The Great Escape

25 to 21.8 Kilos

The good news is that Sym has had all his blood tests done and he is in the clear as far as all his internals go.

The only concern now is his fairly dramatic weight loss.  He was never an over weight dog and has always been active but since his chemotherapy he has dropped first to 23.5 kilos (which was to be expected) and now, in less than a week, his weight has dropped to 21.8 kilos.

We'll have to find him a nice healthy diet to build him back up again.

He spent the night at the vets for observation and to get some fluids into him.  With any luck my boy will be back by about 10am today.

I promise to let him use the laptop so he can tell you all about his ordeal but for now all I can say is ....

PHEW!!!

Sym: A Turn For The Worse

I've just got back from the vet's.

Sym has spent a pretty uncomfortable 24 hours vomiting and feeling generally sorry for himself.

His last treatment seemed to go quite well but he has slowly deteriorated over the course of the week.  He hasn't had a meal since Tuesday (with the exception of grass) and continues to vomit even though he has taken Cerenia anti-sickness medication.  His weight has dropped to 21.8 kilo's and the vet seems to be quite concerned.

He is still with the vet and is facing a barrage of blood tests and will have all his major organs checked.  With luck, and after a Cerenia injection, he'll be back with us this afternoon, otherwise he'll be monitored overnight.

We have crossed everything that can be crossed and are hoping that he has a speedy recovery.

The End Of Sym's Treatment

Monday was Sym's last treatment!!!

He has now been given the 'all clear' ... for the moment.

For the first time he received a sedative prior to treatment as he was just a little bit fidgety.

On top of the other meds he was given it knocked him for six. He was not himself again until late yesterday evening.

Today however, he is much more like his old self ... non-stop chasing of thrown cones and balls and always looking for some serious fuss and cwtches.

We've just returned from the park (without the girls) and had a cracking ball-chasing session which has hopefully tired him out so that we can have a quiet evening with our friends from Germany.

After a shaky start Sym has now befriended Dieter and adopted him as his new chief thrower of sticks, cones, balls and all other throwables within Sym's reach.

Gaby (Dieter's wife) is in charge of Sym cwtches and behind-the-ear massages.

I have been relegated to 'cushion' and I am only called upon when he wants to have a kip on the sofa. 

Julie is still the feeder and therefore only needed twice a day.

There Is Always Something ...

The less work I have, the less time I seem to be able to find in order to blog.

When I find myself with time on my hands because of cancelled calls, etc., my wife always ... always ... finds a multitude of jobs around the house that need doing.

That doesn't mean to say that I actually do them! Not all of them ... well, one or two don't get ... Yes dear! I'll do 'em all!!!

{sigh}

Just recently there was the patio; it has been cleaned!  However, in doing so, it was decided that it also needs re-pointing as the jet wash dislodged quite a lot of the concrete between slabs.  I haven't done it yet, but it's on my to-do list, I swear.

And always there is the grass! It seems that every three days I have to march back and forwards pushing a lawnmower around the garden ... after scooping up all the doggy do-do first. When I think of that 70's or 80's movie "The Never Ending Story", not that I would ever admit publicly to doing it,  I always think about cutting the grass.

There is the kick-plate (a board that runs along the bottom of the kitchen units) that still needs replacing (after I ripped the old one out) and there is also the small matter of replacing all the window locks.
They need replacing as some of the keys have gone missing ... unfortunately we need a key to unlock the locks in order to replace them, which, if we had them, would mean we wouldn't have to change them in the first place.  Catch 22!  Joseph Heller I hate you!

The carpet also needs it's quarterly spruce-up with the Vax carpet cleaner.  That is at the top of my list.  With three dogs and two cats in the house (even though they are all house trained) you can't be too careful.

I don't want to bore you with all of the jobs that await me over the next fortnight (two weeks off). Neither do I want to depress you by reminding you of your very own to-do lists or over-keen other halves.  I merely wanted to point out that you are not alone!  There are fellow sufferers out there that understand and share your plight.

So onwards and upwards, as the saying goes.

Now where can I hide my toolbox before she gets home?

Going To The Dogs? Nah! They Don't Want Us!!!

For years now, successive British governments have been reducing prison sentences or finding ingenious reasons and excuses for letting convicted criminals out of prison without serving their full term behind bars.

Prison can no longer be called a punishment or a deterrent!

Violent crime is going up.  Theft is going up. Criminal damage is going up.

And so is every other type of crime you can think of.

And now,of all things, there are calls for the restoration of the death penalty.

Why, for God's sake, does anyone want the death penalty re-instated when the courts (and the politicians) are only going to punish other crimes with a slap on the wrist?

TV footage of the riots in London show young men (and some women) ... well, rioting obviously.

The same old "nothing to do" and "police insensitivity" arguments are being bandied about as usual, but at the end of the day there is no excuse for what they are doing.

They do what they do simply because they know there is no real punishments. Slapped wrists, fines, or suspended sentences ... that's all that most of them will get.

Lock the buggers up for a long bleeding time.

Increase sentences for all crime.

And other stuff like that.

There you go ... rant over.  I'm going to have my dinner now!

Richer than the United States of America!

I've just realised ... as I have no debts, that theoretically makes me richer than the US government!

Jeez!

If only I knew what to spend my wealth on?

I s'pose, if push came to shove, I could lend Mr. Obama a few quid!