. 

Matt played basketball last winter and baseball again in the spring.  He is also part of our church youth group and keeps very busy with their weekly activities.  We have found ourselves in that stage of life where a major part of our parenting job is taxi service!

Dawsyn has experienced a more stable year health-wise than some in our resent past.  She has averaged only 24 seizures a month this year which is a marked improvement on past years.  This decrease in seizure activity has meant that she is better able to learn and we’ve seen considerable improvement in her reading, math and verbal language skills.   However, this past November, we met a new neurologist who is confident that we can have much better seizure control than what we currently have.  He strongly feels that Dawsyn is overmedicated which is something we have been concerned about for years!  He has suggested a number of possible treatments and we have made some big decisions. We are very excited to be reducing her medications and seeing the accompanying alertness and eagerness to learn.  Dawsyn will also be receiving a Vagus Nerve Stimulator which is intended to interrupt seizure activity with electric charges (it is similar to a pacemaker for heart patients).  We look forward to continued improvement in Dawsyn’s overall health and abilities. 

For Ben and I, nothing much seems to change from year to year.   Ben continues to work for UFA and enjoys fishing and photography in his spare time.  We both try to golf a least once a week when the weather allows and are always sad to see the greens covered for the winter.  I continue to do a lousy job of keeping house but do enjoy cooking so manage to at least feed my family decently!  I am still leading a Ladies Bible Study once a week and thoroughly enjoy my preparation and teaching time.

We are at a loss to explain how we somehow went through the entire summer without a holiday or even a weekend camping trip!  We love to camp and were quite disappointed not to have taken the trailer out at all.  We hope to make up for it next summer!   Fortunately, we were able to take our annual trip to Mexico in March and thoroughly enjoyed our time relaxing by the pool, walking the sandy beaches and spending precious time with Paola and her little family.   Our tickets are already booked for our 2011 trip! 

We are looking forward to Christmas here at home and then spending a couple of days with my siblings and their families at Mom and Dad’s over New Years.   To you, we wish a Christmas and New Year filled with God’s peace and blessing!

                                                Love from,

                                                     Ben, Marvel,

Matthew & Dawsyn

P.S.  To see more of Ben's awesome photos, go to http://benandmarvel.wordpress.com.