Update on Chase

Chase continues to be in the animal hospital. He may be able to come home today.

He has canine pancreatitis and gallstones. The docs don't want to treat the gallstones at this point because they can reduce in size and when the move along, they can get stuck down the line sometimes requiring surgery. Given Chase's health at the moment, they are choosing to hopefully reduce the pancreatitis issue and then deal with the gallstones later.

Trish, Nicole and Connor visited him last night at the hospital and he was very happy to see them. That in itself brought me to tears knowing how much he liked their visit and is probably somewhat lonely in the hospital. I even got to talk to him on the phone. Trish said he stopped moving and pricked his ears up while I talked to him.

I was looking into alternate ways to get home earlier if his condition warranted me to get home ASAP. We came to Bonaire on Continental Airlines and they only fly out of here on Saturday and Sunday. I had lost my chance on Sunday to get out of here. I looked at purchasing a new, one-way ticket home on another carrier which would cost around $1500 but luckily the doc said that Chase is in no way in critical condition. He is stable but in a fair amount of pain. They have him on pain meds and he's not too interested in food - only the really good treats, according to the attending doctor. Sounds like Chase, doesn't it?

From what I have read on the internet about this canine pancreatitis, it can be bad or it can be ok. I'm praying it can be managed with diet, but Chase is almost 13 years old. In many cases it is caused by a high fat diet. That is why I'm so insistent about not giving the dogs human food. We currently feed Chase and Beanie Canidae Platinum wet and dry. So...I don't know if that is the cause or not. Trish will tell the docs the details and get details on what he should be fed.

Trish said Beanie has been out of sorts without Chase. The first night he wouldn't stop crying and she couldn't figure out what was wrong. Trish finally realized that Beanie was lonely and she brought him up to her bedroom at 1am and then he calmed down enough to sleep. He continues to look for Chase.

I thank all of you for the positive thoughts and well wishes. It has been a tough go the past couple days for me. I had a migraine yesterday and I'm so thankful for the prescription drugs they have now to relieve the symptoms once they start. I was not surprised one came on. I was pretty stressed out.

My sister Trish told me via email today that the lesson in this is to continue to live in the moment and how much of a challenge that can be. I'm in a paradise and I can't or couldn't enjoy it at all. I couldn't eat or sleep.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner oceanside and today Greg took a break from diving so we could spend the day together. We drove around the island and saw some cool stuff. I really needed some dedicated Greg and Naomi time.

It is true. Live for the moment because that is all we truly have. Easier said than done.

I love my boys(my dogs) so much. In the absence of human children, these are my kids and when they aren't feeling well, it is hard to enjoy the moment. Chase, my happy go lucky, always on the hunt for food, Yorkie who doesn't want to eat right now, would want us to have fun.

As soon as I wrote being in the moment, my thinking mind says "Yeah...but he's in a hospital all alone and he doesn't have him mom to comfort him and.." blah blah blah.

There you have it: The struggle between the thinking mind and just *being in the moment*.

Now that is a challenge most of us could benefit from...being more in the moment!!

Thanks, Chase, for the reminder in being in the present moment!