Happy New Year

Wishing all our friends and family a Very Happy New Year and all the best in 2011

Riley and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year!

I hope 2011 will bring good health and happiness to you and your families.

See you in 2011!!!

Riley Retired Today

Today was Riley's last day of Pet Therapy. We visited Greystone today, which was very fitting because that is where he started doing visits over 2 1/2 years ago. Riley is really loved by the staff and patients there. It was very sad to tell them that Riley would not be returning. There were tears shed by alot of people. I told the patients that I would be returning in the New Year and I would be bringing 2 different dogs. I am certified with Rags and just this past week got certified with Konar a big loveable black lab. I told them that Riley has a neurological problem and can't get the necessary vaccines to be allowed to do any visits. I also told them that Riley was doing well and I would be bringing updated pictures in my future visits. I gave out all the picures I had which the patients just love to have. As we were leaving one of the patients, whom I knew would be very upset came over to give Riley a hug and kiss good bye. In true "Riley fashion" Riley returned the love by giving the man a huge lick on the face. Riley has been an awesome Therapy dog and has brought love and smiles to many, many people. He did his job well.

Riley Turns 4 Today 10/28/10

Today is Riley's 4th Birthday. He doesn't seem to excited about it and was even less excited when I tried his pumpkin costume on him. We are going to Greystone today so I thought it would be good if he went with his costume on.
Hard to believe that Riley is already 4. Last year at this time we didn't know where we would be a year later. Riley is doing ok right now, not great, but not too bad. He has had some very good days in the past few weeks. On those days I was able to take him for some nice walks which we both really enjoy. The cooler weather really does help him. Of course we have had unusually warm weather the past few days. I am not complaining about that though.
Riley has also had some bad days recently. It appears as though his back legs are getting weak. He is reluctant to jump and is having difficulty getting up the stairs. I am not really sure why as it is a symptom of both the SM and hip displaysia which we know he has. I am just going day by day to see if this progresses at all. He doesn't appear to be in any pain and I have enough medication to give him if I do see any symptoms of pain. I would really like to know the cause of the marked weakness to know which road we are going down here. I think we will just have to go day by day.
Riley is getting dressed in his Halloween costume for our visit to Greystone today. I know the patients will really enjoy it. I don't think Riley likes the whole idea but I will take it off after everyone has seen him. I think they are having a costume parade today so maybe they will let Riley join in.
I will be wearing my Witch's hat, how appropriate :)

Before and After

The picture on the left was taken this morning before Riley's bath and haircut. The pictuure on the right was taken after. He looks like a different dog and not very much like a Cavalier right now. I decided to have him trimmed short becuase his coat is thinning out alot and he doesn't like to be brushed anymore. So rather than having to brush him so much, I decided to get him trimmed short. He really looks like a different dog. I am not crazy about his new look but I know it is better for him.

It was 1 year ago today that Riley was diagnosed with SM. Looking back I had no idea where would be 1 year later. The disease is definitely taking it's toll on Riley. We are managing his pain quite good right now but I do see signs that it is progressing. How fast and how much it will continue to progress is anybody's guess. Riley is still holding his own and still maintains his wonderful loving temperament. He is not able to do some things he could a year ago but he is not in any way suffering. It's just so tough to watch him want to do things but he just can't. With all that being said, Riley is still my best pal. He's gotten me through alot of tough times this past year. I am praying that he will have many more days with me.

End of Summer

This picture pretty much tells how Riley and I feel about Summer coming to an end. Hard to believe Fall will start next week. Ryan is back at school all settled in. he finally has a nice place to live this year. I'm glad his living space has greatly improved from last year.
Riley is doing about the same. he sleeps most of the time. He has a great appetite which is good and I think generally feels OK. I have walked him a few times since the weather cooled off. he just lights up when we go for a walk. he smells everything and "marks" about 100 different places along our route. Riley has found the little "helicopter" seeds to be somewhat of a delicacy so he tries to eat as many as he can while walking. No exciting news to share which is good for now. Enjoy the fall as winter is not far behind.....yuck.......

End of Summer

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. The time just flies by. We have already returned from our vacation with my Mom in Florida. We had a great time as always. It was very different without my Dad there but we enjoyed spending time with my Mom. Riley had a great time too. He gets spoiled rotten by his Grammy and just loved being with her. The heat really bothers him so he was very grateful for the white cool tile in many of the rooms. Riley was the perfect passenger as always. He slept 99% of the time and did everything he needed to do when we stopped.

Riley has been doing pretty well these past couple of months. The heat is really tough on him so he just stays indoors most of the time. I stopped walking him and only do now when it is much cooler out. He still gets excited to go for a walk which is a great sign. He seems happy and is enjoying life at the moment. I am taking Ryan back to school on Saturday. It seems like he just got home. Riley and I will settle back into a routine of some sort. Hope everyone had a good safe healthy summer. Good luck to all of the kids going off to school especially those leaving for college. I will post again soon.

Heatwave July 2010

As you all know, we have been having a week long heat wave here with temperatures over 100 degrees. Well it has had an effect on Riley so much so that i had to take him to the Vet yesterday. His breathing has been very irregular with him breathing sometimes upwards of 100 breaths per minute. The norm is around 30. The vet checked him over especially his heart to make sure that it wasn't related to any heart problems. Thank goodness his heart sounded normal. The vet contacted Dr. Glass who said he felt it could be from the syringomyelia and the side effects of the prednisone. He didn't want to change any of his medications at thins time. During the exam, the vet also found that Riley has mineral deposits in his eyes. You can clearly see them in his eyes and they loo like white spots on his eyes. They are not painful and there is no treatment. The usual course is that they grow to certain point and then just stop. In some cases they can go away on their own. They won't lead to complete blindness , but may affect his vision. So pretty much if cavaliers can get it, Riley has it!!!!!

This is a picture of a "cooling" bed that we got for Riley. We just filled it with water this morning. It has some type of foam in it that keeps the bed very cool and might help Riley as he really has trouble with the heat. It is very much like a water bed. I wouldn't mind having one myself :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. It is flying by way too fast.

Stay cooooooooool.

Summer Breeze

I was sitting out on the porch this evening, watching the Yankees not paying too much attention to anything, when I looked over and caught Riley cooling off in front of an open window. Evidently, he does not recognize chairs from tables and just believes that every piece of furniture in the house is there just for him.

Riley is doing pretty well these past few weeks with more good days than bad. We are enjoying the Spring, the Yankees and Ryan being home!!!!

New Haircut

Riley got a bath and haircut today. His coat is coming back in pretty good but I had him cut fairly short to make him more comfortable. I am not sure what he was doing with his paws but it is really funny.

Ryan arrived safely in Ireland yesterday, unfortunately the friend that he was going to visit is stranded in Spain due to the volcanic ash. He managed to get himself from Dublin Airport by cab, to the campus where she is living and was able to get into her house. Ryan decided not to waste anytime so he found a bus into Dublin and is in the process of taking a hop on, hop off, 24 hour tour. He decided to bring his laptop with him right before he left, so I was able to find out that he got there safely and had a place to stay. He thinks Jaime might be able to fly back to Dublin tomorrow ( Thurs) and then they will be able to do some sight seeing together until he flies home next Tues. It has been quite an adventure for him to say the least. Ryan was very thankful that they speak English. I am glad Ryan has some prior travel experience to be able to navigate all of this on his own.

Riley is holding his own so far. These rainy days do bother him quite a bit though. We are just going day by day and enjoying every minute.

Good News/ Bad News

I have been waiting very patiently to get the results of the latest blood test to see if Riley has thyroid disease. I was finally able to talk to the vet today. Riley does not have thyroid disease which in itself, is good news. The bad news is that the prednisone is what is causing his thyroid levels to be so low as well as the deterioration of his coat. I asked what we do now and pretty much there is nothing we can do. The side effects of prednisone are bad, but Drs. Glass and Smith feel the benefits outweigh the side effects right now. Dr. Glass feels that Riley's pain is being well managed primarily because of the prednisone and feels that alleviating pain is the most important thing to do. Of course I agree with that, I just wish it did not have so many bad effects on Riley. He has only been on the prednisone for 6 months now so I really worry about the future.

Riley has not been able to walk too far for a while. He is dragging his back paws a little and the last time we walked, it cause one of his toenails to be worn down past the quik which caused it to bleed profusely.

Riley is still the most loving, gentle dog that I have ever owned. I am going to focus on the present, and enjoy the time that we have together.

Need a Break

I took this picture this morning after we got home from visiting the Crossroads School in Westfield. If looks could kill........
Riley was totally exhausted after a 45 minute visit today. I wanted to take some nice pictures of him near the flowers and this is what I got.
We went to Greystone yesterday and then out early this morning to Crossroads school. Unfortunately Riley did not sleep much during the night so he is especially tired today. If he gets a spurt of energy before the rain comes I will take him for a walk. Otherwise I think he is down for the count for the rest of today.

Happy Anniversary

Today, my Mom and Dad would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. I have thought about both of them all day. This picture reminds me how much my Dad loved Riley. I know he is smiling down on us today.

Dr. Smith, my regular vet and Dr. Glass finally spoke today about Riley and what is going on with him. The both decided that additional tests on Riley's blood are needed to see if the low thyroid numbers are a result of the prednisone or if in fact he does have hypothyroidism. I will take Riley in early Monday morning to have more blood drawn. It will then be sent to the University of Michigan for more tests. Dr. Glass also told Dr. Smith that we need to keep Riley on prednisone. I had asked Dr Smith to talk to Dr. Glass to see if there were alternatives or different drugs we could try instead of the prednisone as the side effects are bad especially when used long term. Dr. Glass advised keeping Riley on the prednisone despite the side effects as it is helping the pain and he does not want to chnage any of his medications now. He also told Dr. Smith that Riley should not receive ANY vaccinations for the rest of his life. Dr. Smith can write an exception letter to the town so Riley can still be licensed but St. Huberts does require a rabies vaccine to participate in Pet therapy. Riley's rabies vaccine expires in Jan 2011 so we will have to drop out of the program at that time.

Not good news for sure but I will do whatever is necessary to give Riley the best possible life that I can. Riley will always know that he is loved.

More Bad News

I can't believe I am even writing this but I got a call from our regular vet this morning to tell me she had received Riley's blood work back and that there is a problem. He has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism which we would know as an under active thyroid. She said that his thyroid levels were VERY low. Riley will have be put on a thyroid hormone which he will have to take for the rest of his life. She said that she is going to consult with Dr. Glass to make sure that there will be no drug interactions with the other medications that he is taking. She also said that one of his liver function tests is "borderline" probably from the prednisone. She said right now she is more concerned about his thyroid and we will deal with that immediately.

I am waiting to hear from Dr. Smith as to what to do next. I honestly can't believe that Riley, who is the most special dog I have ever owned, has yet another issue to deal with.

My Mom put it into some perspective for me today when she reminded me that Riley does not know he is sick. She is so right. So we will keep on going do what we can, but I do, and will treasure each moment we have together a little more.

Has Spring Sprung?

It sure feels like Spring is here to stay. Ibought my first flowers today so we will probably have snow soon!. The lawn already needs to be cut so maybe it really is Spring.
Riley had something going on late last week and didn't sleep for 2 nights. He was up and down all night long and then he sat in the living room barking at 1:00am. I couldn't figure out what was going on but he has been much better for the past 2 nights thanks goodness. We took a nice long walk today which is always good for both me and Riley.
Ryan came home for a very short visit and to celebrate Easter. We had a nice visit even though it was so short. He will be home for the summer in 5 weeks. Boy does time fly.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather. The Yankees lost their first game against Boston... hope this is not a sign of things to come. GO DUKE!!!!!!

Nina and Riley

Riley got to have one of his biggest fans down for an overnight visit. Nina just loves Riley and Riley feels the same about Nina. This was a first sleep over for Nina at out house. We had a great time. We had Wendy's for dinner last night, and then we rented a movie about a dog which Nina really liked.

Riley had a very unsettled night last night and was up and down all night long and then so was I. Nina slept all night and got up about 7:30 am, which was not bad. This morning, we took Riley for a short walk around the block. I could tell that Riley was not himself on our walk. He was slow moving and did not really enjoy going out. Once home, Riley just wanted to sleep which is pretty much what he has done all day. Today I took Nina to " Color Me Mine" which is great place where you can pick from hundreds of different ceramic molds and sit and paint them. We were there 2 hours. Nina convinced me to paint with her so I painted a ballerina for her. She made something VERY special for her Mom and one for her brother Dylan. You have to leave the pieces so they can glaze them and fire them in a kiln. We can pick them up next week.

I dropped Nina off after we were finished painting. Nina just loved making the beautiful pieces and she did a wonderful job.

Riley is still the same, extremely lethargic and just wanting to be by himself. I think he must be in alot of discomfort today for some unknown reason. I am just letting him stay quiet now and just gave him a pain pill which I hope might help him.

I had a great time with Nina and look forward to seeing her and the rest of my family on Easter.

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Back Home

Riley and I are back from Florida. As most of you know I drove down to Florida with Riley at the end of January. Riley was a great passenger on the trip, though I will have to teach him to drive so he can help out a little before we go again..

I got to spend 3 weeks with my Dad while he was in the hospital and then in hospice before he passed away on 2/21/10. During that time and the few weeks since, Riley has worked overtime as a therapy dog, a companion and and a comforter. Riley had to be left alone more than usual while my Mom and I were at the hospital etc. He just kind of rolled with the punches and was happy to see us when we returned. I think he really knew things were not right in the house and did everything he could to be a good boy and sit with us when we needed it most. I was able to bring Riley to see my Dad while he was in hospice. My Dad loved Riley so much and was very glad to see him when I brought him. Riley gave him big wet sloppy kisses all over his face, which my Dad just loved.

Riley was such a comfort to me and my family while we were in Florida. My Mom loves him as much as if he were her own dog and Riley feels the same about my Mom. Every morning Riley would wake up at the crack of dawn, run out and go find my Mom. It was so cute to see.

My Mom drive back with me and Riley and spent a week here before returning to Florida last week. Even here at home, Riley would wake up very early, run out of my room and downstairs, and look all around until he could find my Mom. He did it for 2 days after she left and was clearly sad that she was not here. So Thank You Riley for bringing comfort to me and our whole family, when we most needed it. You spent the last 7 weeks doing God's work.

This morning, I had to take Riley back down to see Dr. Glass at Red Bank Hospital. Some of Riley's symptoms have been getting worse over the past few weeks. Dr. Glass gave him a full exam and said he though he looked pretty well. While in Florida Riley shed almost his entire coat but Dr. Glass did not think it was something to worry about. He thinks it is coming back in nicely and said just to keep an eye on it. He said that he still felt Riley was a good candidate for surgery. I told him that I was not going to go that route and he said not to rule it out, but I don't think that I could or would ever entertain that option. Dr. Glass increased Riley's prednisone, which I am not thrilled about and wants to see him in 1 month. Hopefully there will be a huge change in his symptoms and the prednisone will do the trick. All in all Riley is doing quite well so far. He definitely has good days and bad days ( don't we all ) and I am pretty attuned to how he is feeling. I try to take advantage of every good day he has with a nice walk, lots of hugs and some play. Now that the weather is getting nicer I hope to be out walking more too.

We did a pet therapy visit last week at the Crossroads school in Westfield and we are starting back at Greystone tomorrow. I am looking forward to doing more pet therapy visits in the coming weeks and months. Alot depends on how Riley is doing.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during the very difficult time.

I apologize for not updating this a little sooner but it's been a busy week. Yes, Ryan and his fellow Bonners got back safely to school last Sunday. They drove straight through and drove the whole way in a storm so it was really good to hear that they were back. They had a very good week and got a lot of work done on each of their work sites. Ryan moved back into his "broom closet" ( dorm room) on Monday and started classes on Tuesday. He is coming home tomorrow to get the rest of his stuff for school. It will be nice to see him again.

This is a picture of Riley and his friend Kobe. Kobe is one of Robin's 3 dogs. Kobe spent the day with us on Monday. He is such a great puppy. He is only about 8 months old but he is very well behaved and oh so sweet. Riley immediately told him whose house it was as soon as Kobe came in but from then on the two of them pretty much ignored each other. Both of them were happy as long as they were somewhere near, touching, or on me. I really loved having Kobe here. I think Riley was ok with it as long as he could still have his Mom.

Riley has had a pretty good week. We have been able to walk a few days and that is always a wonderful thing. Today it seemed that Riley had a little "pep in his step". He really is so much happier when he is able to go outside and go for a walk.

We went on a new Pet Therapy visit this week. We went to St. Anne's Villa in Florham Park. It is a home for older nuns all of whom are Sisters of Charity. It was a very rewarding visit for me but it was also a bit difficult. Most of the sisters are in wheelchairs or bedridden. Since they can't reach Riley and Riley can't reach them I had to pick him up and hold him as we visited each room. But I'm not complaining because the Sisters were all so nice and very appreciative.

I can't believe how fast the month of January is going. That's fine with me because we are getting closer to Spring. I hope the weather doesn't get any colder. I hope everyone is well.

Back to Work

Riley was well enough this week to go "back to work" and resume doing some Pet Therapy visits. We went to Greystone on Thursday and yesterday morning we went to the Crossroads school in Westfield which is a school for autistic kids. Riley did very well with both visits and seemed to really enjoy the petting, hugs, kisses and lots of attention that he received. Riley returned all the love to the patients and the kids. It was so good to see Riley being able to do this again. I don't know for how long we will be able to go in visits so we will go as long as Riley feels well enough .
Ryan and the other 30+ kids will be starting their trip back to New Jersey sometime today. They have not left yet (it's noon time now) and hope they get on the road soon. The weather does not look good for their trip. It looks like they will hit alot of rain all the way home. Hopefully it will be just rain and no no snow or ice. I will feel so much better when they are back at school sometime tomorrow. Classes start on Tuesday so they will not have much time to regroup, catch up on sleep and whatever else. Ryan will have logged alot of miles since he got home on Dec 9th. he made the long trip to Florida and then this longer trip. i am sure he won't want to be doing too much driving for a while.
Glad it's warming up. It looks like a great day for a walk.

They arrived!!!

Not exactly what I would like to see coming to help me but here is "Ryan the builder" being funny. The 30+ kids arived safely in New Orleans last night around midnight. It was about 22 hours drive time. They had good weather albeit cold, but no storms thank goodness. They are up early today and are out touring the city and tomorrow they start working. Great experience to say the least. I miss him already, but know he is doing what he is meant to do.
Riley is not venturing out in this cold only to do what he absolutely must do, and he does it very quickly. Otherwise he is cuddled up next to me. My parents have ice in Florida and it is almost as cold there as it is here.
Stay warm!!!! will check in again soon.

Bye Ryan

Well Ryan left about 9:15 am. I have stopped crying which is a good thing. As you can see Riley had to help Ryan with a few last minute packing details. Neither Riley or I was a happy camper as Ryan's car left the driveway and drove away. Ryan is on his way to New Orleans to help in the rebuilding effort. He is going with the Bonners which is what they did last year. Actually if you look back in the blog, I have a few entries about Ryan's trip last year. They had a very bad trip coming home due to an ice storm in TN. It is about a 24 hour trip. There are about 30 kids going in 4 vans. Ryan is considered a "chaperone" this year, since he is all of 19 and a sophomore. Basically what this means is he will be doing much of the for his van. Luckily we only had a dusting of snow overnight so his trip to school should be ok. They are going to Philly for the afternoon to do God knows what and then they will be leaving for N.O. sometime around 5pm. The plan is to drive to North Carolina tonight, stay over and do the second leg of the trip tomorrow. Very poor planning in my opinion but that is how it was planned for them.

Please keep Ryan and all of the kids in your prayers for a safe trip going and coming. They are supposed to return sometime on Sunday January 17th. Ryan will stay down at school and move back into his dorm on the 18th and classes start on the 19th.

Ryan was really excited about going back to New Orleans. He had a great experience last year and is hoping for the same this year.

Riley is laying here next to me and doesn't really want to move. he knew something was up when he saw the sleeping bags and duffel bag etc. Riley will really miss Ryan almost as much as I do. Riley gave him big sloppy kisses before he left. i thought he was going to try to get rolled up in Ryan's sleeping bag but we caught him in time.

I will keep you posted on Ryan''s trip.

Riley's Happy New Year

I know that we all celebrated New Year a few days ago, but today is Riley's New Year's Day. Riley was operated on one year ago today Jan 5, 2009. So today is really the start of Riley's New Year. We are leaving 2009 behind and looking forward to many happy, good, healthy days ahead. Riley had alot of obstacles to overcome in the past year but he has persevered and he is doing well. He will have many challenges to face in the future but for today he is doing well and is a happy dog. We just went out for a walk around the block. Boy was it cold!!!!! The amazing thing was, Riley ran for a good part of our walk. I think he was so excited to be outside and in fresh air, so several times he just took off and ran. "Run" is a relative term for Riley since he really can't run all out like before but he sure gives it his best try. It was just awesome to see him so happy.

Today Riley wants to send his best wishes to all of his canine friends and their owners so here it goes: Happy New Year to his Cavalier friends, Charlie, Darby, Reggie, Murphy D. and Joanna's Murphy. To all his other good friends: Sophie, Leo, Brasco, The Catesby Cavaliers, Max Johnny, Tillie, Ginger, Bruno and Heidi, Honey, Monk, and Kobe, Rosie, Rags, Channing, and Freddy ( not a real dog). To his relatives at the Rainbow Bridge: Pokey, Cindy, Shroeder and Shannon run free and we will all be together one day. So from Riley to all his doggy friends wishing you nice weather for long walks, green grass for pee, a bag of delicious treats, belly rubs on demand, lots of hugs, a few scraps from the table, not too many baths, a few new friends to play with, and happy good days with your families.

Love,

Riley