more good kady news

At her three-month checkup, Kady got a gold star. Her chest x-rays were clear (no metastasis), no evidence of disease at the surgery site and her blood chemistry is that of a "much younger dog." Yay!

In another three months, she'll get a booster of the vaccine and another chest x-ray.

She has been a little wobbly and sore in her back end, but other than that, she seems to be feeling great.

We're still here.

Kady is doing very well, I'm hanging in there.
Kady has her three-month chest X-ray on Thursday and I have an endocrinology appointment. I had to go back on bromocriptine because I failed my trial off of it. We'll take the day off.

Good Kady News

Kady had her last vaccine a week ago today. She also had a chest x-ray and exam, and Dr. Lawrence and the radiologist say there is no evidence of disease. Cool.

She had a recheck for her anal gland infection (I know, EEEWWWWW) today, and it's clearing up just fine. She really perked up at the end of last week. She did many hippity hop dances today :)

She goes back in three months for chest Xrays and then three months after that, a booster and another Xray.

Dog Days

Another heat wave has set in. I say "another" like we've had so many of them. Actually it has been a mercifully pleasant summer. And now a third AC-weather episode is on its way. Kady was so hot this evening that I took a big bag of frozen vegetables and put it between her hind legs. I know there are some big arteries in her thighs, so I figured that would help her cool off. I have no idea if it really works, but she did stop panting. It's also getting cooler outside.

Tomorrow Kady has her fourth of four vaccines at the vet school. I have some worries about lumps and bumps, and she is definitely suffering in the hot weather (I know it's not like southern Iraq or Cairo or Singapore, my friends).

We had a lovely weekend. Farmers Market Saturday was fine; we visited with Baby Lucy and Jack and lots of grown ups. On Sunday we went over to Patty's house for knitting, and Kady had the entire backyard to hang out in. She walked around and sniffed and checked things out and then she came back to the patio and slept near the door where she could hear my voice. When the sun came to her, she moved over to a shady spot under a chair. It was so nice of Patty to invite us.

We watched "Little Miss Sunshine," which I thought was fantastic. I didn't laugh as hard as some people probably did, because it was so very poignant. It really spoke to a lot of things: Body image, depression, boosterism, etc.... But the bottom line message was that these odd people really cared for each other. Very nice.

Kady and Grandma

BIG CHEESE!

Real Aunt B

Kady Offers Advice

Game Boy

More scenes from our Saturday mornings.

Girls in Pink

Saturday at the Farmer's Market with our friends. What could be better?

celebrity

Elgas

There were three Indian elephants. the biggest one had a lovely hat of hay :) and the second one came out with a hunk of hay in her trunk. The baby came out last.

Our National Zoo

I have conflicted feelings about zoos. I guess my final answer (for now) is that they are a necessary evil. The good ones are good. Because we've screwed up the earth so much that zoos are the last chance of many species.

I used "photo stitch" to make these panorama photos. I wanted to get a sense of what the backyard would look like with the privacy fence I've been thinking about.

A Knitting Post!

I have learned how to knit backwards! It's the craziest thing, but I was doing some short-row experiments, and I thought to my slef, I wonder if there's a way to knit back and forth without turning the work around and purling. And then I just did it! I held the yarn in my right hand and knit from the right needle onto the left needle. So I'm knitting continental style, but backwards. It was one of those right brain/left brain things; I can't even tell you how I did it, it just happened. Anyway, it's very very cool for bobbles and short row stuff, or just to give my hands a break.

And you can see Kady's segment on the local news right here . If the clip isn't there, type "vaccine" into the search box and it will come up.

vaccine info

Here is more information on Kady's vaccine.

Inspired

I think my long-dormant artist self — my serious artist self — is stirring with these photos. I've found a form that intrigues me in the same way the primary forms used in my senior comps intrigued me.

I am also interested in the implied communication in these images (just a few of which are shown here.) I've seen it in my Chicago Art Institute North Garden flower portraits, too. Perhaps it is my message? I need to go back to school and do an MFA. Not because I need an MFA, but because I need some structure to get back to doing life work.

Sophie as Will 'O The Wisp

Sophie

Sophie is a big girl. She has a very short attention span, except when she finds something to chase in the woods. She means well, for the most part, but she is just so big and gangly and young. She definitely needs a playmate.

Photoshop vs. the camera

On the left is the unaltered image from the camera. On the right is the same image with the selection "auto levels" chosen in Photoshop. Interesting. I think the untouched image is closer to what I saw.

Weekend at the Lodge

Sophie has a new post-skunk haircut. They even trimmed her ears so she looks like she has a fashionable bob. So she has now been porcupined and skunked, and she treed a bear. What's left? Britt says, "Start over again at porcupines."

I kept Kady and Sasha apart, so there was no grumpiness. Kady and Sophie get along fine. When Sophie gets too beligerant, Kady rolls her over on her back, jumps on top of her and play-growls in her face, her little stump wagging the whole time.

There was only one Cujo incident and I saved myself by sticking the magazine I was reading in Sophie's mouth. She forgot all about biting me. At the start of a possible second incident, I yelled for Kady to help me, and she looked concerned but didn't come to my rescue. I guess she knew I wasn't really in danger.

All's Well

Kady did just fine at the Vet School Monday. She received her first treatment via a new transdermal device and everything went well. Kady has a little shaved patch on her inner thigh and a tiny red dot in the middle of it. She was very sprongy yesterday, she seems a little more sleepy today, but overall she is her normal self!

Dr. Lawrence says Kady looks great, that she is more mobile than the last time she saw Kady and she seems to have less joint effussion.

Meanwhile, I talked to the press officer at Merial, the maker of the vaccine, and she sent me some additional literature on the vaccine. It explains how the vaccine works and cites the studies--which I plan to read, also.

Here's how the vaccine works: Tyrosinase is a protein present on canine melanoma cells, but the immune system ignores it because it's also present on normal cells. The vaccine is made with a human gene for tyrosinase that is inserted into a small ring of DNA (not sure if it's dog or human DNA--probably dog). The human protein is different enough from the dog version that an immune response happens, but similar enough that the immune response attacks the protein on the canine melanoma cells.

Pretty cool, huh? So, as a reminder, it is NOT a sure thing, but it's the best course of action available, and I am trying to generate positive, healing vibes for Kady, so please take a minute to do the same.

The Big Day

Kady will receive her first treatment of the brand new Merial melanoma vaccine today. This is the first therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of cancer — in either animals or humans — approved by the U.S. government. Kady is the first dog to receive it at the UW. The UW Vet School had been making their own vaccine, but only as a sort of "home brew," it wasn't approved for sale, and patients made donations to a research foundation to receive it. The UW discontinued their vaccine when the Merial one became available because the Merial vaccine has proven more effective in clinical trials.

It's not a sure thing; melanoma is a very aggressive cancer. But clinical studies demonstrated vaccinated dogs had significantly longer life spans, even dogs with advanced stages of melanoma. The median survival rate of the initial study was 389 days.

I'm not positive, but I think Kady is only Stage 1, because the tumor was entirely removed with clean margins and metastasis to lungs and/or lymph nodes has not occurred.

It's a lot easier to deal with this by being very clinical and scientific :)

Kady and Cecil

I should note that Cecil weighs about 150 pounds. He is an American bulldog. There's another one who lives on the square.

Cecil

This is Cecil. He is JD and Brynn's boy. He is just the sweetest thing -- calm, stoic. Kady wasn't so impressed. I think he freaked her out.

Some odd pictures of Kady and Sophie. Some of the pix from my cell phone have great rez, but these are teeny and grainy. Hmmm.

Mobile modality

I finally figured out how to download pix from my cell phone. OK, there wasn't much to figure out--just plug the USB cable into the phone and then into the computer.

At the Riviera in Las Vegas, one of the last standing old school smoke-filled, ass-nasty casinos on the strip is a Long Island diner style coffee shop called Kady's.

I love and hate Kady's. I love the breakfasts I had with Allan from Predator, feeding the sparrows, early mornngs during the BCA tournament. I hate the service, the other patrons. It was sort of a game to try to get the wait staff to accomodate you.

Anyway, they spell the name right.

Kady as La Grande Odalisque

With apologies to Ingres.

It must be love that fathoms the moonlight
Must be love that shallows the deepest
part of the night
So you can show them with your eye
The things that make them cry,
Because it must be love
the way you are must be love
And the things you feel must be love
Oh, it must be love
It must be love

When I think about you

Sometimes I think things are overwhelming. Sometimes I think I don't know what to do.
But I forget the world and everything around me that's what I think when I think about you.

WE WERE BORN TOGETHER

We are twinned in a fugitive mind
Friends should stay together and
Light the world with the fugitive kind

So you keep talking in many languages
Telling us the way you feel
Don't stop confiding in the road you're on
Don't quit, you're walking satellites

the best girl ever

Certain things in life I like to savor
Watchin' clouds and waitin' on the rain
If you ever question my behavior
Just a taste will make you feel the same now
Don't tempt me; I'm where I wanna be
Cause on the eighth day, God made sweet tea

Boomer

Boomer is Kady's friend. She doesn't bark when he walks by. She wags a LOT when she sniffs noses on the street. Boomer's girl is named Kirstin, too. She is studying to be a math teacher.

Boomer came from the shelter, too -- Dane County. He was a stray. Hard to believe, isn't it? People are such shits.

Boomer is lucky, and Kirstin's future students are too.

Sunday afternoon

The promised sunny Sunday didn't happen. Promised by whom? Oh yeah, the weather chick on local TV. duh.
Can't get my feet warm. Fingers are cold too. I'm sure it's not related, but the oven is taking forever to heat up. I'm hoping to bake bread.

The bread is a Frankenstein experiment. It's no-knead because I used the kitchenaid. But I only let it rise per the regular bread procedure. But I'm going to cook it in a preheated covered pot in a 450 oven. If I can ever get the oven that hot.

Kady is finally in bed. She loves sitting outside on the porch and spent most of the day out there. I finally brought her inside because she was barking at passing dogs. She is the sheriff of Brearly St. And Jake is Barney Fife.

She is so peaceful when she sleeps. She's almost snoring, her head resting on one arm, the other curled over her back leg.

I got nuthin.

It's a beautiful day. Remarkable really.
And I'm in my hermetically sealed office. The Carolina-blue sky is out there, teasing.

The weekend's activities include a Saturday morning run to the composting station to pick up some compost for the garden, and planting the stuff I bought at last week's farmers market. Can't buy more until I plant what I have.

But I would like to get a flat of Galium Odorata--Sweet Woodruff. The plant I got last year (I think from the Flower Factory) is absolutely thriving under the shrub in front of the porch. So is the clematis that also came from the flower factory--it has just exploded. I think I need another one to put on the other side of the gate.

Happy Kadyday

My dear girl celebrated her ninth birthday on April 8. I don't know when her actual birthday is, but that's the day she came to live with me! So it's a day well worth celebrating.

She brought milk and cookies and Slim Jims to the office last Monday and wore her birthday hat all day.

My Boots! My Boots!

Here they are! Aren't they fabulous? They aren't quite this red in real life they look black in most lighting. I absolutely adore them. I feel like Gunda the cowgirl again.

Sand and Snow

Another pairing of beach and bog.

Sand and Snow

This image combines shots from Amelia Island, Fla., from Feb '06 and from the Marsh last weekend. I LOVE this aesthetic. It has a drug-like effect on me. The vastness and clean shapes and the calm.

Play Date