Grade 2......

This past week has been a bit rough as we found out Speedy had a mast cell tumor (a common skin cancer in dogs) on his throat that needed to be removed surgically. The scary thought in the back of my mind was that he had this tumor for awhile, we just didn't know what it was. Our AZ Vet originally thought it was a skin infection and gave us creme. Never went away and we hadn't thought twice about it until he had some dental work done a few months ago and they wanted to send in a sample for testing. I guess I got confused with this new test alongside his dental work that I told Kerry to pass on it. What was I thinking? A part of me thinks I thought this additional test was related to his dental work. I honestly don't remember.

After meeting with the Vet last Tuesday night for a consult, we scheduled surgery for the following Thursday. All of this was done while Kerry was away in Mississippi. First hearing the news I was saddened. You never want to get a call like this. I immediately thought of Caleb and his "Seaby dog" and what great friends they have become. How I don't look forward to the day their friendship will just be a happy memory. All I could do was hope for the best.

The Vet explained the different grades of mast cell tumors:

A Grade 1 tumor is preferred having a benign behavior and excellent cure rate with surgery.

A Grade 2 tumor has moderately malignant behavior with a 20% chance of reoccurance.

A Grade 3 tumor is very malignant and only 10% of these patients are alive within 1 year.

I took Speedy back in today because his stitches were bleeding a bit and was given an antibiotic as it appeared an infection was starting. Lovely! I was also informed by the Vet that our results came back and Speedy has a Grade 2 Tumor. My one question to the Vet. "Is my dog dying?" His answer was peace to my heart. "No." The only problem with the Grade 2 tumor is the chance of reoccurance, that it had spread into some of his tissue. They removed a lot of the surrounding tissue if this was indeed the case, so hopefully we won't have any more tumors. We can only hope and pray that "Seaby dog" is around for many more years to come.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers as you all know how special Speedy is to us.

Moved in!

With the help of some friends, we managed to pack up our apartment and unload into our new house in about 3 hours last Saturday! Talk about fast! By the end of the day we were exhausted. My whole body hurt and a good night sleep was much needed.

During our first week, we met some of our next door neighbors who have a beautiful St. Bernard and a daughter close in age to Caleb. I have waved to a few others in passing, but have not had the opportunity to formally meet just yet. Strolling in the neighborhood with Speedy is a bit different because everyone has invisible fence and you never know when a dog will dart around the corner and surprise us! Speedy has been on his best behavior so far, but I still tend to cross the street to avoid any chaos! We have a fenced in side yard and a doggy door from the previous owners and Speedy has adapted already! I was worried he would be a scared freak dog and avoid it at all costs. When Caleb is playing with him out there, he sometimes tries to follow Speedy in. It is cute to see his little head poke through. Kerry has been fishing some evenings and caught his first fish! How exciting! I cannot wait until Caleb is old enough to spend some quality time with him by the pond.

Every time we turn into our neighborhood, Caleb says, "new house." He is very observant in our trips around town. He knows what street the splash pad is on, where Maddie, Nico and Baby Ty live and of course when I near a Target my favorite words have become, "no Target." He has become very verbal and I love to hear his chatter. If he wants you to take something, he says, "Thank you" and hands it to you. I have been trying to teach him manners, so hearing him say "Thank you Momma and welcome" are pleasing to the ears. Just this past month he has learned that we pray at the dinner table and reaches his hands out for us to hold saying "Pray". Sometimes he wants to do it more than once. Precious.

A week has gone by and we are almost unpacked. Kerry and I both feel at home. I have to admit its almost surreal where we are living. I could not ask for a better blessing.

Nana, Papa & Hives

We just spent a weekend with Nana & Papa. They arrived Thursday night and just left this afternoon. Caleb acted like he had just seen them last week which was wonderful. He quickly jumped right into Papa's arms and wanted to play! They arrived with jumping beans in a little porcupine pouch, one of Caleb's favorite treats! We took them out to dinner for Mary's birthday in downtown Noblesville and we all enjoyed a nice ice cream at Alexander's before heading back home.

Friday we had our final walk thru at the new house which was nice for Mary and Ted to see. We took a quick walk along the nature trail by our house and Ted was showing Caleb a few different plants including some wheat grass which he plucked for all of us to taste. When we got out of the car for lunch Mary noticed some hives all over Caleb's tummy. Oh my! Kerry and I were freaking out! Was it the wheat grass? Did he have allergic reaction to a plant? I made a call into the doctor who instructed us to give him Benadryl and apply hydrocortisone creme and that should clear it up. Okay. Later that night Mary and Ted got to babysit Caleb while Kerry and I went to see Coldplay with some friends who had graciously purchased us tickets prior to our move. It was an awesome show and our first date night out since we had moved so it was nice we had family in town to watch our boy. They had a great time with Caleb and said he was a perfect angel.

Saturday morning we woke up and the hives had spread all over Caleb. We were panicked. What on earth could have happened? He had red spots all over his body. We drove him over to Urgent Care when it opened and the doctor assumed it was an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin, an antibiotic he had been taking to clear up his cough for the past 2 weeks. Apparently an allergic reaction can take place towards the end of the dose on the 2nd or 3rd time it is administered. He had taken it once before for an ear infection, but apparently his body did not like it this time. Great. I had blamed Ted for the wheat grass causing this breakout which I later apologized for. Again, who really knows, we can only go on the doctor's assumption and they aren't always right! She prescribed a stronger antihistimin and a steroid for the itching. After 24 hours of taking the medications, the red spots have gone down significantly, but are still present. Hopefully they will be gone in the next day or so.

After returning from Urgent Care we spent a few hours at Connor Prairie Park which was cool. It is the Nation's finest outdoor living history museum. They had the 1859 Balloon Voyage which Mary really wanted to see. Her and Kerry did the balloon experience where you can take a tethered hot air balloon ride up 300 feet. They loved it and had a great time up in the sky while we watched below. Curious George was also a special guest at the museum, but once we got in line for a photo with Caleb and Mama's favorite monkey, he kept saying, " No George. No George." Kerry took his parents to a local winery while Caleb was supposed to nap, but he didn't. The Odegaard's invited us all over for dinner which was lovely. Mary and Ted had not seen their oldest daughter Maddie since she was a baby. How time flies.

Sunday morning we went to church and brunch afterwards. We also promised to take Caleb to the splash pad to show his Nana & Papa how much fun he has there! He loves it and did not want to leave once again. We got him home for a nap and woke him up before saying goodbye to our family for the weekend.

Saying goodbye is always hard, but you look forward to the next visit. The hardest part for us was when Caleb kept crying for "Papa.Papa.Papa." It breaks us.

It all started with a rain puddle!

This morning we headed out for our walk with Speedy and Caleb has been wanting to bring Nemo along lately to push around. We had a beautiful thunderstorm last night and Caleb spotted a lovely rain puddle in the middle of the road at our complex. This is not a busy road, but it wraps around a huge pond that we often walk along. He decided to abandon Speedy, Nemo and I to splash around in this dirty rain puddle! Back and forth, splash, splash, splash! He was having so much fun! The whole time I am thinking, "Is anyone watching this? Do they think I am a horrible mother for allowing my son to play in the dirty puddle in the middle of the street?" Speedy and I sat on the curb about 20 minutes while he splashed and splashed. Finally, he fell face first and lost a shoe so I decided to end the puddle fun and head home. This was a bit of a challenge that I didn't give a lot of thought to beforehand. In one arm I held my sopping wet toddler. In the other arm I held the Nemo car and Speedy on his leash. I had a few blocks to walk with all in tow and thankfully no one was outside to see this lovely sight! I was praying "Dear Lord, please get me home quickly, all in one piece!"

Since we were already soaked, I decided to take Caleb back to the splash pad that he previously feared. If he had that much fun in the puddle, he would have tons more at a splash pad........and he did! He held onto mama at first, hiding from all of the fountains, but finally took off on his own and had a blast! Kerry actually stopped by for a bit since church is right around the corner. He was so thrilled to see his happy boy playing in the water!

All fun must eventually come to an end and my happy water boy was not so happy to be leaving. The scared boy who was once climbing back into the car the first time I brought him was trying to escape and run back to the splash pad. It was a fight to get him back in the car and I had to dig deep inside for patience with my son. These episodes break my heart because my sweet boy turns into a rotten tomato for a few minutes and I can get so frustrated. I held him in my arms and he was finally peaceful, ready to cooperate and get in the car seat. He proceeded to cry for about 5 minutes, then the Caleb I knew returned.

I love to see him so happy, yet I don't look forward to next time we have to say goodbye to the splash pad.