Chemo Count: nine down, three more weeks!

Thank you for everyone's kind thoughts, cards, emails, etc regarding Shelby. We very much appreciate it. It's amazing how much she was a part of our everyday lives.

Linda completed chemo number nine (out of 12). She's had three weeks in a row with her counts above the cutoff so she's received the full dose! This last week her counts were just above the required white cell number so we're hoping it will stay up for this week - she's on the home stretch now! She continues to do amazingly well, walking almost every day for up to an hour and taking great care of Ava while I work. She is also taking a medical leave from work for awhile to focus on these last stretches of chemo and then radiation. She had been working intermittently but we felt it was important to focus on recovery.

Ava is doing great - quite the amazing little girl. She is "talking" to us and telling us all kinds of important things. We took her over to some friends' house this weekend which was fun, as we haven't gotten out much. But, now we're hoping the cold/flu season is wrapping up and we can take her out and about much more in April.

Playing with her horsey and "Meow" the kitty!

Austin had Ava in the Snugli but decided to take a little break:

Whoever invented the "Bumbo Seat" has got to be a bajillionaire. It sure is cool and Ava loves to sit in it and watch us or talk to us!

Rob.

Shelby

Growing up, I always wanted a dog, but never had the pleasure of such a faithful companion until Linda and I met. Shelby the border collie was Linda's Mother's Day gift, almost 15 years ago. Shelby was our running pal, our camping friend, and day-to-day happy face to always greet us when we came home. Shelby was boundary trained so for the first 12 or so years of her life, she was never leashed or penned during the day. She would sit in front of the house saying "hi" to passersby. The FedEx guy, the UPS guy, meter reader, and entire neighborhood all knew her. Many would walk by our house to specially greet her as she sat out front and bellowed a hello at them, tail wagging. On walks she would stop to say hello to all her friends. Anyone who has been to our house can remember Shelby greeting them up the walkway.

A few years back, Shelby started to wonder off while we were away at work. We got a call from a neighbor that said she was down at the local athletic club talking to anyone who would pet her. Social like her mom! We decided we had to put her on the back deck while we were gone. But, while we were home, the garage door was always open, so she could wonder around the house as she pleased.

A couple years ago, Shelby started slowing down noticeably. She always had bad hips, and it was amazing she ran/walked as well as she did. We decided to get onto a regimen of walking every single morning, which was great for both of us. She got back into shape and was doing well. The vet remarked last year how mentally sharp and alert she was for such an old dog.

When Ava was born, we had to be in Eugene for 2.5 months. Linda's oldest Brian kept watch of Shelby and my Mom Corrine walked her almost every day. I remember thinking that I hoped she would be okay while we were gone. And she was.

On Monday night at about 1am while up with Ava I heard her call out and found her with little use of her left side. We took her to the vet and they thought she may have had some spinal cord damage, but nothing definitive showed. She didn't show any sign of wanting to stop living, so we tried some rehab. By Friday she had improved dramatically; was walking with some assistance on her back legs but otherwise doing great - the vet was amazed at her progress. I thought she had turned the corner and was going to be okay. But Friday night she may have reinjured herself in the middle of the night, and then stopped eating and drinking. By Saturday morning she wasn't doing well and I could see in her eyes she was tired and ready to go so we took her to the vet. Shelby's whole family including Ava were by her side as she slipped away.

It's really amazing she made it through the winter at her age and with us being gone. I think she held on until she knew Linda and Ava were going to be okay, never wanting to be a burden.

We are all very sad to lose our good friend, Shelby. She was 15 years old with bad hips and deaf, but sharp to the end. We are so thankful of the many wonderful years we had with her. She enriched our lives everyday we shared with her. Godspeed, dear friend.

Here are some photos of Shelby.

Brian and Austin posing with Shelby years ago.

Austin, Shelby, and I playing in the snow.

Slip and Slide anyone?



Dogs and camping - is there anything better? Here is Shelby with our Chinese homestay girls.

A boy and his dog:

When Shelby could hear better, we would say "piggy nose!" and she would press her nose against the back door:

Partying in the backyard last year, on my Birthday:

Our grey kitty, "Meow" always rolled around Shelby. Meow thinks she is a dog.

Snowball fight? Count Shelby in (she's hard to see with her white and black camouflage).

On the back deck, where she stayed during the day.

Rob.

Counts are up!

Linda's white blood cell counts jumped back up this week to very good levels. I'm sure it's the 1.5 hour nap she had last Sunday after I talked her into it. She got the full dose of chemo so that was a good thing. Only five more to go! Her last one will be April 9th, then a few weeks off, then into radiation for about 6.5 weeks. I continued to be amazed by her resiliance given everything she has gone through. What an amazing and wonderful person I married.

We had an appointment with Linda's oncologist. He is happy with how things are progressing. When we discussed her lower counts some of the chemo sessions with him, he said he was actually happy with that, as it showed he got the dosing correct (since it's pushing her system hard enough to lower the counts). He said he would be more concerned if her counts were fine every time since then he'd think he needs to increasing the dosing!

We continue to research into ways to prevent recurrence - I've mentioned diet (low fat) and exercise help people with Linda's type of cancer (triple negative) so we continue to focus on those. Vitamin D keeps showing it may play a role in breast cancer. It's interesting how northern states (less sun and less vitamin D) have higher incidents of breast cancer than other areas of the US and so it doesn't hurt to have this checked. Linda also met with a naturopathic physician who made some dietary recommendations/changes that can help us all live healthier.

Ava is doing well! We had one of our Chinese cultural homestay friends from a couple years ago come visit this week. She is going to college in Boston now but came to the west coast for spring break. It was great to see her again and share Ava with her as well. Ava loved her big sister Alicia and they spent a lot of time together.

Ava is officially 6 months old tomorrow! We saw some of her cousins after a too long of break. Her cousin Tyler thinks she's pretty cool and was so sweet to her we had to get a picture (Ava really enjoyed him, contrary to the shocked look on her face).

Rob.