Shelby update

Last night Shelby seemed like her normal self. The vet has given her pill medication that is supposed to prevent fluid from building up in her abdomen. Instead it is supposed to be drained through her urine. So far it seems to be working. My instructions are to give her the pill when I get home from work so I can let her outside frequently all evening to avoid bladder accidents in the house.

On Tuesday evening, the second day I’d given her the medication, she developed what looked like a small udder, full of fluid. I was a bit alarmed because in the early evening it was a bit hard. But as the evening progressed it became more dilute each time she came back from relieving herself in the back yard. By the time we went to bed the fluid sack was substantially reduced.

Last night no such re-occurrence happened. She seemed normal in every way. She devoured her food, ran up and down the stairs, licked the door of the dishwasher as we tried to load dishes, slept on my lap for awhile, and followed us around the house. And she didn’t tremble, as she has been doing on occasion for the last few days.

I’m reluctantly optimistic. But the uncertainty is most unsettling. I’m harbouring the unrealistic hope that the vet’s diagnosis was wrong. That’s likely not the case. It’s almost impossible to predict how long she has. I know I’m supposed to focus only on today, but it’s hard. Not that I haven’t before, but especially now I’m trying to appreciate Shelby every chance I get.

Recently my wife Shauna has taken up meditation, mostly as treatment for pain left over from last year’s trauma of a herniated disc in her back. But, she tells me, it’s also been beneficial for her over-all wellness and outlook on life. I’ve done it a few times myself, and I’m trying to apply some of the principles of meditation to my own life.

Shelby’s medical set-back is one more reason I need to “focus on one day at a time”. That’s exactly the phrase my mother always told me as I was growing up. Now it’s all re-packaged for a new generation as “Meditation”. Whatever the label-of-the-day is, the underlying principle is sound. It’s not possible to change the past by dwelling on it; nor is it beneficial to worry about the future. Do all you can to engineer a desired outcome to a situation, but ultimately, one can only do so much, and you have to release your anxiety and accept the outcome.

Considering Shelby’s current state of well-being, I have to focus on today, which seems to be quite good, and not worry about tomorrow, next week or next month. We’re caring for Shelby as best we can, and we’ve gotten professional help for her when we noticed something was wrong. That’s all we can do.

Plus, it probably wouldn’t hurt to pray that the vet was mistaken.