Sunshine-y Day

Although Simone didn't feel too well from her chemo last night, she perked back up to her usual sunshine-y self this morning. She spent quite a bit of time sunbathing outside and chasing the kitty and the chickens.

She started to give in to temptation though and began chewing at her stitches, so we had to put the cone of shame back on. She tolerated it pretty well, and managed to keep smiling despite the embarrassing headgear.

Fortunately, her stitches are scheduled to come out on Wednesday afternoon, so the temptation won't be there much longer.

Farmer's Market

Simone was feeling so good this morning that we decided to go ahead and take her to farmer's market down on the waterfront. We made sure to get down there early so it wouldn't be too crowded.

Simone attracted a lot of attention as a puppy with only three legs. She had a lot of folks stop to talk to her and pet her and ask how she was doing. We heard many stories of positive outcomes from other parents who also had their canines go through chemo, so it gave us hope.


Simone enjoyed the change of scenery and also the strawberry dad gave her.

Chemo Begins

Simone had her first chemo treatment today.

We initially thought that we didn't want to put her through it, but were convinced by her doctors that it would be her best shot for a longer survival and overall remaining better quality of life. Gary met with Dr. Helfand, a veterinary oncologist at OSU, for several hours this morning. He said that in cases like Simone's, average survival time after amputation is around 3-5 months, while adding chemo can potentially raise that survival time to an average of 12 months. Dogs tend to tolerate chemotherapy better than humans. Simone does not have obvious signs of metastasis, her incision has nearly healed, and her bloodwork looked good, so Dr. Helfand said if we were going to start this treatment, today was the day. So, we decided to go ahead and give it a try. We've already gone further than we thought we would, so we decided to not stop now.


Gary left Simone at the hospital for the rest of the afternoon while they administered the IV. They used a drug called Carboplatin for her first treatment. Assuming all goes well, she will receive a total of five treatments over 15 weeks, one every third Friday. When Gary brought her home tonight, she ate her dinner like usual and had her same amount of energy and zip. We're told she may be a little lethargic or have less appetite tomorrow, but any possible side effects should dissipate within a day or two.


We'll just continue to take things one day at a time.

Visit to Sunset Park

We went for our first walk back to the park today.

Simone was so excited she could barely wait.

She ran through the tall grass, listened to the birds, rolled around on her back, and generally had a delightful time.

We are reconsidering chemotherapy. We set up an appointment to talk with a veterinary oncologist at OSU. We may still end up not doing it, but we've decided we at least need to hear what they have to say. More soon.

Two More Milestones

Simone mastered two more tasks today....
hopping into the truck unassisted and going up and down the stairs.

We are so excited! It's been less than a week, and she's nearly back to her old self.

The Cone of Shame

Our visit to the vet went well this afternoon; Simone's incision is healing nicely. We go back on May 12th to have her stitches out. Everything looks good except for one little red scabby spot, presumably from her licking at the sutures. We've caught her a few times and have tried to stop her, but as soon as we leave the room, she's back at it. So, we've had to begun using the cone of shame. Amazingly, she's never had to wear one of these until now. She hates it and walks with her head down, which makes it incredibly hard for her to see where she is going. We just try to get her to lie down once she's got it on and hope it won't be too miserable until her wound heals all the way.

Monday Afternoon Snooze

We had a nice, mellow day. We took it easy at home, and made sure there was lots of time for naps. Millie even came downstairs to join us.

Slumber Party

Millie and Simone claim their nighttime spots on the beds in the living room, leaving little room for their two humans.

Back to Chasing Chickens

It's now been four days since Simone's surgery, and she's nearly back to her old self. She is able to go up and down the steps from the back deck into the yard without assistance. She's also giving the chickens a run for their money again:

At this rate, we'll all be sleeping upstairs again in no time! Her incision also looks really good...it's really starting to heal nicely. We see the vet tomorrow for our first post-op visit, and suspect she'll get a good report.

She really is our miracle girl.

Hopping Around the Backyard

First Walk

We took our first walk to the mailbox today (about a block each way), and Simone walked like a pro. Her balance seems to get better every time she gets up. Going up the steps into the house has gotten a lot easier, but we're still helping her to walk down them. She gets pretty worn out after only a short distance, but we expect that will improve with time.

Fortunately she won't be running any marathons soon, so we're content to just take it easy.
Short walks and lots of naps are just what the doctor ordered.

Snuggling with Dad

Simone snuggles with dad on our makeshift family bed in the living room.

Happy to be Home

Simone rests in the backyard after checking on the chickens.

Simone's First Steps

Simone is up and walking, less than 24 hours after her surgery.
She's doing great!

Simone's Home!

We're happy to report that Simone is now home and resting. She is on a few pain meds, but off the really strong stuff, so her eyes are bright. She's still a little wobbly, but is getting around well when she needs to. Her incision looks good (no bandages, just one really long running stitch). She seems genuinely happy to be home, and I can't tell you how happy we are to have her here.

Thank you again for your kind words of support and for keeping our girl in your hearts and prayers. It means so much.

Simone Update

Just a quick note to let you all know Simone is doing great. She made it through the surgery very well, and came out of anesthesia without complication. Gary was able to visit her tonight and saw that she was comfortably hopped up on pain meds. She had already been up and walking after the procedure to go potty and appeared to be quickly adapting to life on three legs. She is resting tonight at the clinic, and we will bring her home tomorrow. We've spent the evening rearranging furniture and preparing for sleeping downstairs with her until she's ready to tackle climbing stairs.

Thank you all for your kind words and for keeping Simone in your hearts and prayers. We truly believe every good thought sent her direction today made all the difference. We may not know how much time we have left with our girl, but we're so very thankful to have her feeling better and are looking forward to every moment we get to spend with her from here on out.

Simone's Roller Coaster

We've been on quite the roller coaster ride the past 24 hours.

After several weeks of limping, Simone was diagnosed with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in her rear left leg yesterday about 4pm. As we were starting to discuss how we might handle this last night, the diseased portion of her femur broke in two (a little stress on a weakened bone = major damage). We had to decide this afternoon whether to end her suffering all together or to amputate the leg. Simone did her usual talking to us with her eyes, kept trying to leave the exam room, and wagging her tail....which we felt were all of her ways of letting us know that she wasn't ready to go just yet. So, we decided to give our consent for the amputation. Her surgery is tomorrow around noon, and we will be able to take her home on Thursday. The vet says most dogs are walking within 1-2 days and the wound is healed in about 2 weeks. We will not do additional chemo or radiation therapy. The vet said as a result of the surgery, she may be with us for another 6-18 months. With her lively spirit and love for life, we trust it will be at least that long, and if not, that she'll let us know when it's time.

It just wasn't today.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Peeking in the Hen House

Simone peeks in the hen house, making sure everyone is doing okay in their new home.

Welcome Millie

Meet Millie, Simone's new kitty. Yes, you read that right. Simone now has her very own kitty cat. We were at the vet today for x-rays, and while we were waiting, this black cat made its way over to us. She laid down next to Gary on the bench, parallel to Simone. She looked at Simone and thumped her tail in pretty much the same way Simone does. They looked at each other, we looked at them, and we felt a connection. We tried to shrug it off, but found ourselves thinking of the cat again. It's not often that Simone meets a cat that she doesn't want to chase or devour. And neither Gary nor myself consider ourselves to be cat people. We're dog people. Always have been. So the notion of becoming parents to a dog and a cat seemed, well...strange and silly. And yet that's where we found ourselves.

So while we were waiting for Simone to come out, we talked about it and visited with the kitty. The receptionist told us that Millie (formerly named Odeall) had been at the Heartland Humane Society for a year since her owner died. Apparently, it's hard to find black cats homes due to all the superstitions surrounding them. She's about two years old, and had a sister (Odette) who had already found a new home. After a few minutes of sitting with her, we determined that we both had a feeling about this cat. And rather than wait and come back later, we decided to just trust our instincts.

And that is how Millie came to join our family.

Simone Herds Her Chickens

Fence Me In

Simone joins the chicks in their make-shift coop.

Mother Hen

Simone keeps watch over her flock on a sunny day in our backyard.

The Nanny

Simone keeps the injured chicks within her sight at all times, making sure they are okay.

Keeping Watch

Simone keeps watch over the chicks during their first outdoor experience.

Chicken Curiosity

Both Cleo and Digby continue to be mesmerized by Simone.

Any time she pokes her head into the tub to check in on them they quickly hop onto one of the feeders to get a better look at her.

Simone's been doing a great job of limiting her interest to sniffing and looking with her eyes. We're keeping our fingers crossed that she will continue to stave off investigation by way of mouth....

Simone's New Hat

As we've mentioned, Simone enjoys checking in on the chickens. We do it at least twice a day, and she would probably sit there all day watching them if she could. We've begun to notice that the feeling is becoming mutual. The chicks are becoming more and more curious about Simone, and wondering who or what this big creature is that keeps sticking her nose into their home. They have become so curious in fact that they have started hopping up onto the edge of the bathtub to get a closer look. In the past 24 hours, their desire to get a closer look has escalated to a closer feel. Digby's done it, Cleo's done it, and so has Pinky.

Simone's head has become the chicks' latest perch:

You will have to excuse our "long lost photo of Bigfoot" approach to photography, but the moment was fleeting, the bathroom was dark, and there simply was not time to adjust the settings or ask Digby or Simone if we could do it from another angle.

We really feel like we're tempting fate here any time one of the birds jumps on top of Simone's noggin!

Easter Visit to the Long Tom River

We decided to take an Easter picnic lunch with Ted, Marney and Lobo out to the Long Tom River.

We skipped some stones and Simone chased after them in the river while Lobo watched from the shore.

We took a little stroll and Simone found a giant stick to pick up.


After our stroll, we enjoyed our lunch on the tailgate of the truck, and then Marney, Ted, and little Lobo headed for points south. We look forward to visiting them in Nevada next month!

A visit for Simone

Simone received three visitors today: Aunt Marney, Uncle Ted, and Uncle Ted's latest addition to the family: an eight week old Kelpie puppy named Lobo.

Isn't he sweet?

Simone did really well with Lobo. She didn't snap at him too much (only when he got too close to her carrot), shared some of her toys with him, and tolerated him the rest of the time. He's really tiny and he was always underfoot and trying to figure out if Simone had some milk for him!

Watchful Eye

Simone has been doing a great job when it comes time to check in on the chickens. She has had a few opportunities when one has flown up onto the edge of the bathtub for a closer look at her and she's resisted the urge to devour. Instead, she's contented herself by giving them a little sniff and keeping a watchful eye on their activities.

And then there were four....

Our flock has grown, and we now have four chicks: Pinky, Patsy, Cleo (on top of the feeder in the photo above) and Digby Chicken Caesar. Since Simone doesn't really want to share her blog with the birds, we decided to set them up their own at http://www.thechickenchronicles.com

Although I hoped the chickens would benefit from a steady stream of classical music during the daylight hours, I have to agree wholeheartedly with my friend Carol who grew up on a farm....chickens are NOT smart. They are not at all like Simone and will never be able to compete with her ever increasing vocabulary and ability to spell. Oh well. I think Simone prefers it that way. The chickens are entertaining for the three of us to watch though, and Simone's so funny....when I ask her if she wants to go see the chickens, she stands right up....and then licks her lips.

Let's hope nurture overrules nature.

Monday Night Snuggle

Snuggles never get old in our house. Here Simone enjoys a Monday night snuggle with mom on the couch.

Guess who's living in the bathtub?

After several years of discussion, we decided to take the plunge and get a few chickens.

Simone isn't too sure about this.

She's only known birds as fun flying creatures good for chasing, and now there are two of them living in our bathtub for the next several weeks. Until they get bigger and we have time to build them a proper chicken coop, that is.


In the meantime, we're taking time to sit with her and the birds and hope that her ability to listen to us will outweigh her desire to pick them up and shake them. Or devour them.

Against the advice of others, we've decided to go ahead and name them.

Meet Pinky, a Silver Laced Wyandotte.


And Patsy, a Buff Orphingon.


We also have plans to add two more to the flock, a couple of Ameraucanas (a.k.a the ones that lay the blue or green eggs) as soon as we are able to locate them.

In the meantime, Simone will be patiently watching.

When One Pillow Just Isn't Enough...

Simone's latest pillow configuration:
one lengthwise under her torso, and one crosswise under her head.

This girl certainly likes to be comfortable!

Spring Bike Ride

After a long hiatus (we won't say how long), we decided to break out the bikes and bike trailer and go for a family bike ride on a sunny almost spring day.

We rode three miles down to Avery Park, laid down on the grass to watch the clouds until Simone couldn't take the inactivity any more, and then rode back home.

She did surprisingly well in the bike trailer, and had no problem getting in and watching the scenery go by.


It went so well we will definitely do it again soon!