The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Bryson's Thanksgiving Update

Happy Thanksgiving! Want to spend more time with the fam than on the computer, but I'll be remiss if I don't mention how thankful we are this Thanksgiving...

I have to admit I was skeptical if Bryson will respond to any of the meds and therapies we've thrown at him. He is almost 10 after all, and with his Addison's Disease, he always seem to be a bit fragile, teetering on the finest balance where the slightest shove might send him down the drain... 

I do believe in the power of healing beyond what we can scientifically "prove", but even then I was surprised at how much he has responded to his laser therapy. It could be coincidence or placebo effect, but we can't deny the fact that after his first treatment, he was so frisky he busted out of his tent for the first time since he was sentenced to confinement and started walking all over the deck (something I wasn't too happy with at the time, and has been remedied since).

Look at him at his first treatment, which is a Class IV laser beam shone over his injured vertebral disc (we all have to wear sunglasses), just a few minutes at each session. We have 3 treatments this week, 2 the next, then weekly afterwards. If nothing else he does look pretty relaxed, doesn't he?

It probably helps too that they give our liver treats to bribe their patients. That makes one happy corgi who's very hungry on steroids :) For that alone he'll be going back faithfully.

Speaking of feeding the hungry, we're excited to embark on our yearly Thanksgiving meal delivery with Salvation Army this morning. 

We were lucky this year we got a route consisting of apartments in one elderly housing complex (no driving around/ getting lost/ getting tickets for double parking). Most recipients are these sweet grandparent types (all Chinese and Russian), who love having young visitors and freely handed out candies, little trinkets and hugs (you can probably guess which one Eva likes most and least)... 

Even Fufu the Bunny came to help out this year. 

Hoping this little bit of good deed helped earn some karma points that can be deposited into Bryson's health bank, so he doesn't have to spend his day staring longingly outside...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The day every corgi owner dreads

All you corgi peeps out there know this from Day 1- paralyzing back problem is your dog's #1 health nemesis.

We foolishly hoped that when Bryson was diagnosed with Addison's Disease, he wouldn't be so lucky to be dealt another debilitating illness, right?

Well, this week proved us wrong. Just a little over a week ago, we enjoyed our road trip to LA, where Bryson and Eva trotted all over town- the Getty, the Old LA Zoo (super cool), having so much fun, little did we know...

...this is how he's gonna look in a few short days, all wobbly in his hind legs and having trouble even standing at times, and so exquisitely painful he'd yelp at the lightest touch around his belly.

 

2 visits with his regular vet and an emergency one with a neurologist later, we received the diagnosis of intervertebral disc disease, or IVDD, which depending on his ongoing symptoms and diagnostic tests (like a $2000 MRI which we opted out of, at least for now), may necessitate surgery so he won't be paralyzed from waist down...

We were instructed to put him on strict crate rest to let the inflammation around his spinal cord subside, which explains this indoor camping outfit (it's actually Eva's travel sleeping tent, which comes in very handy now).

He's in there pretty much 24/7, except when we carry him out to do his business. Yeah, it's pretty depressing, for us and him I'm sure, but I guess better be depressed than paralyzed.

At least we were able to find a bit of advice on the internet, we even joined a yahoo group for wheeled corgis (don't want to think about it, but good to see there is life after wheels, just like in the movies...)

And one thing we learned online is how to set up his "recovery suite", complete with elevated water bowl, comfortable bedding, enough but not too much space, and proximity to sights and smells he's comfortable with (mostly stinky things).

Looking longingly at the "outside" world, during one of the regularly-scheduled petting breaks...

The hope is with strict confinement and the right combination of medicines (and supportive treatment like acupuncture and laser therapy), that his body will heal in time to the point where he can walk and function independently again.

Please send Bryson your healing thoughts! We're looking forward to more moments like this with the kids...

Pumpkin, Princess and Pneumonia

Once you have kids, it seems like there are 3 inescapable constants every year as we start detecting that chill in the air...

(1) The mandatory kids with pumpkin pictures. I guess it's just one of those hallmark of childhood I feel they (yes, I mean the 2- and 4-legged kids) should have memories of.

This year it's with quite a bit of hilarity that we noticed we have a picture of Bryson and Eva on the exact same bale of hay, in the exact same pumpkin patch (Farmer Joe's, Half Moon Bay, in case you're curious), on almost the exact same day as one from 3 years ago. I blame it on the fact that we don't have enough dog-friendly pumpkin patches in the Bay Area.

Now...

And then...

Looks like someone learned how to pose. I swear I didn't teach her that.

(2) Princess dresses for Halloween. 

Remember the days when we could dress the kids up as anything (e.g. pharaoh and sphinx, remember?) for our own entertainment? Well, those days are long gone. Last year was the first year Eva requested to be a princess. A fairy princess to be exact (with Bryson as her trusty magical steed). This year? What? Princess again??

I know I had to come up with a more creative idea (I'll die if I have to sew the same princess dress in a different color tulle 2 years in a row). So after much fabric shop perusing, brainstorming and negotiating, we zeroed in on this pair of whimsical characters from a children's book we both love:

 

Jon Muth's Zen Ghosts. It's one of the books in the Stillwater series, where the main character Stillwater, a zen master who happens to be a panda, instills wisdom (often in haiku) to 3 sibling children. Eva is enamored with this character Addy, the girl sibling, who in this book chose to be a Moon Princess for Halloween. 

I don't think Eva gets the message of this book (and frankly there are bits that go above my own un-zen head as well), but she's convinced she wants to be Moon Princess when she saw Addy's flowy gown, covered with butterflies that seemingly jump off the page (the artwork in this book is simply amazing, you have to see it to believe such exquisite art exist in children's book). And I'm convinced as I see the opportunity to dress Bryson as a kimono-wearing panda bear... (*evil chuckle*)

I can't find a pattern for a dress that looks like the character's, but found one for a kimono-esque dress that can be sewn by attaching 2 rectangles that I can modify to give it butterfly "wings". Smells like a winner...

And it is! Super duper easy- you fold up a piece of fabric, sew 2 lines to create the body, cut a neck hole, cut and hem the sleeves (and other unfinished edges), and add a elastic waist. That's pretty much it. Even I who haven't sewn in eons managed to whip it up in a day. And during the course discovered that this narrow hem foot is my new best friend.

But of course it wouldn't be complete without the butterflies. I toyed wth the idea of stenciling them on (if I can find/ make the stencils), but after some trial and error, decided it's actually easiest to just paint them with diluted acrylic paint for a water-color effect. I probably can't wash it, but heck it's probably going to be worn a grand total of 3 times (if I'm lucky), and acrylic paint is what I have at home, and so acrylic paint is what goes on...

Ta da! Not too shabby I must say.

But a few unexpected business trips later, Stillwater is embarrasingly naked, and now suspiciously resemble a cheap Pablo-Sandoval knock-off panda... 

 

Thus the super grumpy look... Doesn't help that his sister looks so put together, with a lantern as her nifty little candy basket to be filled with all sorts of goodies that's completely off-limits to him...

It also doesn't help that the darn panda kept falling over his face, but on he trudged without a grudge (while bumping into a few things along the way...)

You gotta give him the best sport award, to have gone on the entire parade with us in the village without complaint.

And of course this is another opportunity to throw some face painting on that little face! It's really pretty fun, some day if I win the lotto you may find me as the face painting lady at a street fair in your hood...

So, wrapping up #2, P for Princess, that leaves us with...

(3) Pneumonia.

Yep, you read it right, someone had her second pneumonia. Those of you with kids will be familiar with this: your kid has the runny nose, which seems to be perpetual almost the entire season, so you don't think much of it. Then she develops a cough, and she looks kinda irritable. Then she has a low grade temp, you give them some children's Advil and send them off to bed, thinking it will pass, only to be awaken at 2 am with a child screaming by your bedside, while hurling her entire stomach's content into your hair...

That's us. Except that this time the fever was up to almost 105. We could feel the heat radiating off her head without even touching her. I was skeptical when the advise nurse on the phone said we should just keep her home, cool her off and keep up with the antipyretic. Really, at 105?? But miraculously, even before I could decide what to do, she fell back asleep with the ice pack on her head.

Long story short, a doctors visit the next day and a course of antibiotics later, she's good as new again. I just hope this really isn't going to become a yearly ritual. And now I've said it out loud (at least electronically), I've officially jinxed it and it wouldn't happen, right?

Anyway, wish you all a happy, healthy (pneumonia-free!) fall this year!