Tuesday, August 4, 2015

More Baby Steps

We are fast approaching the one year mark of the removal of Henry's kidney (August 7, 2014).

I feel somewhat obliged to recap the last year in a modified time line.

• Henry lost his left eye to Glaucoma in April 2014
• Henry lost his brother Benny in June 2014
• Henry lost his sister Luna in July 2014
• Henry lost a kidney in August 2014
• August -October 2014 he was only able to complete 3 of his initally 6 prescribed chemotherapy treatments
• October 2014 Henry suffered a case of pancreatitis
• December 2014 Henry experienced a day of seizures and is later diagnosed with multiple brain hemorrhages
• January 2015 confirmation that sometime in late December the low vision that remained in Henry's right eye was lost
• Somewhere between June 2014-October 2014 he developed an extreme level of separation anxiety
• At meeting with neurologist in December 2014, neuro doc shared that a "worked up Henry will very likely lead to his demise" and advises us not to leave him unattended especially if that means he will experience stress (as stress will invariably cause him to stroke out and die)
• OBP peeps begin to work to ensure that Henry has the closest thing to around the clock care that they can manage
• February 2015 the OBP peeps begin rebuilding Henry from the ground up

Cut to now. Here we are almost at the one year anniversary of his kidney removal. He is in good health and we are constantly talking about how we are baby stepping him back into life. Well, the latest thing that he's been doing that is like his old self again is joining us on the sofa before bed time! The pugs of old would join us on the sofa for some TV time before bed. Well, all of that changed for Henry. As Henry's anxieties built he would start to stand by the door (beginning around 7:30) and ask to "go potty" only to turn around and come back inside over and over again. By 8:30 he would be done with this pattern and be most comfortable just settling for the night on the big bed. Little by little that routine got to be later in evening and less repetitious. He had the pattern down to starting around 8:30 and only going out 2x to go potty and on the second time he was fine going to bed around 9. Less pacing. Less milling. Less anxiety.

Well now Henry will go out once around 8 and then he's fine to settle with us on the sofa until actual bed time which is around 10PM. And at 10PM he will go out for a final potty and then up onto the big bed. So, again, baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.

It is weird how fast and yet so slow the year has gone by. The cancer doc said she saw no reason that Henry could not make it 2 years post chemo. At the time we were just holding out for one more year. Well, that one year is here and in no way is that long enough! Henry is just now getting his mojo back! So, this first year was just about walking him back into life slowly and my hope is this next year (and years to come) will be about enjoying the fruits of our labor! This means for Henry to embrace his life to the fullest. And we will be here supporting but not rushing him along.

#HenryIsOneToughPug #HenryStrong #HappyNoKidneyAnniversary #HenryIsTheComeBackKid #Don'tCallItAComebackHeNeverLeft