Cancer Sucks

Joanne and Jane

So my sisters oncology team has decided Joanne will need 15 more radiation treatments now that her chemo is over, her tumors have shrunk, but not enough to make them happy.

Joanne remains positive, not sure how, we are all a mess, worried sick for her, but not able to show it. 
I take comfort in knowing that she is happier right now then she has ever been in her life.  She has a partner who loves the ground she walks on, who will do anything she can to make her days filled with joy, she has 3 children to care for, something Joanne always wanted but never had .  They just moved to their forever home and it is beautiful, with any luck Joanne will be able to enjoy it for many years to come.

Stuff

Lync happily retrieves his bumper, photo by Andy Hurley

I have begun training Lync to retriever his bumper.  It is fun to learn a new sport and I am enjoying it so far.  I would love to attempt his WC this August at the Canadian National held in Kamloops.
I need to get serious about having him bring the bumper back to me, or at least in the vicinity of me! He happily runs out to retrieve it but thinks it is a great prize and doesn't want it taken away. 

I have started "hold" at home, he is doing pretty well with that after just a few lessons.
He has retrieved bumpers with feathers on them and thinks they are great!  He has yet to retrieve an actual bird, hopefully we will be doing that this week.

I also need to decide which dog shows we will attend this summer.  There will be a Flatcoat booster in August at Spruce Meadows so that one is a given.  It is 4 days of showing so I am not sure whether to enter all 4 days, I am leaning toward doing that though, crazy not to enter when there is competition available for points :)   This will be the first time for me to show Lync myself, I am very excited !  Lync will be 10 months old tomorrow, time is going way too fast!  I may have to "borrow" one of Liz's 10 week old puppies for a bit :)

There will be Scenthurdle on the Saturday at Spruce Meadows as well so Kort will be able to do that.  I am not sure what to do with Tate, he loves to be home now, he is very unsettled when he is not, but I can't leave him home as Brad works 12 hour shifts and with his commute he is gone from home for 14 hours each day.  We are able to stay at a friends place, well in their heated garage, which is fine with me! Hopefully Tate won't mind it, and the dog show is outside so he can lay in his x pen at the show.
Speaking of Tate his appetite has been off the past week, that worries me, he has always been a good eater , I increased his metacam a bit today to see if that helps,  poor guy, getting old sucks .

That is pretty much all the is happening in my end of the world, my van has been at the body work place for 6 days now, I hope I get the call soon that he is finished.  I really hate driving Brad's car.

Kort, Lync and Tate enjoying the perfect summer weather , how lucky am I to have 3 wonderful dogs that I absolutely adore!!

A little of this, A little of that

Crusier

Last night I got an email from Peg Vohr who is Tate's breeder, she had to put Tate's litter brother Crusier to sleep.  He was fine the night before but when they got up the next morning he had lost the use of his legs, most likely a stroke.
It unnerved me, knowing this happened, I know at this age anything can happen, at anytime, to Tate as well.  He has had 2 serious episodes in the last 6 months and come out of both, but I know how lucky we have been, and we might not get so lucky the next time something happens.

This morning I had Brad put Tate up on the grooming table so I could cut out a few matts he has in his bloomers.  I no longer brush matts out of him, it is way too hard on him and shaving them out is way faster and easier.  I cut his nails as well as trimmed the bottom of his feet.  At one point while brushing him I burst into tears, it doesn't seem that long ago that he was a puppy, up on that very same table being brushed out, now here he is at 12 years old, having trouble standing on the table without falling over and giving me grief about holding his feet to cut his nails.  Time goes by so fast, especially with dogs,  it is so unfair.

Then there is Kort.  He started limping a couple of days ago after running in the park with Lync.  He has stopped limping now but I hate that I have to limit his fun. I will need another ex ray of his back at some point to see how his sponylosis is progressing.  He should be going for regular chiropractic sessions but I am not able to afford it right now.  I am trying to get weight off of him, he is fat!  Eating raw is agreeing with him but I need him to be much thinner for his own good, it makes it difficult though when I can't have him doing alot of exercise or he limps.

Lync is perfect!  Love this puppy to bits!!!! He has been the best medicine for me in my own healing process.  He takes my mind off all of my worries.

I am still not working, tomorrow will be 7 months since my accident.  I had my CT scan a week ago, it shows that the bone has healed, however I still have pain, sometimes it's sharp, at times dull, sometimes its a shooting pain across my chest or a constant aching.  Right now it is very sore as I lifted Tate off of the grooming table.  I am going to see an orthopedic surgeon just to see what he has to say.  My Dr recommended I go.  As far as going back to work, who knows, I thought I might be ready, but now I am just not sure.  I need to be mentally ready to return as well as physically and I am not sure I am quite there yet.

I took my van yesterday to get the body work done, to get rid of all the rust on it, then to be painted .  Right now it has the silver hood on it from Johnny, I will be kind of sad to see it painted, but at the same time it will mean I can put this accident behind me finally so that is a good thing.

This year has alot of things coming up to be thankful for.  I have my flatcoat finally! I am hoping to get to some dogs shows and show him myself.  I want to attend the Canadian Flatcoat National at the end of August, hopefully with Brad!!
It is my nieces Wedding on New Years Eve, that means I will be spending Christmas in Thunder Bay with my family, exciting!! Brad will be coming out for the Wedding as well.  It has been a very long time since Brad and I have attended any kind of celebration, we are looking forward to it!
I am worried about my dogs though.  Lync will be staying with Judy, which he will love!  Kort will be with Amanda but I worry about him as he is a mommas boy.  Tate, well God willing he is still with me,  will hopefully be at Amanda's.  I will have to play it by ear, if he is sick , I will have to stay home.
My brother will never forgive me if I miss my nieces wedding.  He would never understand putting a dog first, but I can't leave Tate if he is not well, I would never forgive myself, it is not an easy decision to make, it sucks either way .

Ok, that's all the updating I've got for now!

Agility Regionals

Going to try my best to write a post!! It is hard to find the time these days , then I get lazy.

I spent this past weekend at the Regional Agility Championships held here in Lethbridge.  My friend Kim and I were the volunteer coordinators.  We thought it would be a relativley easy job, we were wrong!!

Finding volunteers was like pulling teeth, no one wanted to volunteer, if they did they wanted to do it for only 1 day, or half days, a handful of people were able to commit to full days, 8am to 5 pm.  I totally understand!  You work all week , not everyone wants to spend their days off "working"
Kim and I were in total panic in the week leading up to the event.  Almost every person who signed up to volunteer was a stranger to us, not only that but none had any experience!

There are key positions that you should have experience for, Gate Steward being one, this person is in charge of their entire group.  They need to make sure they are there, ready in line, they need to inform the ring crew when to change the jump heights, they have to inform the timer if there is a time option change and they have to answer numerous questions while doing so!

In the week leading up to the event Kim and I got together every day for 4-5 hours to work on scheduling.  We texted each other continually, day and night, asking each other questions or telling the other of any new developments.
The Thursday before Regionals we had a training night, we split into 2 groups to train our group how to do the jobs they were assigned to.

This event had over 200 entries, just to give you an idea of how big it was.  There were 3 rings all going at the same time that Kim and I had to monitor and make sure they were running smoothly.  We had to step in if needed to help, one morning I was helping gate steward, pole set, leash run & scribe run all at the same time!

On Saturday it poured rain the ENTIRE day! buckets and buckets of rain, the poor ring crew had to sit in it all day.
Kim and I were also asked to register exhibitors, hand out any merchandise that had been bought, answer continuous questions on what time a ring started, or where a group was to go next, why their merchandise wasn't there, if they could exchange one shirt for another size, where were the results, when was the banquet, or how long was the break.

All this being said it worked out wonderfully!  Our volunteers were amazing, they never complained, not once!  Many of them asked to be called back if we ever need volunteers again.
The exhibitors were very appreciative to all of us, making sure to thank us , or give us a hug, and say good job!  I had a fantastic time!! My body however was ready to die by Sunday night.

Would I do something this big again? Probably not lol, but it was a learning experience and I am very glad I did it .

Crazy Busy!!!

Lync's official picture from the National

Omg I have been on the go for what seems like forever!!!  Only have time for a very quick post.

Lync finally came home last night after his vacation in Oregon and showing at the Flatcoated Retriever Club Of America National Specialty Show.

Lync took a 4th place in the 9-12 month Puppy Sweepstakes Class on the first day , then on the second day in Regular judging he took 1st Place!!! Totally amazing and so very thrilling!

Thank you so much to his breeder Liz for handling him there , and major thanks to Judy for taking such great care of my boy for the 3 weeks!

Photo by his breeder Liz taken after his Sweepstakes win