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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Live Like you are .... LIVING!!!

You know the Tim McGraw song that advises to "live like you are dying?" I want to change that perspective. My girl, Jinx, is not living like she is dying; she is living like there is no change of dying! 

We had one of our regular biocom treatments today and it showed no cancer response.  I don't dare believe the cancer is gone, although that is my ultimate dream.  I think this just means that it isn't the overwhelming response of her aura at this time. She was given a different Chinese herbal medication, one of the first types we were given, so her needs are changing.  She no longer gets Deramaxx, unless she appears to be in pain.  We had initially given her 1/2 Deramaxx per day for pain, then cut it down to 1/4 tablet and it did not seem to have an impact so unless she needs it, she will be D-free. Dr. Strickfaden pronounced that Jinx is doing excellently, and appears to be in great health. 

 If it wasn't for the atrophied front leg, you would not know Jinx is sick.  Her coat is shiny, her eyes bright. She insists on being part of Tom's daily kennel routine, running to the door when she sees him change into those clothes. Putting her paws on his legs and insisting he move faster when he dawdles!  She accompanies him to the kennel, running through the snow on her three good legs and once there, she gets to practice her protection routines. She returns to the house, tired and grinning.

I got to thinking that this is critical to her attitude and potential recovery. We don't treat her as if she is dying; we treat her as if she will continue to live.  She still has to obey commands, and follow the house rules.  She gets to bite and play, though I am protective of letting her get bumped around by other dogs. Dogs don't have good-byes to make, or wills to write.  I don't know if they have such a thing as a bucket list.  That might be difficult, since they have to rely on us to drive them places and would have to enlist help, but I think there are probably things that they desire to do, or to eat.  New butts to smell.  Sometimes we simply go for a car ride. I grab a cup of coffee and we take a drive around the countryside.  She loves to be included.  To leave her home would signal there is something different about her, or her value to us.

If a child was dying of cancer, wouldn't you engage him or her in the process of LIVING?  Jinx's eyes are bright because we have stopped waiting for her to die.  And that makes my eyes bright as well.