Simone

Simone passed away peacefully here at home last night with the help of our vet. Her pain became unbearable the last few hours of her life, and we realized the best thing to do was to set her free. She was surrounded by people who loved and cared for her in her final hours, and we were able to make her comfortable enough to drift off to sleep before she passed on. We are thankful to have been her parents the past 10 years, and will forever hold her in our hearts.♥

Carley and Gary

Simone in her Walkin' Wheels

Dungeness Inspector

Simone checks out our score of Dungeness crabs from our outing with our neighbor Tammy on Alsea Bay.

Walkin Wheels

Simone walks again with the help of her Walkin' Wheels cart.

Prison Break and Simone's New Chair

Well, Simone's incarceration lasted less than 30 minutes on the first day we left her unattended inside the corral. She managed to bend the wire in several places (not easy for us to do with hands, let alone a mouth) and then push the cage to the edge of the bed where she then limboed underneath it to get out. Gary found her lying on the carpet a short distance away, apparently unharmed. And rather than risk another expensive doggie dentist bill should she break a tooth or two or do even more damage to her back trying to escape, we have decided to just let her be. She doesn't seem to move much during the day, so we will continue to allow her to just lie on the bed in the living room and do our best to get home in a timely fashion.

In the meantime, the doggie wheelchair we ordered from a company in New Hampshire arrived today. We got it in the hopes that it would give her more freedom of movement (and also help save our backs). It is a bit complicated to set up and strap her into, but we're getting the hang of it.

Simone wasn't quite sure what to make of the contraption at first. Gary had to coax her with treats to walk, but it worked. After a short time, she got the hang of it and realized that she could now move of her own accord. She is also able to go potty while in the chair, which is a relief. It took her a little time to figure this out, but now using the chair is like going on a regular walk. We are still keeping the distances and time out short, but it's been a big help. Simone's only complaint is that she can't lie down or roll on the grass when strapped into the cart. We're getting pretty good at figuring out when she wants to do that though, and will quickly unstrap her so that she can.

We continue to hope that her use of the chair will only be short term, and that her rear leg paralysis is temporary, but we're glad to have a device to help her walk for as long as she needs it.

Bye Bye Maple

Simone expresses her discontent with the loud chainsaw noise coming from our front yard. Our favorite maple tree was removed this morning as it will double in size in the coming years and is too large for our yard. We were sad to see it go, but plan to replace it with another, much smaller, maple this fall.

The Prisoner

Simone had her visit with Dr. Baltzer at OSU yesterday. She determined that Simone most likely does have a bulging disc and not a soft tissue injury as initially thought. We were of course encouraged to have a CT scan to confirm this, but chose to decline. Dr. Baltzer said Simone has a 50/50 chance of recovering from this condition and regaining use of her hind leg. She said the best thing we can do is to confine her, only take her out when she needs to potty (10 minutes of assisted walking or less a couple of times a day), and give her a strong anti-inflammatory medication the next two weeks to hopefully help the discs recede. We have moved downstairs as a family for the next 8 weeks as stairs aren't allowed (our days of squalor have returned). We have also been encouraged to look into a doggie wheelchair to help support her hind leg on longer walks even after she recovers. Our neighbor Tammy loaned us her portable pen to use to enclose the bed that now sits on the living room floor to help keep Simone from scooting all around the house on her belly during the day while we are gone. Although she looks happy in the photo, she's a unhappy at the thought of being kept penned up, and whined sadly at us earlier this evening. We plan on sleeping with the fence around the bed to hopefully not just associate the pen with us leaving for work, so we're all caged up together.

The Simple Pleasures

Even though she can't do all the things she would like right now, Simone takes joy in some of the simpler pleasures in life, like lying on the ottoman chewing up a paper towel tube.

Simone Update 9/22

We received a call from the vet today, which was good because it's now been five days since Simone walked unassisted. Dr. P-K said that the radiologist's report had come back and indicated that Simone had some narrowing between two different sets of lumbar vertebrae (L2-3 and L5-6), which suggested a possible disc problem (specifically, either crushed or bulging discs). This is just one of those things that can happen to dogs as they age, and may have been exacerbated by her new three-legged walking rhythm. It's possible that she doesn't have a disc problem, that the narrowing the radiologist saw was due to her position on the x-ray table, but the only way to know for sure would be to have her undergo additional imaging (CT or MRI). If it turned out that she did have a bulging/crushed disc, the only treatment option would be surgery, and Simone is not a good candidate. We think she's been through enough and have no desire to put her through another difficult surgery if that's what is recommended. So, we have decided to wait and see. Dr. P-K has prescribed lots of rest, walks with assistance, and possibly physical therapy. We made an appointment with the vets at OSU again for another consult to see if they can determine whether her inability to use her hind leg would benefit from PT. We have an appointment on Monday and will know more then.
In the meantime, we'll just continue to take things one day at a time.

Simone Update 9/20

Just a quick note to say the visit to the vet went well today. X-rays were all negative, so no signs of cancer or fracture, which was quite a relief. Dr. P-K said it's most likely a soft tissue injury that will just take time to heal (up to 6 weeks we're told). This means we'll be slinging her to help her walk until she's able to do it in her own and just try and take it easy. No more chasing kitty cats if at all possible (although she's already duped us into helping her move several times just so she can chase Millie around the house). Her mind is certainly still there even if her body's not as willing.

The roller coaster ride continues...until next time...

GC&S

Sunday Visit to the Beach

We decided to take a spontaneous trip to the beach today.

We got lucky and had pretty good weather at the beach. No rain and only a light breeze.

Simone wasn't able to walk unassisted, but enjoyed walking on the sand and even ran to play in the water with dad's help.

After she played in the water, we sat on a blanket and watched dolphins swim by and whales spout off in the distance.

Hard not to be worried right now, but we're just trying to enjoy the moment and stay optimistic.

Sunday Morning Snuggle

Simone snuggles with dad on the ottoman.

Here Kitty, Kitty...

Simone checks out Dorrie's robotic pet cat.

Snuggle with Chad and Dad

Simone enjoys a snuggle on Dorrie's chair with Chad and dad.

New Harness

Simone's been having increasing difficulty bearing weight on her rear leg this past week, so dad sewed her a stylish new harness in her signature color of purple.

Simone Update 9/16

We took Simone to the vet today because she's been having increasing difficulty walking. She seems to not want to put any weight on her rear leg. She did chase a kitty cat pretty hard about a week ago, and we're hoping that she just strained something. Dr. Long prescribed an anti-inflammatory, some pain medication and R&R. If she's not better in about a week, we'll take her back in so they can take x-rays. In the meantime, we've reconfigured our bedroom agin, this time dismantling the bed frame and just placing the mattress on the floor to make it more accessible to Simone. We're hoping that a week's worth of taking it easy will find her feeling better and back to her old self.

Afternoon Sun

Simone soaks up the afternoon sun on the ottoman.

Mmmmm Bacon

Simone and Bailey wait patiently for a bacon treat from Tammy.

Supervising Chickens

Simone supervises a project involving the chicken coop.

Simone Surprise

Our neighbor Tammy called us tonight and wanted to make sure we'd be home as she said she had something for us. Boy, were we in for a surprise!

She had local artist Amy Charron make us a small statue of Simone. It's based on a photo Tammy took of Simone sitting on her couch this summer. The likeness is amazing!

The detail is incredible, down to the teeth and toenails. It looks just like our girl.

♥Thank you, Tammy, from the bottom of our hearts. ♥

Backyard Visitor

Simone was kept out of the backyard for 48 hours over the weekend, much to her chagrin. We found a very large female English Mastiff dog in our yard late Saturday night. She looked like she had been on the street awhile, and didn't have a collar. Rather than just let her continue to roam, we corralled her into the backyard and kept her there until animal control was able to could come pick her up Monday afternoon. If she had been smaller, we might have been tempted to keep her. We named her Maude.

Maude's story does have a happy ending as she was reunited with her owners on Tuesday. And Simone's happy that she has her backyard back.

Blackberry Picking

Our friend Matt from Wisconsin came to visit for a few days, and as it's finally blackberry season, we went picking down by Starker Arts Park. Simone enjoyed snacking on a few while she patiently waited for us to fill our picking bowl.

Clarinet Serenade

Brendan serenades Simone with his clarinet.

Family Portrait 2010

Prince Family Reunion 2010

Road Trip to Belknap Hot Springs

We all crammed into Matt and Marney's rental car for a road trip to Belknap Hot Springs, site of this year's Prince Family Reunion.

It was a tight squeeze, with Simone stuck in the middle for the 2.5 hours each way that we had to travel.

She did great though, and once she got comfortable on Uncle Matt's lap, was a pretty happy traveler.

Wake Up Kisses

Simone was so excited to see Uncle Matt this morning, she couldn't help but to wake him up with lots of kisses.

Sunset Creek Dip

After Matt and Marney unloaded the car and got settled, we went for a stroll back to the creek in Sunset Park so Simone could take a dip.

Simone engaged Uncle Matt in the rock game...the one where we throw rocks into the water for her to chase after, but never quite catch.

Simone loved every minute of it.

Aunt Marney and Uncle Matt Arrive

Aunt Marney and Uncle Matt arrived this afternoon from Nevada for a weekend visit.

Simone was so excited to see them both!

Aunt Mary and the Bear

Simone has a knack for pulling out the toy someone gave her when they come to visit. This is quite a feat if you've ever seen Simone's toy basket. Aunt Mary gave Simone this bear three years ago when she got home from the hospital from her bout with thrombocytopenia/liver failure, and she's had it ever since. Simone pulled the bear out of her toy basket this morning unprompted and took it over to Aunt Mary to play.

Hot August Morning

We headed down to the Corvallis farmers market this morning with Gary's mom Patti, Aunt Mary, and friend Linda. It was HOT...over 90°F by 10am, so Simone dodged from shady spot to shady spot while we procured our weekly produce.

We then bumped into Harriet, who was wandering around the market with a pup named Sparky.

After a quick meet and greet, we parted ways in search of cooler pastures.

Simone in the Middle

Simone soaks up some couch time at Tammy's while we are at play practice. Bailey doesn't seem overly amused, but Keisha the kitty could care less.

Simone Graduates!

Simone graduated from chemotherapy today! She had her fifth and final treatment, and tolerated it very well. We're so glad to finally be at this point!

Stand By Me

We went to Brownsville this evening to watch "Stand By Me" in Pioneer Park. The film was being shown in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the movie being filmed there. We got there early to stake out a spot and see if any celebrities showed up (we didn't see any).

Simone enjoyed a little time on the blanket with us, and got to meet quite a few other puppies.

When it got dark enough, the movie began, and we were treated to scenes of Brownsville and sounds of the crowd's delight.