Happy New Year

Riley put on his formal wear to help bring in the New year in style.
It has been a good year in so many ways and a difficult year in just as many. With regards to Riley he has endured a year filled with too few "good" days. I am hopeful that 2010 will be a better year for him. I actually have some good news to share about Riley. I took him down to RBVH on Wed. for another re-check with Dr. G. First he weighed the same as he did on Oct. 1, 2009. This is great because he has been eating a ton of green beans every day to help satisfy his insatiable hunger. Dr. Glass gave him a thorough neuro exam and declared that he looked "GREAT". He feels that the medication cocktail that Riley is now taking has really helped him and he is stabilized for the time being. Dr. G decided to keep him on the meds and dosages he is now taking as it is working. He does not need to see Riley for another 6 months unless something changes. It was so nice to hear all of that and know that for now Riley is doing well.
So we are going to start the New Year with a renewed sense of hope for better days ahead for Riley.
I would like to say THANK YOU to all of our family and friends who have been there through all of the good days and the very rough ones. Your support meant the world to me. I would like to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year filled with lots of love , laughs, good times and many "good" days.
Until next year..............

Merry Christmas

Ryan, Riley and I want to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a very healthy peace-filled New Year. We have so much to be thankful for this year, most of all our wonderful family and awesome friends.

First Taste of Snow

These pictures were taken just 3 days apart. Go figure!! We had a wonderful trip to Florida both going and coming home. We had a great visit with my Mom and Dad. Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than we expected or wanted to due to the impending bad weather on the East Coast. We left early Thurs 12/17/09 to come home. Riley was SO good in the car you would never know he was even there. We drove straight through going and coming . It took 16 hours going down and 17 coming home due to a major tie up in Washington DC. Riley gets out when we stop for gas and does what he needs to do then gets back in the car and goes fast asleep again.

Riley did great in Florida and was really awake and quite lively. My Mom and Dad just love him so much and he just adores them. Of course he is spoiled rotten.

We had 3 nice days of sun and warm temps up in the 80s. Ryan and I actually went to the beach and fished 2 of those days and caught about 9 fish total so it was alot of fun. The ocean was a little cold but the beach was so nice. I tried to soak up the salt air and take a mental picture so I could feel the warmth during our cold weather here.

We did get alot of snow over night. I took Riley out in it twice and each time he had a problem with one of his paws. I really don't know what was going on but i don't think he liked the cold snow on his feet. Ryan shoveled out a path and a big area for him last night and I shoveled another path and big are for him today. Each time he has had to go out, we go out the shoveled path then he tromps into the higher snow to go. So much for our hard work. LOL

Riley has been doing very well and did great on the trip so maybe this new medication protocol is working. We go back to Dr. Glass at the end of the month so we'll see what he has to say.

Stay warm until next time!!!

Picture Perfect

Hi Everone,

This is a painting that a woman who is a graphic design artist did for me. I had planned on having her do a painting for me, but with all going on with Riley right now, I couldn't do it. She does these paintings from photos that people send. I had e-mailed her some pictures of Riley and this is what she created. AWESOME

I took Riley back to Red Bank for a check up last week. We saw a different Dr, who I liked just as much as Dr. Glass. He too sat on the floor and played with Riley and gave him a lengthy neurological exam. He decided that since Riley was stil having symptoms that he would increase one of his medicines, the neurontin. So Riley is now taking it 3 x/day instead of just once a day. He has been tolerating it well and his symptoms seemed to be in check until last night. He (we) had a very bad night with alot of scratching and licking his lips for most of the night. He seems a little better today. As most of you know, it is an ugly day out, cold rainy, snowy so I think maybe this had something to do with Riley's pain. Hopefully better days ahead.

We are taking a road trip to Florida to see my Mom and Dad. Ryan gets home Wed. evening and we are planning on leaving early ( 3-4am) and driving straight through. We are really looking forward to seeing my parents, and I know they are excited about us coming. We plan on coming back around the 17,18, 19th somewhere around there, depending on the weather on the East Coast. I will udate the blog before Christmas but I did want to share this awesome painting.

Until next time, stay safe , warm and healthy!!