Progress, Not Perfection

Hi friends! Sorry I’ve been vanishing on you lately. Blogging tends to take a backseat to my fur mom duties.

I got an update from my vet on Yasha’s lump biopsy, and it was unsettling news. Apparently the lump wasn’t as benign as she had hoped, and she has referred me to an oncologist for further tests. It looks like Yasha is in for some more x-rays, and potentially a second surgery. Poor thing.

That could be the extent of this, but my vet said, depending on the results, that the oncologist may recommend chemotherapy as well– and that’s where I draw the line. Not only is chemo incredibly expensive, it also sounds like torture for my poor pup! It’s not like I can EXPLAIN to her what is going on, or that this might make her feel better– since it will probably make her feel WORSE immediately afterward. As far as we can tell, she was in perfect health before this little lump popped up, so why put her through so much?? Cutting out the tumor was one thing, but since we already know dogs have a pretty short life span as it is, there’s only so much I’m willing to do to extend my time with her. I would rather my dog enjoy a high quality of life, living comfortably and happily with me for as long as she can, rather than a longer, more uncomfortable life full of scary vet visits and procedures! I hope Yasha and I have many more years together, but not at the expense of her quality of life!

I love, love, love dogs, but it’s situations like these that make me never want to get another one! I’m just way too attached, and can’t stand to see her suffer for one minute! I can’t even imagine what it will be like to have a child someday! I love my little fur baby so much!!!!

All this Yasha stress has taken it’s toll on me lately. My hormones are out of whack, and all I want to do is fall back into old habits and dive face-first into a pint of ice cream. But I’ve tried to keep a balance of health and indulgence during this terrible time. My mom is still here (thank goodness!) so we have been trying to keep many of our choices healthy at home:

Fresh juice this morning (which my mom made! Wahoo!!) of romaine lettuce, kale, green apple, beet, lemon and ginger. This had us buzzing with enzymes afterward.

Some fresh salads for lunch:

Mouth-watering salad from the Granville Cafe. Their house salad is to die for! Fresh romaine, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes (and red onion and olives that I picked off– I’m not a fan of those!). We got their lemon oregano vinaigrette on the side, and it’s THE best tasting dressing I’ve ever had.

I actually tried to re-create their dressing for my own salad at home:

But my version is not quite up to par yet… I think the trick to their dressing was some Parmesan cheese, and I want to avoid using that at home! So, I will continue experimenting until I come up with something similar!

We will probably be going out to dinner tonight, and I’m not gonna lie– there may be some ice cream in our future, too. But it will be the real kind (not the processed crap with tons of ingredients I don’t recognize) and it won’t be a whole pint! Progress, people, not perfection.

Thank you all for your kind words and support during this tough time, and please think good thoughts for my puppy! I just want this to be over for her. And me.

On the positive side…

My husband will be home in just a few days!! I can’t believe how time has flown! Time flies when you’re stressed, I guess.   I know he’s going to be spoiling our little girl when he gets back! And I know he can’t wait to meet his new little niece, too!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your hump day! Where has this week gone?!

Oh, and for my LOST friends, wasn’t last night’s episode AWESOME?!!! It’s up there with “The Constant” for me. I’m so excited to see how they wrap up this show!

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1. TGIF!