Following our heart

Happy Sunday morning! We've been up for a while, seems to be our thing these days. It's a mild morning and we have a rainfall warning in effect. Lots of rain later today and tomorrow. Definitely looks like it will be a green Christmas.

This past week had its highs and lows, and a little bit of everything in between. The highlight of our week was having Pauline and Errol over for lunch on Tuesday. We had such a great time. We chatted around the kitchen table for hours. We shared some good laughs, fun stories and even shed a few tears. It was good for the soul to be able to relax amongst friends. Our pooches were the perfect hosts. We caught Pauline sitting on the floor a few times getting some good doggie snuggles. Errol was in his element sitting on the couch and getting wet willies from the Coop and a big hug from the Spice girl.  

Cooper's appetite is about the same, not the best. We do not know from one meal to the next if he will eat and, most importantly, what he will eat. We have a little smorgasbord going on at the moment...ground chicken, eggs and rice. Whatever tickles his fancy as long as his fragile GI can tolerate it. Cooper seems to be doing fine otherwise, his resting respiratory rate is in a good range.

Our little girl Spicy, on the other hand, is not doing so well. We were able to see a neurologist last week and the news is not good. After a thorough exam, and based on our many observations in the past two weeks, the neurologist strongly suspects a tumor in the area of the brain stem. An MRI would of course confirm it but it is risky given Spicy's heart condition and the outcome would not change our approach in supporting Spicy at this stage in her life.  As my friend Gerda so well said, "quality over quantity is our guiding light".  We are following our heart on this one, which is truly aching.

How is Spicy doing now? Her head and body tilt is more pronounced, we are noticing almost a daily change. She walks like a cute little drunken sailor. Finding her legs is difficult when she gets up after lying down. One of us is always there to help her and once she has her footing, she gets going. Her appetite is good, actually better than Cooper's. She is still on Cerenia which seems to help with whatever nausea she would have from being tilted and wobbly. She doesn't seem to be in any discomfort at the moment. Her eyes don't have much spark in them although I saw a twinkle when I brought up the snuffling mats yesterday. She got right into it. That put a smile on my face.

We are to follow up with the neurologist in two weeks. Until then, we are taking it one day at a time. We are watching Spicy very closely and making notes of any new changes. We are sad beyond words. Writing about this is very difficult but I know that my blog followers would want to know. We love our little girl so deeply. 

I don't have much else to add to this blog. We are one week away from Christmas. Our hearts are not in it but we will make it happen. Russell and I will find the strength to get through this. We are not the only ones going through some tough times. Such is life. 

I leave you with a few more photos from our Christmas shoot. We can't help but notice what a difference a month has made. Have a great week everyone and enjoy all those Christmas preparations. My next blog will be on Christmas Eve 🎄🎅 

Spicy and Cooper revelling in the moment,
they exude Christmas spirit.

Spicy sitting pretty with her dainty smile.

Cooper handsome as ever!

A tender moment captured for ever...Spicy
is such a snuggle bug, she is cherished.

Cooper and his daddy...Cooper is adored.

Errol getting a wet willy from
Cooper.

Spicy loves a good snuggle and Errol
readily obliges.

Yin and yang...peas in a pod
BFF's.