Silly dachshunds!  Always a challenge with these little ones around!  Our latest in the circus of our life is Cami and Stella "tag teaming" lizards!  Oh I'm serious!  

Cami follows them slowly and kind of corners them on a patio stone...and then Stella runs from across the yard and pounces on them to make the "kill"! Do you have any idea how many lizards I have saved in "just the nick of time" today?  At least *8*.  I'm serious!

I didn't realize what was going on until Cami got a little sick on the concrete.  As I was washing it away, I realized there was a lizard tail in there.  Cami just doesn't understand that lizards are NOT part of a diabetic diet.  I realize they're protein (of sorts), but they're just not good for her!  

I chased Stella half way across our yard (nearly 1/4 acre) to get a lizard from her that she had locked tightly in those strong dachshund jaws, with all the grass and leaves that it had been hiding in!  She carried it all the way to the back door, just thinking I would let her inside with it!

Imagine my shock when I got to the door (more than slightly out of breath) and told her, "Stella, drop it!" and she DID!  Too late for the lizard, but at least he wasn't consumed.  Stella stood back and watched me as I grabbed a poop bag to pick the lizard up off the door mat and carried it to the garbage!  Oh that little one is NOT happy with me now!  I robbed her of her snack!

It's still close to an hour until dinner time for the girls so they're both laying at my feet...pouting.  They could always ask my human children how much good pouting does...none.  ;)

Today's the day for some of Cami's posts!  Oh maybe a post from Stella...or two...Stella is our newest foster, also a dog with mammary tumors.  Stella is perfectly healthy other than those tumors and a BB lodged under her skin!  Surgery for Stella is schedule for June 26!

Cami, June 14, 2014:

Hehehe! I chased Mommy away from her puter fingy this mornin cause I 'cided it's MY turn!

G'mornin to alla me Angels! And especial g'mornin to Oscar the Great Mini, my lobe! 

Know what? I like hasing Stella here! Stella and me go outside together and we wander around the yard, sometimes side by side. We goes on the great lizard hunt together, but Stella don't let me catch no lizards. Her's selfish about lizards but Mommy says Stella's lookin out for me cause I not sposed to eat those fings.

I share my toys wif Stella cause her didn't has any from when her was in that shelter. I do NOT share my Tick wif Stella. That's MY Tick. Sometimes I shares my Lambchop wif her, but only sometimes.

The really reason I wanted the puter fingy from Mommy is cause I want to wish alla you Daddy's out there a bery Happy Fathers Day. Mommy's might do mosta the work of takin care of us doggies sometimes, but Daddy's are so bery special cause they gib lobes and cuddles and comfort us when we gets scared and a whole bunch of other stuff. I lobes my Daddy.

Now for me brudders..eben though they be human and not four legged like me...

And to my human brudder Rob, Happy Fathers Day, you be a great Father to my friend, Evin! And to my human brudder in law, Steve (eben though I don't know you yet) you be a great Father to my friend, Kasey B, Happy Fathers Day! And I has another human brudder I hasn't met who is the super Father! Him's name is Hank, but people calls him Topper Hightower, I hasn't met him yet neither...Happy Fathers Day to you, my brudder!

Has a wonderful day to alla me Angels! we Lobes you a whole bunches!

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June 17, 2014:
Whew! I kicked Mommy out of her chair in front of her puter fingy! And now Stella Luna the little black and tan lunatic is under MY feets! hehehe

Well, Angels, here's the way it is. My blood glue is lookin pretty good. Mommy says it not be great, but pretty good is a big improbement! so we go wif "pretty good" for now and keep workin!

OMD Stella hadda go see the doctor man today to get her glandulars spressed! I laffed. Well, her laffed at me, so this time, I got to laffs at her! Stella came home and said "how basive that be". Ummm...yep.

Miss Molly and Stormy went to the doctor man too. Stormy hadda have a blood test fingy for her cushions dis...ummm...wait...lemmme fink a minute...diseeze. Yep. Cushions diseeze. Mommy says we find out soon about that stuffs. Then her and Miss Molly had bafs and their nails wacked off and alla that not really good stuffs.

So for about a hour, I hadda whole house to meself..well, cept for my old kitty boy Frank! But him's so quiet, might has been just me! Don't tell Mommy and Daddy, but when they's Director TB bill comes in, is going to has the Dog Channels stuff on there. Well really, why would I wanna watch elefants when I can watch dogs stead? See? I need it.

Ima has to bite Mommy's ankles. Her said they's gonna has ice cream.

Good idea. Ima go do just that. But first, I gotta tell Oscar the Great Mini that I lobes him and his Mommy Lisa and I lobes Flint too!

But mosts, I lobes alla me Cami's Angels. ***Cami kisses for alla me 1749 Angels!

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And Stella adds her own "2 cents":

June 18, 2014

Hi, I'm Stella Luna and I hijacked Cami's page so I could share some news wif y'all! 

My FM says we been getting donations for my surgery so not only did her schedule it, but her REscheduled it for earlier!!

Is not going to be July 10 anymore...That nice doctor man at Monument Road Animal Hospital is going to fix my tumors n stuffs on June 26!! This makes me a happy girl! Oh wait! I'm a happy girl no matter what...well, cept if there's thunder booming!

FM says, if you can, please call in a donation with a debit/credit card to Monument Road Animal Hospital at 904-721-2119 or send em a check at 1238 Monument Rd. Jacksonville FL 32225. Tell em it's for Stella Hightower, please cause that's my name til I find my bery own forever family!

FM says I has a youcaring also at: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/stella-luna-needs-surgery/189357


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They're funny little girls and they fit right in with Stormy the sweetest girl on earth, Miss Molly the slightly neurotic chihuahua with "big" aggression issues and Frank, the quite elderly and Frank, the anti-social Siamese cat!

The ongoing battle of blood glucose.  That's the story of our lives.  I had to have a "little talk" with Cami a bit ago..."How am I supposed to keep your blood glucose under control when you take care of a smelly bodily function and turn around and eat it?"  I'm thinking it's time to start taking Cami outside on a leash and staying with her every single moment she's outside.  As far as I can see, that's the only way to stop this!  

She doesn't bother with what the other dogs leave behind, fortunately!  

I really don't want to have to restrict her to a leash, but am at my wit's end as to how else to handle this issue!

I'm somewhat fanatical about Cami's blood glucose and there's a very good reason!  From the very beginning, getting Cami's diabetes under control has been the big issue!  Home testing with THE pet calibrated glucose meter, I need to know at any given time, how Cami's doing, especially if her behavior is just a bit "off".  Before Bill and I leave the house for anything, I test Cami's blood glucose.  Everything is in a journal.  Every food change, every blood test result.  Every meal time.  Every insulin time and amount.  Any unusual activity like company (which always excites her), any new dogs who might want to play and run her blood glucose a little lower than normal.  Just ask me about any particular day and I can flip through one journal or the other and tell you what happened that day!  

We've seen super high numbers that scare my socks off!  We've seen super low numbers that send me running for Cami's own personal "crash kit"!  Our version of a diabetic crash kit has become more sophisticated over time, mainly with the helpful advice of Canine Diabetes Support and Information group on Facebook.  I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't found them!  We now have "graduated" to the ever present Karo syrup, wheat crackers, peanut butter, some canned dog food (Cami's brand only) as well as Stage 2 baby food in chicken and/or turkey!  There's a separate kit for travelling!  Packets of honey (thank you Church's Chicken for offering me honey for my biscuits), wheat crackers, unopened baby food!  Always ready to drop into "Cami's cooler" along with her food and insulin, syringes and dishes!  Oh wait, we can't forget the chicken broth (no fat, low sodium!) to add to her water.  

Yes, chicken broth for her water.  I started spoiling her after surgery and used chicken broth added to her water to entice her into drinking more!  She won't let me stop!  If there's no chicken broth in that bowl, she is NOT drinking it.  And believe me, Cami KNOWS when I'm trying to taper off on that chicken broth!  She lets me know in no uncertain terms that I need to add MORE.  She'll sniff the water...look up at me...sniff the water again...look up at me...and then turn and walk away.  Can we say Princess Cami?  Uh huh and I DID IT!

Right now, the little Princess is curled up on her Pig Bed, waiting for me to turn off the overhead lights so Bill and I can curl up with Miss Molly behind my knees, Stormy in the recliner and foster Stella snoring on the back of the couch!  Movie time at the Hightower house!  Oh I've talked myself into it!  

Bye y'all!

That second surgery took a lot of "steam" out of Cami!  It took a little longer for her to recover her spirited nature, to gather a little energy!  But recover it she did!

Most of Cami's stitches and staples were removed after two weeks.  Most.  Our girl was a little rambunctious once she started feeling better and managed to pull out a staple or two, causing a very small opening in her suture line.  A little inflammation.  No outright infection, but inflammation.  With Cami, just enough to call for MORE antibiotics to be on the safe side!

At the end of the third week, all remaining stitches were out and Cami was chasing her toys and throwing them around once again!  All was well in our world...except for what Cami refers to on her Facebook page as her "blood glue".  

We battled high numbers, we battled low numbers and we survived them all because early in this roller coaster called Canine Diabetes, I found a great group on Facebook...Canine Diabetes Support and Information!  

With surgery behind us, it was time to get on with the struggle to regulate Cami's diabetes!  And let me tell you, it has been a struggle.  It's a struggle we still haven't won, even though we're getting much closer!

In all fairness to you, I need to move back in time yet again...back to the pre-surgery conversation with Dr. Wilson when he explained to me that "now is the time to home test, especially with surgery coming up".  This was just before Christmas 2013.  Picture this...we're on a tight retirement budget, we've had some pretty large unexpected expenses, and now we need to home test Cami's blood glucose!  

Here's where my stubborn pride comes in to play in a big way.  I know if I had said to Georgia that we needed a glucose meter for Cami, she would have moved heaven and earth to make sure we got it.  I don't like having to go to GDR and ask for financial help for Cami.  Oh I KNOW she's a GDR dog!  But this GDR dog is in MY care!  I should be able to do for her.  So, Bill and I had a brief conversation about home testing and what it entailed financially.  We came to the quick agreement that Cami's glucose meter would be our Christmas gift to each other.  Nothing was more important to either of us than Cami's health.  It was really a "no brainer"!

 So, we're now holding this "thing" we have no idea how to use or what those numbers mean or anything else!  Okay, I can read and follow instructions fairly well so the Owners Manual was my favorite book one evening!  Bill finally took it from me and asked "when are you actually going to test her?"...ummm...okay, now.  It was just like those first few weeks of insulin injections!  I shook, I was nauseated, I cried after I was finished.  Cami was a champ.  She sat still after my first few fumbling attempts and just gave me "a paddy paw" so we could do what needs doing!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...Cami is my HERO!  Because she never gives up, I never gave up on her.  She's taught me to never give up in other areas of my life also...areas that just bother the stuffin out of me!  NEVER give up.

Early on with Cami's Journey, we decided on our own personal motto that is since shared with all of her Angels and other visitors.  WE BELIEVE.  Simple.

It's not so much that you believe in God, like we do; in the power of prayer, like we do; in the warmth, kindness and innate goodness of the human spirit, like we do.  It's that each living breathing being needs SOMETHING to believe in.  We each choose what we believe in and our choices don't all have to be the same!

We chose to believe that this little dog who came into our lives and celebrated Thanksgiving with us, was here for a reason.  Not just here in our home, but here on this earth.  This little 11 pound dog with multiple health issues; with a huge lust for life and love; with an immensely joyful and joy filled spirit is here for a REASON.  This little dog, who brought together almost 1800 people on one Facebook page; who captured the hearts and minds of so many people all over the world, is here for a reason.  We just have to let her story play out to show us what that reason is.

                                                   

I'm going to share a few posts from Cami's Journey Facebook page with you next...some "Cami talk"!  And then I think I'll turn this over to Cami for awhile and let her have some time on the keyboard!  Have a great evening!

Cami's Journey

Welcome to Cami's Journey!  This is going to take some time, so grab a cup of coffee (or beverage of choice!), get comfortable, and prepare to catch up on Cami's life as we've known it so far!

I'm Cami's Mom, formerly known as "FM" on Cami's Facebook page!  Now I'm "Mommy"! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camis-Journey/697128100304904?ref_type=bookmark

Cami was rescued from the Orange County Animal Shelter in Central Florida just days before Thanksgiving.  An owner surrender, it was stated that she had "mammary tumors and kidney failure".  The call for a foster home went out far and wide, via GetALong Dachshund Rescue here in Northeast Florida!

I saw her shelter photo and instantly fell head over heels in love with this very sick little girl!  At just 8 years old, abandoned by the family she had once loved very much, frightened, sick...we had to do something to help.  

Okay, so we thought we could be her "hospice home", giving her love and making her comfortable for whatever short period of time she had left on this earth.

We received copies of her shelter health records, including her blood panel.  Now I'm NOT a veterinary professional by any stretch of the imagination!  What I am is a woman who knows how to use the internet to search for answers or possible answers!  I plugged Cami's "numbers" into my search engine and nothing came back with "kidney failure".  NOTHING.  It did come back with the strong possibility of diabetes.

Oh goodness!  Can I handle a diabetic dog?  I'd only injected vodka into an orange before Cami!  Could I do this?  Could I give this little tiny girl 2 injections every day for the rest of her life?  Yes.  Yes, I can.  So the night before Thanksgiving, Cami came to live with us here in Jacksonville!

Life was grand, she fit right in, even making friends (sort of) with our old old Siamese cat, Frank!  Stormy and Miss Molly were "okay" with her, but not welcoming.  Okay is good to start, right?  It quickly got better than just "okay"!

With a houseful of company for Thanksgiving dinner, Cami was a little angel.  Not so much as one "accident" in the house...NOT ONE!  Always a good sign!

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed to our vet (Dr. Matt Wilson at Monument Road Animal Hospital) for a head to toe vet check!  With a suspicion that further blood and urine testing might be necessary, Cami got no breakfast and it's a good thing!  Dr. Wilson took one look at the blood panel from the shelter and immediately zoomed in on the blood glucose number!  Off to the back room for blood and urine testing!

The results were back quickly, so our wait in the exam room wasn't long.  Cami has diabetes.  Not "merely" diabetes, but diabetes mellitus with ketoacidosis.  The ketones in Cami's urine were literally off the charts!  This is serious now...VERY serious!

I learned to inject.  My hands shook.  I was nauseated.  Panic-stricken is a mild term for what I was feeling.  Can I do this?  Can I "hurt" this sweet girl twice a day?  Yes.  Just "yes".

Then we learned more about Cami's mammary tumors.  She didn't "just" have mammary tumors.  Cami's tumors were so many, so severe, that she needed a full dual chain mastectomy!  She'd been a breeder dog, pumping money into her former family's budget "season" after season until her health no longer allowed her to sustain a pregnancy!

So, we added dual chain mastectomy to the top of the list of "must do".  Then came spay.  Then the very necessary dental!

Let me tell you about this dental.  We thought Cami has stinky gas.  No.  No stinky gas.  Stinky, rotten mouth with several loose teeth.  SEVERE dental disease, severe infection.  

Cami's mouth was so seriously infected that she was on antibiotics for 110 of her first 120 days with us!

I got side tracked...sorry y'all...let me see if I can pick up the thread where it continued.

Georgia and I spent 2 1/2 hours in the exam room with Cami, Dr. Wilson and the vet tech.  We learned more than we ever wanted to hear.  Cami had a heart murmur.  Cami had at least one enlarged lymph node in her groin.  Some of the mammary tumors were symptomatic of malignancy.  Cami HAD TO START insulin IMMEDIATELY or we would lose her.

Lose this girl?  No.  We were determined, this was not going to happen.

So, Georgia headed to Walmart (yes, on Black Friday of all times!) for insulin and syringes, and I headed home with Cami to feed her since she'd been without food that day and HAD to eat before she could have the insulin!

Before I left the office with Cami, Dr. Wilson insisted I take the business cards for 2 different Emergency Animal Hospitals very close to home!  How scary is that?!

That first weekend was a struggle.  We were locked in a struggle for Cami's LIFE!  Never having been treated (or apparently diagnosed even) for diabetes, Cami had never had insulin.  With no way of knowing how her system would handle the small dose of 2.5 units, we were scared.  Scared half to death.

Now mind you, at this time, I wasn't home testing.  I didn't even know about home testing yet!  That gave me no certain way of knowing if Cami was hypoglycemic (VERY low blood glucose) after her injections or not.  All I could do was read, watch, pay a great deal of attention to Cami and her behavior and learn even more about what to look for!

We gathered a poorly stocked "crash kit" for her!  Karo syrup, peanut butter, her canned dog food!  At the first sign (that we could recognize) of hypoglycemia, out came the Karo syrup and right onto her gums!

We nearly lost her.  More than once, we nearly lost this little girl who had loved us from the first moment.  This little girl who had so quickly become a HUGE part of our lives.  This little girl we had fallen in love with via a post on Facebook!

Determination, coupled with the little bit of knowledge we had, kept her going.  And the phone calls from Dr. Wilson over that holiday weekend kept us hopeful!

What we quickly learned is this.  Cami has a HUGE will to live.  A HUGE determination to not only survive, but to thrive!  Cami does not give up and so we could do no less than to continue to fight for her!

We got her through that first weekend with a little knowledge and a lot of luck!  Her little body accepted the insulin and put it to work!  We breathed a huge sigh of relief...a temporary relief, as it turned out.

On the following Wednesday, Cami was hospitalized with bronco pneumonia!  Struggling to breathe, fighting for each breath she took, congested, running a horrible fever!  32 hours on an IV antibiotic (the big guns came out for Cami!) Baytril, and Cami was ready to come home to us!  

Our days were scheduled.  12 hours between meals and insulin injections.  Baytril at the proper times.  Another antibiotic with each meal.  (So many antibiotics now, I no longer remember which ones were administered during what time periods!)

Cami gained strength slowly, we struggled to continue to help her "bring up" the congestion from her lungs.  Another vet check after a week...Cami's great!  Her health restored...temporarily, at least!

Ahhh...fund raising begins in earnest!  

Do you know how many people told me I couldn't raise the money?  The holidays were NOT the right time to fund raise?  No?  Forget that!

Cami joined Facebook.  Through the efforts of Georgia, GetALong Dachshund Rescue and some very good friends and loving family, we got the word out about this little dachshund who was in a fight for her life and health!

Cami's Angels grew and grew...and donated and donated.  I know that many who donated couldn't afford it.  But, like Bill and me, they didn't feel that Cami could afford for them NOT to donate.  

We held little "auctions" for home made items, for fleece blankets, for photo magnets of Cami!  

Bill and I put our lives "out there" for all to read, to help them understand why WE couldn't raise this money from our own personal resources.

Cami's Angels came through!

January 10th (or so), Cami had her first surgery.  We had raised enough to cover the spay and half of her dual chain mastectomy as well as the pathology bill so we would KNOW if we were dealing with a malignancy or not.

I'm not going to go into the horror of Cami's recovery, I'll just tell you there WAS horror!  The bruising, the pressure bandages, the staples that went from "there to there".  Cami's little belly was described as "a Frankenstein" belly.

During surgery, Dr. Wilson examined Cami's insides...everything looked good!  The enlarged lymph node was normal!  Now the wait began.

SEVEN very long days and we had our report.  BENIGN.  Cami's tumors were BENIGN!    

And the fund raising struggle began again!  We begged, pleaded, robbed Peter to pay Paul with our personal budget and still came up a little short! Two wonderful Angels offered to "cover the balance" of Cami's second surgery!  Oh I cried.  I can't begin to explain how much I dislike asking anyone for help.  For Cami I asked.  And asked.  And asked.

And ONE month after the first surgery, Cami was going back in for the second surgery!

This one's scary.  With her dental facing her first, followed by the easier part of her dual chain mastectomy to follow, I was on pins and needles right along with all of Cami's followers!

Two and 1/2 hours and the dental portion was complete.  Can you imagine how bad her mouth was for it to take THAT long to do a dental?  All in all that day, Cami was in surgery for just over THREE hours.  Picture a diabetic dog, under anesthesia, on the operating table for over three hours.  Not a pretty mental image.

Cami came through like the ROCK STAR she is!  With the thoughts and prayers and warm healing wishes of so many people, all over the world, Cami came through with flying colors!

And now, I'll leave you here for the time being.  I'll pick this back up after we get back from running errands, after I test Cami's blood glucose...yes, I now home test...I'll bring y'all up to date on our darling Cami!