Emma baby

We miss you Emma....

Born Christmas Day 2000 - June 4, 2011

I'm sad to say that Emma is no longer with us.  She fought valiantly against Lymphatic Cancer.  She's been a great friend and companion for over ten years.  She was a wonderful dog.  Always happy and outgoing.  Just look at the smile, taken days before we had to let her go........You would never know that she was fighting cancer and getting weaker by the day.

She was our "little shadow", always keeping a watchful eye over us, checking on "her flock" if you will.  Following us from room to room in the house.  I am sad that she was taken from us.  I am sad that she is not able to be here with Rylee and Jessi.  I think of all the memories of her over the years, every single one is cherished.

When she was about 2 years old, we took the dogs camping at a lake with some friends. We took them out on the boat while we waterskied.  We were anchored about 50 feet from shore, as we're coming in, we tossed the dogs out so they could swim back,  I hopped out as well to attach the bow line to the anchor. The boat was about 10 feet away from the anchor line and I had to swim and pull the boat to attach the anchor line.  The next thing I know, Emma's got a good bite on the line and is swimming with the bow line in her mouth right next to me, helping me pull the boat to get the anchor line secured.  She's tugging and grunting, and knows exactly what has to happen.  As soon as the line is secured she lets go and swims back to shore.

 Everyone was impressed!!!  Damn, that's a smart dog right there!!!  Commented some friends.  I was proud and amazed, she was able to comprehend and figure out that "I needed a helping hand" and came to help me out.  Very smart indeed.

Gooseberry Mesa Trip 2011

Some of you might remember that a couple of years ago I went to Gooseberry with Sticki, but Andy didn't go.  This year the whole family went.

Since Emma has been really sick and the vet had said "it doesn't look like she will get better" we really wanted to get one more camping trip in with all of the Girls.

We head out on Thursday day so we can get there before dark and setup the trailer... since this will be the first time out we wanted to set it up in daylight.  I had only been there once and it was night time, but I did remember the turn off.  We got there and found the same place that we camped at last time.

We set up the camper and the girls go crazy with the smells.  Since it is the first night there,
the girls are always on edge with the new sounds, they barked at every noise.  Sticki arrived about 12am and that was a big to do with the girls... not much sleep that first night.

On Friday we decided to do the Jem trail.    Sticki decided to do this trail on Friday before Taylor and Brandon showed up...they aren't up for a 20 mile ride just yet.   It turns out that Friday was the hottest day!  It was so hot... and the trail is all exposed... no shade anywhere in sight.  By the end of the ride we were done!  We were hot, thirsty and hungry.  Andy said he has never seen me take off my gear and load up my bike so fast.  I was on a mission... I needed cold water and food!

We get back to the camp and the girls are happy to see us.  Taylor and Brandon had just arrived about 5 or 10 minutes before we got there.  Andy went to say hi and they said what's up with the bugs? Andy says," what bugs?"  Looks down and sees a ton of sand fleas on his legs... he wipes them off and sees that he has been bitten multiple times.  I was inside making food ... he heads in and we eat... its nap time now.  That evening was hot and the bugs were out in force so we all had to stay inside.

The next day we decide we are going to do the trails at Gooseberry.  We all start out on the Blue Trails..... that's a moderate trail so we can warm up... about 1/2 way in I wasn't really "feeling it" so I head back to camp and they continue on.  I guess a little farther in Taylor wasn't feeling it either when they turned on to a Black Diamond so she heads back too.

The rest do the trail and have a great time.  Taylor and I had a nice chat in the trailer while having some lunch.   The rest soon arrive and we all hang out for a bit then nap time!  Steve decided to do another ride, Andy took Jessi for a run and when he got back, he and Steve head out at dusk.

The next day Sticki, Taylor and Brandon headed to Cedar to do the Zen trail.  We wanted to go but decided to hang out with the girls.  Emma was filling up again so we wanted to do something with her.  We head into town and find a park with some grass and we play with girls for a while.  It was super windy that day.  But the time was well spent with the dogs and they enjoyed it as did we. Headed back to camp with a Pizza!  yummm....

The wind was so bad that the tent part of the trailer started to come out of the guides.  So Andy had to squeeze them down and still it seemed like it was going to come apart so we decided to move the trailer back a little bit so the tree would block some of the wind.  This seem to do the trick.   The good thing was that with the wind no bugs!

On Monday everyone packed up and decided to come home, but the others wanted to do another trail across the main highway.  They said the trail was really nice and they would do it again.  We just wanted to get home and let Emma rest a bit a bit and get the fluid drained form her belly the next day.

We had decided before the trip that we would have to let Emma go when we came back.  We cried on the way home. We really hoped that she would turn that corner after her test results came back with everything on the upswing.  We spent the rest of the week giving her extra love.  She got to play "rake" whenever she wanted, a new marrow bone to chew on and she even got to go swimming in the lake one last time.

Back to the Shoe Calvary... So the end of April was the Whiskey Off Road Mountain bike race.  I was tending to the PMBA booth and all of a sudden Dave shows up and in his hand was my shoe!!!! I was do happy.... the two shoes are not reunited.... what a happy ending!

(Im sure Andy will post some pics of the trip... I haven't downloaded them yet.)

May 2011

The weather has been very strange this year.  It's still super windy.  We haven't been that warm yet either.   Weird!

This month we are scheduled to go camping in our new travel trailer.  We purchased a used 2007 Starcraft. It is very nice inside... the people who had it before us didn't use it much...it doesn't even look like they used it once, but good for us!   It is 18 feet and the beds fold out so you have more room inside.   We are planning to go to Gooseberry Mesa UT this year.  Andy hasn't been before so we figure this is a good time to break in the trailer.

Emma --  well things are not looking good for our Emma.  Her belly keeps filling up with fluid and she doesn't want to eat anything.  In the mornings she will eat something, after trying out many different options, and then in the afternoon she doesn't want that anymore, so we have to try something else.  She is getting whatever she wants to eat as long as she is eating something.   We spoke to the doctor and she said that her liver is not looking good on the ultrasounds.  Looks like there might be a mass on it.  We thought we were doing so good with her absorbing protein, but the pills, steroids and immune suppressants are causing bad side effects.  The only other option to fight this would be radiation therapy.  Both expensive and hard on Emma's body, the pills are still the only course of action to help minimize/cure the infection in her body.  We told the doctor we just need to get one more camping trip with her and we can decide from there.

The Vet drained 2 liters off of her the week before the trip and then she filled back up so on Monday before the trip she drained 2.6 liters off, but she filled up again, so on Thursday morning she drained another 2.6 liters off.  We are just hoping to get through the camping trip so she can have some fun running around smelling all the different things.  

We get to our campsite and the girls go crazy with all the smells and new things to see.  Everyone is having a good time.    Emma is playing with her rake and Rylee gets to play with her frisbee and Jessi gets to run on the trails... they are all happy!

April 2011

Towards the middle of the month Emma started to have lose stools and not eating.. and she really likes to eat so we took her to the vet.. they said it was pancreatitis, so we got some pills and left.   After the pills were gone she still was having issues and her belly got really big and hard... so we took her in.. they did an ultrasound and said she had fluid on her belly.

It was determined that she has PLE or Protein Losing Enteropathy.  This is when the body turns on itself looking for protein sources because the stomach/intestines/liver/pancreas aren't able to use the protein from food eaten in the stomach.  So there might be a chance that she has an infection in her digestive system or possible Cancer.........PLE is a by product of an infection or cancer.  Our worst fears are realized.  Emma's a strong healthy dog, always has been.  If we can rehabilitate Jessi from an FCE, we can get Emma to fight off this disease.

The Vet drained 1 liter of fluid, said there was more in there but didn't want to send her into shock by draining too much.  She also said we needed to put her on some other pills and they called around and found that Costco was the cheapest...$114.........for pills!!!  But Emma is worth it.  We started giving her the pills and she had to go back to the doctor each week for new blood work to see if she was still losing protein.

The first couple of trips there wasn't much of a change... protein counts were still going down.  The third time her protein levels had come back up and looked like we were turning the corner.  She was drained again and by  the next day she had absorbed the rest of the fluid that the wasn't drained.  A very good sign.  But sadly, she filled back up 6 days later.  This time they took 2.5 liters off her.  When she gets drained you can really see how skinny she is and how much damage has been done to her muscles.

We are still holding out hope for Emma.  We will do what we can to get her better without sacrificing her quality of life.

March 2011

Hi everyone... it has been a while since the last post.  Lots has happened! ....

The beginning of March I told Andy I think we should ride the BCT (Black Canyon Trail) from hwy 69 down to Rock Springs.  This is a great trail.. flows nice, not a lot of technical and I figured that since we are starting up north and heading south it should be down hill and not too hard.  

Andy kinda just looked at me like I was a crazy person since I hadn't been riding but a couple of time this year, but still he wanted to do it so we called Sticki up and they were in too.  

Steve, the crazy guy he is, wanted to get more miles in so he decided to get up early and drive to Rock Springs and ride up to the spot where Micki, Andy and I were going to leave from.   We got started about 9:30 ish I believe.  It was nice and still pretty cool out.. perfect for riding.   There are a couple of river crossings we had to do so I brought my slip on shoes.  I brought a pair for Micki as well since her Keens are very heavy.  I carefully packed my shoes in my pack so as not to crush my sandwich that I had to eat later.   I looked at Micki's pack and she had here shoes clipped on her pack, and her pack is the same as mine just a little newer. So I told Andy hey, I want to do that too but, as I was saying this I was looking at her pack and she has clips and my pack only has straps, so I knew it wouldn't work, but before I could make this split second decision Andy had janked them out.  Then as I am yelling at him he is trying to stuff them back in my pack, which remember I was so careful not to smash my sandwich... you get the point.

We head out, it took a few minutes to find the actual trail but we were off.  It really is a nice trail, ups and downs, turns and oh yeah... a big climb... I was saying to myself as I was climbing... what the heck... we are going south we should should be going all down hill no pedaling needed... what ever!

About 6 miles in we meet up with Steve.  We had brought him a sandwich as well and he was hungry so we stopped and watched him eat and we looked around at the nice scenery... cows!

We head out... and as we were getting back on the bikes Andy notices that I only have one shoe....aaarrrgggg...  I say... if he wouldn't have pulled them out I would still have two.. and these were my favorite... he says why would you bring your favorite out... I said I brought the other pair, but let Micki use them so I needed to bring these.  I was mad for a while....

We get to the big river crossing and I am tired... I know it is only about 7 more miles and we are done but man they were really long....

We make it back and head to the restaurant to eat... food was good but I was so tired I couldn't eat. We head back to where our car was from this morning.   Micki, Andy and I did 37 miles and Steve did about 70!!!     Andy says on the way back... who would have thought that you could get up off the couch and do a 37 mile ride!?  I said yah... who would have thought.. certainly not you!

That pretty much was the exciting thing we did on March.

But wait there's more.... I was talking to some people who where out on the trail the same day as us... I ask them if they saw my shoe and they said yes.. its about 4 miles in... and then another person said they were going to ride the trail next weekend and I asked if they could pick up my shoe.   I sent the Calvary out to find my shoe!   To be continued.....

February 2011

I thought I would keep with the monthly theme.

February brought a ton of snow and bad weather to Prescott.  No riding unless we went down south to Phoenix or BCT.  Andy got a few rides in with the guys but still not enough!

February wasn't really all that exciting.  The weather kept us in mostly.  There was a bike race down in Tucson, the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo.  Andy was putting a team together but everyone kinda "petered" out, which in the long run was good.  The weather at the race was horrid!  50 mile an hour winds, rain, freezing cold... no thanks!

Our friends Sticki did the race... poor people!  But they did have the Sticki Hilton to stay in. (their pop-up trailer) so their time was not quite as bad as others.

January 2011

Well, for all of you who keep checking the blog and are tired of seeing the same post, this is for you!

New Year's Eve we spent with Sticki, our bestest friends!  This is the third year of going to their house, eating lots of great food and playing games until the wee hours of the morning. The only thing different now is they live up here in Prescott!  So the drive home was quick this.

We actually got to get out and ride a bit.  On Jan. 15th, we rode a new section of the BCT trail. (Black Canyon Trail) The weather was so nice!  I had not been riding since the day after Christmas which made the ride tough for me... if you don't stay on the bike, you lose so much stamina!

We also bought a new car, a 2011 Honda Pilot EX 4WD.  We loved the "Subie" but is was just a little too small when we had all three girls in there or when we went on trips, that thing was pack to the gills!  Plus the Pilot can tow more.  This year we are thinking of getting a travel trailer for our bike trips and camping in general, so we needed something that could tow it.

The girls are doing well.  Jessi is doing great!  She is up to running about 10 miles with us, her gate is getting much better and her trot looks more normal.  We are waiting for the weather to warm up so we can fill up the pool again.  The doctors say the swimming will help with that last little bit.  COME ON SUMMER!

Emma and Rylee are doing good.  Rylee is slowing down a bit in her old age but still keeps on truckin'.

Jessi's Story FCE Fibro-Cartilagenious Embolism

Right before Labor Day, we came home to find Jessi scared and huddled in the corner unable to stand or move her rear legs.  She was just," stuck", trying her hardest to get up but to no avail.  We rushed down to PHX because the local vets couldn't handle such a case and thought it would be better if a specialized hospital took care of her.  Long story short.....Jessi was paralyzed from the waist down due to an FCE.  One of those freak things that just happens to dogs between the ages of 4 and 6.  No rhyme, no reason...it either happens or it doesn't and if it does, it never appears again.  

At first she was sad, she had no idea how to comprehend what was going on.  Frustrated, she frolicked about when laying down, unable to move her hind quarters, always getting stuck or falling over.....you could see the disspare in her eyes like below.......

Jessi her first night home...tired and ready to get a good night sleep.

After 5 days in doggie  ICU, she was able to come home.  At first we didn't know if we were going to have to make that tough call and put her down due to the extreme injury she acquired.  After going over the possibilities at the vet, we made the choice to rehabilitate her for the next 3-6 months.  Jessi is one of the best pups one could have, always happy go lucky, tail wagging, always wants cuddle time and cute as can be.  As soon as she awoke the next day, we went out to visit the rabbit holes in front, she was instantly changed, the gleam in her eyes was reignited and her back legs obliged.

They prepped her back for surgery after they first thought it was slipped/pinched disc and a pain patch on the neck.  I had to use a sling around her belly to keep her upright so she wouldn't drag herself around.  Within a week or so she was able to walk on her own, not well, but all four legs moving under her control.

Emma and Jessi take swim in our rehab pool


Fast forward to December.  Jessi has now gone on a couple of short 10-12 mile mountain bike rides with us.  She does well, she does start to get tired towards the end, but pulls through it.  She loves being on the trail running and in the great outdoors in general.  We still have a bit to go with her on physical therapy and rehab.  Stay tuned to see the progress.