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!!!