10/19 Erde's home

Just got Erde back from the hospital.  She is in much better shape than I expected her to be after I spoke with the vet last night.  The nurses had one comment about her: she sure is a stoic dog.  Probably learned that from me.  The jury is still out on whether they got the complete tumor and how her recovery and ultimate normal functioning will go, but I am optimistic.  I am also relieved that this is over and confident I made the right decision to go through with this as opposed to radiation or not done anything at all. This dog has been such a sweetheart (despite  her rebellious nature) that I had not choiuce but to do it.  But I would have done it for any dog for whom I was his/her guardian.

10/18 Erde

6:00 pm  Erde went in for her surgery today.  I am still waiting for the vet to call me to give me a status report on the operation and her recovery.  I will post it here where I learn of it.

Needless to say, this matter has been heaviest on my mind and schedule this week.  I still have not had time to make a dent in my unpacking and other things, including thinking and writing more about the trip, but I will have plenty of time to do those things later.

8:00 pm  The vet just called. the operation went as well as could be expected.  He is not sure if Erde will be able to come home tomorrow.  When asked how she is doing now, he said average, but when I asked him further questions, he changed that to worse than average.  I will hold back on the details here, but I suspect this just means that she will stay a bit longer at the hospital or that the recovery will be rough for the next several weeks.

10/17 Erde

Dr. Breheme, the surgeon at the animal hospital, called me last evening to tell me that his preliminary review of Erde's CAT scan indicated that surgery would be the recommended treatment for her cancer, and not radiation or chemotheraphy.  In a sense, that is good news because it means that the tumor is definable and not invassive upward to the nasal passage where surgery would be impossible.  The downside is that the maxillectomy, which the surgery is called, will disfigure the left side of Erde's snout.   No big deal.  With a 100 percent chance of success going two years out, I'd way more prefer an Erde with a "funny face" two years out than an Erde who is suffering, or no Erde ar all.  That girl showed me on this trip that she might have a lot more life in her and that she loves life, so I have a responsibility to let her have it, without suffering.

I am waiting now for the call from the vet hospital for the final report and to schedule the surgery, which could be as early as tomorrow.

10/16 Erde at vets

I dropped Erde off at the vet hospital today for her CAT scan.  Theyj ust called me to tell me that she is ready to be picked up.  I do not know what the result was, and may not until tomorrow. They told me that when I get her back, she will have a number of shave points on her head painted various colors for either the surgery or radiation treatment.  And, of course, if surgery is indicated, the maxillectomy will result in the left side of her face becoming caved in somewhat.  Regardless,  she will still have the same beautiful face I have known for more than 12 years and still be the same dog.  She, of course, will not know the difference and act as the same dog.  But more importantly, compared to so many other unfortuante dogs, she will have a home to come back to, and that's all that matters to me, as fare as she is concerned anyway.

10/15 Erde's situation

Just got back from the oncologist's with Erde.  She agreed that the tumor is slow growing, but discussed my options.  Doing nothing is not an option considering Erde's high level of activity.  Tomorrow, Erde goes in for a CAT scan to see how extensive the tumor is.  If it is only superficial and definable within margins and does not extend upward toward her nasal passage, surgery only is indicated, but major surgery (maxillectomy).  If the tumor is otherwise, 15 sessions of radiation will be called for.  Chemotheraphy is not a good solution for this one.

The bottom line is that taking the trip and postponing the treatment was a good decision.  I hate to admit it, but Erde had one hell of a ball on this last trip, more so than her brother or I did. One thing about that girl is that she knows how to enjoy herself.  It's almost as if she knew what was coming and decided to have one more fling, all at my expense, of course.

ED

10/15 The Defender - post trip

Coming soon

10/14...the essentials for trip - the ipad

besides me (and my passport), Leben and Erde, and the Defender, there was really only one other irreplaceable part of the trip, and that was my Ipad. two years ago, when i first got my iPad, i added a rule that said "Do not let the iPad get in the way.". despite my hopes to the contrary, for better or worse, it is now an indispensable or critical part of these trips. perhaps the main reason for this is that i upload all my photos to the iPad and have no other place i store them until i get home. i guess i can go to a cloud storage, but i have not.

the test for the iPad's place came on the Denali Highway when i slipped and fell as I was coming down a steep slope after taking a photo with the ipad. instead of trying to minimize injury to me, i immediately sought to protect the ipad, and did. as it turns out, whatever position i landed in to protect the ipad also prevented any damage to me, and i did not have an app for that.

certainly there are other things i take on these trios that are critical, essential, etc., e.g., the tent, my pipe, etc., although all of these are replaceable, maybe not right away, but replaceable nevertheless, as is even the Defender, albeit reluctantly. but now that i know that the ipad has become so indispensable (for more than just the photos), i need to reduce its indispensability, especially but not only for the photos. frankly, i surprised Erde did not destroy it during the trip as every time i left the Defender, she would climb over the console to get to my seat, where she would stick her head out the window and watch for me. but in the process, she would step on the iPad on the console, which i always forget to move.

in 2000, when i took my first road trip, i took no cell phone, no sat phone, or no ipad and the trip work out just fine. now, i would not take a trip without them. i still need to assess if it is worth it, but until i do, they come with .

ToDo List for after trip

Unload dogs; unload stuff into parking space
wash leben, erde
send back sat phone
cancel verizon
Clean Defender
wash Defender
take Defender to eurosport for repair
Cancel AT&T international for cell
Cancel AT&T international for iPad
Restart RTN
Restart Post, Times, Journal
Restart LASC
Call Erde's oncologist for next step
USAA on accident claim
Sue rentcell for 2011 sat phone
Final inventory of containers; work up to take book
move gear to 902; unpack gear; repair gear
List of should haves, should not haves
Download 3rd party photos
Upload photos to desktop
Get mail and sort
Trip Notes and Reflections
Clean up blogs for all trips

Decide on what benefits of the trip I need to retain
Decide on OTR7