So nuanced and lifelike -- can you spot Katie among the hydrangeas?

It’s been almost four months since Katie was diagnosed with primary lung cancer, and she is doing GREAT. The average life span for dogs after her diagnosis is 3-6 months, and Katie is not only symptom-free, she’s doing better than she has for years.

She’s had four rounds of chemo now and has handled them all without missing a beat, thanks in large part to acupuncture.  It has also managed to restore the use of her back legs, cure her neuropathy and get her off of all the medications she was taking. I don’t understand how or why it works but the effect has been remarkable. At 13 1/2 she’s running around like a puppy, chasing the ball and keeping everyone in the house in line, especially that wiley Kevin Gosztola, who is occupying our guest room while he’s covering the Manning trial:

 

Katie, Kevin Gosztola, Lucy and the Dan Choi-Built Brick Barbecue

We make many home cooked meals, take leisurely walks, watch trash TV and just spend a lot of quality time together.  Dan Choi came to visit us a few weeks ago and in a burst of inspiration built a fire pit out of spare bricks  in the back yard.  Since I’m pretty sure “fire pit” is something the DC fire marshal would frown upon, we converted it into a regulatory-friendly barbecue and it has inspired us to do a lot of gardening and spruce up the back yard.  Katie has been diligent in applying good feng shui gardening principles to its design, and has done a splendid job of making it a peaceful and welcoming place for all of us to hang out.

Among all her other responsibilities, Katie also reminded me that Wendy Davis had written a lovely post recently inquiring about her health,  and that I had promised Wendy I would post some photos.  I thought a few ball-chasing action stills would be great, but Lucy was being a ball hog and Katie said the heat and her slightly wilted ‘do made it all a bit unlikely.  So she opted for her world-famous hydrangea impression (above).  It’s so nuanced and life-like I bet you can’t spot Katie among the hydrangeas.

Many thanks to everyone at FDL who has made it possible for us to spend this time together, especially Scarecrow, Ellie, Brian, Bev, Kit, Zach and Dakine (just to name a few).  We love you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this precious gift of time together.  Nothing could possibly be more meaningful.

And just for the heck of it, here’s a picture of Scarecrow in Boston 2 weeks ago with my sister when she was graduating with her masters’ in computer science from Boston University (so proud of her):

Scarecrow and my sister Pam in Boston

My sister thought Scarecrow was pretty special.  He is.