p.s.

Apparently the Godfather of all pool noodles hails from Costco. They're fabulous - you can float without the assistance of 5 noodles per extremity!! Our friends Jamie and Pete made this extravagant find and my big baby (who's almost as cute as Owen ;-)) LOVES them!

Supper Club

Supper club is a super fun excuse to get together with good friends, share recipes and sip cocktails. This month, we made good use of this "too hot to live" weather and made supper club into a whole afternoon...by the pool! And a special friend came along who stole the show! :-) Owen is so sweet and happy - we had a blast playing with him! As did Buster! Up next: Supper Club goes to North Myrtle Beach! Can't wait!!

It's been a while...

SO, after a "little" hiatus, from blogging, guess I'll give it a shot again! :-) As I read my last post, I had one of those "If I knew then what I know now" type feelings. MK had another episode of back pain a few months later, and this time the pain was accompanied by the inability to walk on her hind legs. We let her out in the backyard one Saturday morning in April and instead of pouncing down the stairs and chasing birds/squirrels/rabbits/leaves per the usual, she lost her footing and fell to the bricks from the top of the stairs, Everytime she would try to stand up, she would topple over. Stricken with panic, I dialed her vet and Dr.Coates talked me through a few neurologic tests over the phone, immediately deciding it was an emergency. Blake and I rushed her to North Elm, but within 5 minutes of being there, Dr. Coates sent us on our way to admit our baby girl to Carolina Veterinary Specialists "doggie ICU" in Winston. She was almost certain that MK needed surgery to repair a ruptured disc. The neurosurgeon had the weekend off, so the emergency vet assessed her and notified us that she would be doing hourly neuro assessments and if there were any change in Mollie's condition, she would call Dr. Skeen in. Monday came and Dr. Skeen called and explained to us that he was quite certain it was a ruptured disc, so certain, in fact, that he was going to administer the anesthesia before her MRI (just to be 100% sure), then take her promptly to surgery. We expected to hear from him in a few hours, so you can imagine our surprise when 45 minutes later, he was calling again. Her MRI was clean. Next step: lumbar puncture to obtain spinal fluid to be tested for a rare disease, GME (Granulomatous Meningoencephalomyelitis), which is an autoimmune disorder that affects the brain and spine. By that afternoon, we had our diagnosis. Dr. Skeen explained to us that the treatment for this would be chemotherapy and that the mean lifetime expectanacy after diagnosis is 2 years. He did however assure us that this number is skewed because the treatment either works well or not at all. Needless to say, Blake and I were totally numb for the next few days, driving back and forth to visit Mollie, who had already begun her first round of chemo. It was gutwrenching to have to leave her there every night, alternating between not wanting to stop kissing and snuggling and making her walk around, searching for the tiniest improvement. The only comfort was that the staff doted over her almost as much as we do! They would carry her around just so she wouldn't be stuck in ICU all day! They fed her wet food, put bows in her hair, and NEVER denied me the chance to speak with her nurse and give me updates - no matter what time of day or how often I called. A few days later, miss Mollie-Kate was on her way back home. And boy has she been the queen of our home since then! We have celebrated every day, every morning, every walk -even when she's stubborn, every nap, every snuggle, EVERYTHING with her!! And she is doing amazing - she goes for her chemo every 3 weeks (no side effects, thank God!) and she absolutely eats up the "celebrity" attention she recieves from everyone at the vet!! No little dog on this Earth could be loved any more!