Just got back from our weekly chemo, and it was a long one today. There were lots of emergencies with animals that took precedence over a routine treatment, so instead of a four hour trip it took us six hours. Long story short, everything is doing well with Lily, she gained another half lb, all her bloodwork was good, and we’re down to a quarter tablet of prednisone a day and a quarter tab of plavix.
While it took a long time, it was not that terrible because it was (and still is) such a gorgeous day. It’s the first time in weeks where there were no clouds in the sky, and it is a comfortable 80 degrees with (for WV) very little humidity. When I woke up this morning and went outside, I was hit with a wall of smells- everything is blooming at once, and all you can smell anywhere in my littler area of the world is honeysuckle and sweet blooming everything. I swear I smelled some lilac, but it is kind of late for that, I thought. It was so strong I called my dad- “Have you been outside? Am I having a stroke or is the air thick with a floral scent?” He assured me that I am not having a stroke and that he planted some gladiola bulbs three days ago and there are already shoots.
At any rate, it was so nice that after I dropped Lily off, I went to Trader Joe’s, which I know a lot of people just swear by and I like, but I am consistently underwhelmed by it. Regardless, I picked up some of those sesame crackers I adore and I got a container of cauliflower tabbouleh that was AMAZING.
I wish I could describe just how lush and green everything is for all you folks in cities and out west, but I guess pictures will have to do. If I had to describe it I would say it is what everyone thinks Ireland looks like or maybe I would say it looks like video game jungle green- it’s that green! Here are some pics from the ride home:
Since I know my audience, let me say some things before you go nitpicking ballistic in the comments. I the first picture, I was going 3 mph when I took the picture and no one was behind me so, no, I was not being unsafe in the middle of the road. This is WV. I could have stopped and taken a piss in the middle of the road and likely not seen anyone. And for the exceptionally curious, I was listening to OutKast ATLiens. In the second picture, yes, I am aware dogs should not ride with their heads out the window and that airbags can kill a dog but she only rides like that when we are on rural roads going very slow and also she has cancer so we’ll just roll the fucking dice and live a little. So don’t even start with me. Also, in the second picture, that’s one of the corn plots for a local farm and it has grown a full foot in just the last week.
Finally a shot of our girl, happy to be home and strutting her stuff after helping to water the lawn:
Finally, check out the grass we planted last week:
Tomorrow afternoon and Saturday we are planting the shrubbery, digging half the hostas and transplanting them out back, tilling the back yard, and hopefully putting down the top soil and then seeding it.
Ok, there was your break and Lily update, back to our regularly scheduled dystopic Trumpian horror show.
cain
Looking good! It’s hotter’in hell here in Denver. I actually had to turn on the damn A/C. :)
BTW did anybody show any interest in the cat bleg. I was out all day yesterday so didn’t see the comments.
@Tamara when we doing Balloon Juice meet up? Also today there is a protest at ICE headquarters.. I hope there is large crowd. I can’t make it as it’s not easy to reach by public transport.
Elizabelle
Yea Lily. And rocking another cute little bow.
I particularly like the dog’s head photo, the view out the window.
Miss Bianca
Yay, Lily!
Wow, my parched-as-literal-dust Western state self, where we have been under fire ban since freaking MARCH, is just gasping at the green, rolling hills of West Virginia.
That is all.
John Revolta
HEY COLE YA SHOULDNT OUGHTA aw shit NEVER MIND
lurker dean
aww, what a good girl, so glad the treatment is going well.
Roger Moore
Trader Joe’s is nice as a supplement to conventional supermarkets, but it has severe limits as a sole, or even primary, place to buy food. They have a much better selection of some kinds of food, like cheese and nuts, than most supermarkets. Having only store brands for most goods is also nice for those of us who suffer from analysis paralysis when faced with too many choices. That said, their meat and produce sections are very weak compared to most supermarkets, which is underwhelming for people who care more about buying ingredients than prepared foods.
LAO
Glad to hear Lily is doing well. And, I love Trader Joe’s and would starve too death without it — I’m not even talking about frozen foods. I buy most of my meats and vegetables there as well salad mixes. I should add that I’m a indifferent cook.
Aardvark Cheeselog
Went to bed last night half-expecting to have to take my dog for her final vet visit today… a few days ago, she ate a piece of daughter’s underwear and it seemed the disagreement might prove fatal. Yesterday we were at the vet, who took some X-rays and then offered two treatment plans: option 1 was at least a night in the clinic, with a dose of barium contrast agent and more X-rays so that they could actually see how bad she was blocked up, and option 2 was surgery.
My previous dog died after surgery to remove carpet that he’d eaten, and I’ve resolved never to put another animal through that. Open-gut surgery is a dicey proposition even with human-grade standards of treatment, and dogs don’t even get real hospitalization. It was really, really awful.
But today she is moving around, drinking without vomiting, keeping down the sucralfate the vet gave us to help up her mucus production, and she even ate breakfast. She’s not out of the woods yet but things are looking up.
Waratah
Glad Lily is doing so well.
I am so envious of your lush green because we are in still in drought.
Gin & Tonic
But you didn’t include the speedometer in the picture, so you could have actually been going 70 and are now lying to us.
LAO
@Aardvark Cheeselog: Good luck! My fingers are crossed for your doggo.
JPL
@Aardvark Cheeselog: I hope the news continues to be good.
Gemina13
It looks a lot like Washington state. I’m loving June here so far. Nice comfortable temperatures, greenery all over the place, and Rainier cherries for sale everywhere.
Lily looks so good. I’m glad she’s doing better. She seems happy to be out in the sunshine and green grass too.
kindness
I wasn’t familiar with this new ‘rule’ that we aren’t supposed to let our pups stick their heads out the windows of moving cars. Yes I can see how it might hurt them at some point but I also know we have just as much a chance of being beaned by a meteor. Screw that new rule.
rikyrah
Thank you for the update, Cole.
Say hello to the beautiful, Lily :)
Doug R
Nah, you were just pretending to be a plane taking off.
Greenergood
Years-long lurker, v. occasional commenter : So, so glad about Lily! Any news of your nester chicks that have unnested – are they hanging out near you with their mom and dad
?
Mnemosyne
We take Annie to the kitty dermatologist tomorrow for a checkup. I am expecting giggles at her lion cut, but she really seems to love it. She’s so much more active now, and yet we’re spacing her medication dose out little by little.
donnah
Thanks for the Lily update. She looks great; perky and sweet.
I live in SW Ohio and we’re enjoying that same clear, sunny weather and it sure beats the humidity of several days ago. I just drove to Suffolk, VA last week, so I got a tour of West Virginia in the mix. Looking beautiful and lush!
And I am driving to Asheville this weekend, so I’ll take the same route east. I’ll get plenty of landscapes this month!
FunLady75
so glad to hear good news for Lily….luv this blog…
SiubhanDuinne
Lily is lovely, as always. Very happy she’s doing so well with the chemo and other meds.
Pictures like those remind me of why WV is one of my favourite states to drive through. All that lush greenery!
@Aardvark Cheeselog:
Sorry your pup has been in distress and that you have had such sad worries. I do hope the news continues to be hopeful.
Planetpundit
Keep going Sweetest Lily. THX, JOHN!
M4
Yes, us durn cityfolk ‘litists have never spent time in nature and certainly none of us grew up outside of cities.
Glad Lily is well.
stinger
Geez, stay in your lane, driver!
Glad things are going so well for Lily and for your olfactory sense.
ETA: Sorry, hadn’t read the entirety of the post when I commented. Backsies?
RedDirtGirl
I am also mostly underwhelmed by Trader Joe’s. But did discover that they have very nice sweet potato crackers. Delish!
Shell
Omigosh, Lily’s looking really well. Im thinking she could sponsor her own line of bow ties!
********
You’re right about the weather. Today was so beautiful; the kind of day you wish all Summer could be like. After what felt like endless weeks of rain, gray and spirit-crushing humidity.
cain
@Aardvark Cheeselog:
That’s really amazing to hear! Sending warm thoughts to the pup.
Nicole
Thanks for the update. A friend of mine from my high school years (we spent every weekend for years at the Rocky Horror Picture Show) is being treated for stage 4 colon cancer, and things don’t look great, and it’s nice to be reminded that not all cancer patients respond the same. I mean, I know, dog =/= human, but love is love and it’s nice to read good updates. The photos are gorgeous, too.
zhena gogolia
We love you, Lily. Yes, it’s green like that here too. Just lovely. Apparently going to be 100 degrees Mon or Tues, though. I haven’t turned the A/C on yet at all, so we’re going full blast into hell and it will be jarring.
Paula
It’s so great that Lily is doing well!
Heidi Mom
Thanks for the photos of a lovely dog and a lovely landscape. I’ve asked my brother, who’s visited Ireland several times, whether it’s really greener than central PA, and he said he thinks central PA might be greener than Ireland.
Yarrow
Lily girl! She looks great! So glad she’s doing so well. Love her new bow. So pretty.
I just love WV in the summer. Such a gorgeous state. Nice weather, usually. I know what you mean about those empty roads. Literally no one will be there.
Speaking of dogs hanging their heads out cars, I was behind a car the other day that had a dog hanging its head out the passenger front seat window and then the dog kept moving further out. First the head, then head and neck, then paws down the car door, then half its torso dog the door. I was terrified the dog would fall out. The dog was wearing some kind of harness and it was possible someone was in the car holding on to the dog or harness or maybe a leash, but I couldn’t tell. Finally they turned off and that was that. I hope that dog was okay. We were going about 40-45 mph so it was rather dangerous if the dog had fallen out.
Scamp Dog
@Aardvark Cheeselog: My border collie had surgery twice to remove rocks she had eaten, and made it through both surgeries with little trouble. Of course rocks are a lot smaller than a dog’s stomach, and clothing can fill up a big fraction, so they’re not really the same situation. Best of luck to you and your dog! Hopefully this turns out to be funny story and a not-too-horribly-big vet bill.
bluefish
Was just commenting to a friend how lush and verdant this spring-summer has been here in Va. Hurrah on the Lilly update — such good news. As for landscaping and yard work, I take my hat off to you — feel exhausted just thinking about it but it’ll be swell. Your house is a gem.
Thanks for these happy Lilly and Co. letters and the photographs. They help a lot.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
You ever drive on a rural WV road?? I suspect not – 70 is OK on the highways, but on a rural road you wouldn’t ever make it up to 70! 25 or 30 is the upper limit on most of them.
But you all know that… ;-)
MazeDancer
Digging hostas is hard work. Though mightly rewarding in how happily they transplant.
You likely know this, but soaking the ground around them first really helps. Soak one while you’re digging another.
Wonderful to hear Lily doing so well. (Knocking wood for that continuing strongly and longly.)
nicdanger
What a girl! Am so happy for the both of you!
J R in WV
Oh, yeah! John, great pictures. The sunshine and green landscape helps, as does sweet Lily, who is so cute.
You guys hang in there!
workworkwork
@Roger Moore: I noticed that myself. I do the cooking in our place and I enjoy it. Trader Joe’s isn’t for people who like to cook.
There is a local place however (Tony’s Market) which is GREAT for people who like to cook. I go there to pick up items for special occasion menus. It’s pricey but great quality.
pinacacci
That last pic makes her look so big! Go Tiger Lily
pinacacci
What I meant to link