Not the Year I Expected

This past week marked the one-year anniversary of my boarding a plane with 2 dogs and starting a new chapter in Italy.  I had the worst cough and cold that I'd had in many years which made the flight miserable.  A doctor prescribed me cough medicine with codine but I suspect the pharmacist forgot to add both the codine and the cough medicine because it did absolutely nothing to help.  We arrived in Milan and I struggled to find anyone to assist a very tiny woman with 2 dogs and 7 pieces of luggage (you needed a 2 euro coin to get a cart and I had none).  Eventually we made it out (two very nice American women did help and I'm eternally grateful to them!) and a few hours later arrived at our hotel...exactly 40 minutes before my boss arrived to take me to lunch. The dogs and I spent 29 days in the hotel before moving to a house on my birthday (coincidentally, we moved into a house on my birthday in the Netherlands as well). 

The dogs and I settled in.

Some Peace Corps friends visited in April and we went to Bologna and Padova.

Having fun at the Padova Botanical Gardens

My parents came for the month of May.  It was great having them here!

I made them pose with all the statues.

They spent lots of time with the dogs.

We went to Trieste (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Villach (Austria) on one trip.

A beautiful day in Venice

My Gran was supposed to be here in June but she canceled her trip.  I was able to cancel most of our plans and reservations but one ticket was non-refundable so in I took a ride on the Bernina Express and spent the night in Chur.

Glacial lake...still frozen in June!

Then...well, then things got a little rough.  Jack's spleen ruptured and luckily I realized something was very wrong and got him to the vet in time to have them remove it - along with 750 ml (3 cups) of blood - and he survived.  However, the mass tested malignant and we went for a CT scan to see if they had managed to remove everything cancerous or if the rupture had deposited cancerous cells elsewhere in his abdomen.

While waiting for those results I took a quick trip to Greece in early July.

When I returned from Greece we learned that Jack had 3 kinds of cancer and he began taking a lot of medications.  We have a great vet here and she's been wonderful managing it all.

At the end of August, Cheyenne had what I believe was a stroke and died on the first of September.  It was, and still is incredibly painful.  I am somewhat comforted by the fact that she lived an amazingly  long life - 21 years!! - and that she didn't suffer a long illness or decline.  But she was with me for over 13 years; she moved with me a total of 6 times and approximately 15,000 miles. Not having her is like not having a part of my body.

Jack, if you remember, came to live with us after Tex died and Cheyenne was extremely lonely.  He was there for her then and he was there for both of us at the end, providing comfort at a very difficult time. 

Jack has had ups and downs in his cancer battle.  When he made it to 2 months after surgery the vet was impressed.  When he made it to 4 months she was amazed.  Some say that caring for a sick pet is no different that caring for a sick person.  It can be physically and emotionally draining. So in October I took a little trip to my favorite place to recharge.

Last week we hit 5 months and Jack is doing well.  So to celebrate that and our one year anniversary in Italy, and just to get away, we went to the mountains for a few days.  Early in his treatment he would get tired very quickly.  Now he's feeling well and we were able to take long walks UP and down some very steep mountain roads.  When we weren't out walking, we sat by the fire - him in my lap and me with a book.

He hates having his picture taken and refuses to look at the camera.

We did try to see what this was but it turned out to be too far to walk and when we tried to drive there was a log truck in the road and the road was too narrow to go around it.

It's been a difficult year with many highs and lows.  I have no idea what the next year will bring - how much travel I'll get to do or how much more time I'll have with Jack.  Obviously, caring for him is my first priority.  I'm not planning any big trips right now although I do have two training classes scheduled back in the US in 2018.

Next month, for my birthday, I'm hoping Jack hits the 6-month mark!  I couldn't ask for any better gift.