I lost my precious Sophie today. Such high hopes after a good visit last night, but she took a turn for the worse. An early morning phone call. A mad dash to OSU. Goodbye. Things can change in a flash. We are devastated, broken and sad. I am grateful for the time I had with her, but it is never enough. I will love her forever, and I will miss her forever. Goodbye, sweet girl.

Look at my brave girl! She was much peppier this evening when we went to see her. She sat up and whimpered the whole time, and downed two sticks of Puperoni, like a champ. She was not into her canned dog food, but took two bites for us. I wish I had taken her some chicken, but she was so uninterested in food last night that I thought I'd be lucky if she took the Puperoni. She is still in her oxygen cage, but they are decreasing the oxygen, and soon she'll be on air. There's a possibility that she'll be coming home tomorrow. If she does, I'll have some chicken waiting for her. Go Sophie!!

Sophie did well with her surgery, and she is still recovering in the ICU at OSU. She's in an oxygen cage while her body adjusts to breathing with considerably less lung space than before. I got to visit her last night for a little while. (The photo at left is her in her oxygen cage with the doors open. I caught her with her eyes open, so she looks a little more alert in the picture than she did most of the time I was there. Art wanted me to take a picture for him since he couldn't go last night.) She was pretty sleepy with pain meds, but I think she knew I was there. Who else would be rubbing her ears for twenty minutes and kissing the top of her head and her nose all the time? She probably couldn't hear me talking to her because her oxygen cage makes some noise and she's a little hard of hearing, but I still told her how much I love her and how brave she has been. Art and I will go back tonight to see her again. I miss her so much....

Well, we did make a decision, and we opted for surgery. Sophie is just too spunky and well-loved to give up on her, and it became apparent that not doing the surgery would mean saying goodbye much earlier than we originally thought it would, as her coughing increased dramatically in the last week or so. As a result, my little girl is headed to the operating table at OSU tomorrow morning to have the mass and a part of her lung removed. So, if you're saying a prayer tonight, think about my scruffy little poodle-doodle, and wish her well.

If you're wondering why I haven't posted much about my jewelry or painting lately, it's because my energy (or what's left of it....) has been focused on Sophie and my dad, who recently underwent knee replacement surgery and had some complications with it. He's doing better, but there hasn't been a lot of time to do what I usually do. Here's hoping that tomorrow is a new beginning.

I am happy to say that Sophie is back home tonight after spending the night at OSU Vet Hospital. She is happy, comfortable, eating and drinking, and totally bossing Teddy around. It's like nothing even happened. She is sporting a ridiculous haircut, with a wide shaved band around her middle. Oh, well....it was a matter of life or death, and life isn't a beauty pageant...or it shouldn't be, anyway. Now we have a difficult decision to make (surgery vs. nothing). It's kind of like choosing between the lesser of two evils, and both of them are pretty evil. 

Sophie is spending the night in the ICU at The Ohio State Univeristy Veterinary Hospital following a needle biopsy of a mass in her lung. During the process she developed a pneumothorax, meaning that air escaped her lung and entered her chest cavity. They have aspirated the air from her chest twice, and I am told that she is resting comfortably, but they would like to keep her overnight for observation. As much as I hate the idea of her staying overnight, I think it's a good idea. Otherwise, I would probably hover over her all night long to monitor her breathing. The pneumothorax is just the beginning of the story, as we are also waiting to hear more about the mass that was biopsied. It can't be good news, but there is some news that would be worse than other news, so we are still hopeful. Please be hopeful with us, and if you're reading this, consider whispering a little prayer that she gets to come home soon. Thanks.

Thanks to all of you who came out to Worthington Market Day last Saturday! It was perfect festival weather...cool and dry, a little chilly in the shade, a little warm in the sun... (why can't they all be like that?? Do you hear me July and August??) I was on the fence about participating in this event this year, and I'm really glad I did. In addition to great weather, it was a nice crowd most of the day. Of course, you could tell what time the Ohio State game came on, as the crowd did start to thin about an hour before kickoff. That's OK--can't blame you. I watched the end of the game when I got home. You have to do that if you live around Columbus...I think they take away your residency if you don't show some interest in the Buckeyes.

So what's next? Well, there's a sale at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center on Nov. 9 and 10 that involves the ceramics studio, the enameling studio, and the jewelry studio. It's on Friday evening (Nov. 9) from 5 to 9 pm, and Saturday afternoon (Nov. 10) from noon to 5 pm. I WILL ONLY BE THERE ON FRIDAY EVENING, so if you want another opportunity to shop my stuff, please come then.

Thanks again for coming out to Worthington, and I hope to see you in November!