14Apr13 update: My best birthday, ever

April 15, 2013 | By | Add a Comment

 

A continuing series of updates for donors to Shayna’s Health Fund, and our friends and family.
See the last update here.

How could any day not get better when one has this beautiful, smiling face staring back at you??

How could any day not get better when one has this beautiful, smiling face staring back at you??

Introduction

Celebrating the best birthday of my life, with my best friend - and the greatest gift I ever received; my "miracle girl."

14April13: Celebrating the best birthday of my life, with my best friend; my “miracle girl”; the greatest gift I ever received.

Today is my birthday. According to medical science, Shayna should not be here to celebrate it with me.  Yet as the pics and videos contained in this update show better than any words could, she’s not only here, she’s in incredibly great shape, and our days are usually quite filled with activity, joy and love. This is why today is the best birthday of my life, thus far.

As noted before, Shayna has her good days and bad days – but certainly many more good than bad.  Since my last update, we’ve had a couple of scares, meaning that Shayna displayed behavior or symptoms that I thought meant it was the end, and brought her in for tests, primarily ultrasounds of her heart and abdomen, to see if fluid is collecting in either or both. (Reminder: On October 30, she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, a particularly ugly form of cancer, that produced a bleeding tumor on her heart, filled her heart sack with fluid, which overflowed into her abdomen, and she collapsed.  She was given a lifespan of one day to four months; details here.)  In one case, thankfully, it was actually a situation that had been caused by an errant paw-nail (which we resolved)!

The great news is that in each case, not only was it not what I feared, the tests showed that at worst, she is remaining exactly the same, with only a tiny bit of fluid in her heart and none in her abdomen – and at best, there’s actually less fluid, meaning that she’s improving. Basically, thanks to the array of (very expensive) medicines and supplements Shayna is on, and I presume the love we share and her extensive daily activities, she is defying all medical science and expectations.

To all those who have given us spiritual and moral support, and who donated to Shayna’s Health Fund, thank you.  You have helped us to do what medical science says should not be possible. 

If you’d like to donate to Shayna’s Health Fund, to help offset the costs of her medical care, and the array of prescribed medicines and other supplements we’re using, please go here.

Now, on with the update!


 

(1) On Sunday, April 7, we celebrated the 11th anniversary of our adoption at the local SPCA where I found her, after a very long search for the “right” first dog for me.

As in years past, I brought in a cake and lots of tasty treats for the staff, to thank them for all they do (and did for me).  See the pictures and video here.

07Apr13-cake1

 


 

(2) We go to the nearby Senior Center pretty much every morning.

It’s the ultimate win-win: Shayna gets a charge out of putting smiles on the older folks’ faces, and they love having her around. See pics and videos here:

Shayna with one of her friends from the Senior Center, Rosie.

Shayna with one of her friends from the Senior Center, Rosie.


 

(3) Shayna’s toy-retrieval and other training continues apace; she’s now up to 44 toys, and lately we’ve been doing quite a bit of work with flash cards.

See videos here; a preview:

 


 

(4) Here are some other posts that I hope you enjoy:

“Shayna and ‘Katie Bug’”: From out of the blue, one day while we were at Panera Bread, Shayna met a beautiful 3-year-old girl, Katie, and the two of them instantly fell in love.  See all the pics here:

Shayna and "Katie Bug"

Shayna and “Katie Bug”

“09Apr13: A day in the life with Shayna”: The sunset was causing her coat to glow, and I started taking pictures; we then went to our nearby Panera, where she me a little puppy.  See all the pics here

09Apr13-Sunset beauty 1

“Sunset beauty”


Again, thank you to all those who have donated to Shayna’s Health Fund. You have helped us to do what medical science says should not be possible, by helping to pay for her medical care, and the array of prescribed medicines and other supplements we’re using.

ShaynaHealthFund

Filed in: Shayna's medical condition, The Blog

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