* I'M HANGING IN THERE, AND STAYING STRONG *

Can you believe it is already June 2016?

 

I don't know why, but it seems to be part of human nature that as every month and year goes by, we all say, "I can't believe it is.....fill in the blank...already!"

 

Although I really do enjoy all the little things in life (Mr. Robert Brault!) and savor as much of each day that I can, life just gets in the way sometimes of our "plans." It's kind of like watching or listening to the weather forecast for the upcoming week. Don't bother making your outdoor plans according to those predictions. They usually change.....

 

Case in point: About six weeks ago, neither Ron nor I could have predicted what our lives would be like during these first few days in June. About a month ago, Ron had part of his right lung removed due to a cancerous "nodule." The surgery was successful and there was no chemo or radiation involved. Thank goodness! But during his recovery at home, he wasn't getting much better, and had trouble breathing. But when he went for his follow-up appointments to his lung surgeon and lung doctor (yes, two separate ones) both said things like: It takes time. You're doing all the things you're supposed to, etc.

 

Then, over the weekend of May 14th and 15th, Vern rapidly got sicker and our vet said without a doubt we were making the right decision to say goodbye to our sweet, beloved, senior guy. As most of you know, we'd had Vern just over five years and he would've been 15 years old this August. Although Vern was our third dog, Ron bonded with him much more than he ever did with the first two, and it really hit him hard. For me...I'm grieving about the same as I did for our other two, much-loved fur babies. I have my good days and my bad days.

 

So, a couple more weeks went by, and I kept telling Ron I thought he had pneumonia. I've had it enough times in my life to know the sounds and symptoms. It's not "normal" to wheeze and rattle when you breath! But, did that happen when the doctors listened to him with their stethoscopes? Of course not. One of them looked at me a bit patronizingly at that point, because I had voiced my "knowledge" but he wasn't "hearing" it.

 

....................................................... To Be Continued ...................................................