It seems a little crazy to me that my last blog post was in mid-August. I have been wanting to post an explanation for over a week now, and just haven’t found the energy. Today is the day!
The past few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster, and sadly I can’t say that it is over yet. You may be aware from posts here and on my Instagram feed in the past year or more that our beautiful dog Taika aka Miss Pig has been unwell. We discovered at the end of 2014 that her symptoms were actually most likely due to a form of pancreatic cancer.
We spent most of this year managing her symptoms well with diet. Unfortunately a few weeks ago some of the more serious symptoms returned, and she had a couple of partial seizures. She went for a CT-Scan two weeks ago, which thankfully showed no evidence of any spread, but also didn’t clearly show any masses in the pancreas (apparently this is fairly common since they can be quite small). We have made the decision to go ahead with surgery, which is happening in just over a week.
Here she is, and as you can see she looks great. Another great example of how outward appearances can be utterly deceptive.
As you will hopefully understand, my mind hasn’t exactly been on creating and blogging. I’m spending as much time with my girl as possible, and trying not to overload myself with stress. I feel quite guilty and frustrated, because I have so many ideas and plans, but I really need to slow down and re-prioritise right now.
I’m not sure when I will be back to regular blogging, so please bear with me! I will be back, it just depends on how the surgery goes, and what happens following it. I’m hoping to at least do some therapeutic colouring, and will try to post some photos to my Instagram account, so if you would like to keep up with little snippets of what I’m doing, I’d love to see you over there.
If you would like to keep our girl Taika in your thoughts, that would be hugely appreciated. She needs all the positive vibes she can get!
Heart-wrenching. Absolutely thinking of you and yours. Our furbabies matter and are just as much family as our 2-legged family. I’ve been where you are (and still am). My dog had sudden onset pancreatitis which was one of the worst the vets had ever seen. I was “lucky enough” to be able to care for him as far as IV fluids, meds etc. He was deathly sick for 3 months then finally recovered enough to start eating on his own and gained strength. It is a daily balancing act of food and supplements, good days and bad but he’s still happy (and outwardly normal) and with us. There were no masses/cancer. If there are any words of encouragement or things I can share from our journey, let me know. Sending hugs.
Thank you so much Shelley, your message is hugely appreciated. So sorry you’ve been through it with your dog and pancreatitis, that must have been quite scary. So glad to hear that he is doing better.
Our girl has insulinoma, so the main problem is that she has persistently low blood sugar which then presents with a variety of symptoms when she becomes hypoglycaemic. She’s stable again right now, in that I’ve adapted her diet again so that we avoid her blood sugar dipping too low. But the surgery is really the only chance she will actually get better, so we’re just hoping for that to go as we’d like it to.
Again, thank you for the message and support, you taking the time means a lot.
Warm hugs and thoughts! And will be thinking of all of you!
Our fur babies are just as important and our two legged babies. My thought and prayers are with you and your family.
Giant hugs, Elaine. This must be so stressful for you. I’m praying that all goes well with Pig’s surgery and she’ll be a happy puppy once again and you her happy mama. <3
I’m so sorry for all you are going through. You have been missed, but you are exactly where you souls be right now. I will keep your family in my thoughts.
I’m am a momma to 3 4-legged family members and I understand your pain and guilt. Take all the time you need and know I’m thinking about you and that cute baby. (Hugs from Illinois)
Blessings to you and praying for peace and an easy surgery and recovery for your sweet girl. I know the love in your heart for her as I have the same love for my 4-legged doggie (Kasey) too. Lost my lovely kitty to pancreatic cancer unexpectedly. So sad and sudden for Andy. From one animal lover to another, stay strong.