Hello everyone,

Its been quite some time since I posted anything and guess the reason is pretty much clear. I am slowly loosing my energy and its getting tougher by the day. I am on pain management but guess I am still lucky that I do not have so much so as to make it unbearable. The visit to the doctor was not one to do a check up but to ask for the best method of pain management and thats it. ow its time to see how long I can fight things - though the odds are all against me. Well - Que Sera, Sera.

You all must be wondering about the subject - BUDO- THE SURVIVOR. My wife Sonya, my two sons and I decided that we wanted a dog - but not any dog - a pure breed pug. Hunting high and low, we came across BUDO, a nine month old pug. His life had been hell since he was born and there was a time when the vet thought it was best to put him to sleep. He had other plans. His tryst with life began by being sold to a family who could not care less and he spent three months being tortured by them - toa point where he damaged one eye and fractured one leg when he was thrown down from the first floor of the apartment where the family was living. They then decided to take him back to the breeder - a very nice person. The breeder got his leg back to near normal ( I would say normal) but unfortunately he had to go abroad for six months and poor Budo was left in the care of the workers who could not care a damn. He suffered and still suffers from upper respitory tract infection which was very very bad and one could make out as to how miserable he was.
Well Budo - being the survivor he is came into our lives a week ago and is fast recovering from all the problems. Everyone at home dotes on him and he has no shortage of love and affection. Sonyas job was to give him a good bath and remove all the tics and also to clean his ears.. She also looks after his meals - completely vegeterian. The boys job was to take him to the vet to get his nails cut and get him his medicines and look after the cleanliness of his dog house (its really a lovely one). They also have the duty to take him out to do his jobs and a short walk everyday. My job is to shine! his nose, clean the flaps on his face and brush his teeth. He has to still adjust to the home as he is still a bit unsure if this is just another phase after which he will be dumped.

With all his problems in the past - he has survived against all odds and thats what we liked about him and brought him home. He still needs a bit of time to reassure himself about his new home and the people. All I can say is the little guy has really stood up and fought all odds and I think he now deserves a good life - with a lot of love and affection.

I know this has nothing to do with cancer - but felt it was something worth sharing with you all.

With lots of love to all,
Ananth

Hello Ananth,
I hate to hear that the pain is getting to you. My prayers are with you my friend. Wish I could say or do more, you have done so much to keep everyone's spirits up.

Its nice to see someone else is benefitting from your families loving nature. I, myself, have 1 dog, 2 cats, 2 birds and several chickens. They have all become pets. Even those chickens. Darn creatures are just fascinating to watch. My oldest cat is now 14 and we just spend our time together now. She is getting where she cannot jump up to the counter and reach her food so we are building her a ramp to walk up. But she is very dear to me. My two cockatiels drive me nuts with their incessant noise, but my son just refuses to get rid of them. I use to handle them but now I don't and I know that is why they are so loud.

You should post a picture of your dog so we can see just how beautiful he is now that he has a home.

Leann

Hello Ananth ,so sorry to hear you are having such break through pain.I hope they can come up with a new solution for you quickly, there are so many concoctions of new drugs now and they will find good one, for YOU, especially !!! I know it .

Have not been in touch lately or on the forum as things here are a bit fractious .Paul all set for round 2 at the Marsden 3 days after wedding and unfortunately Paul's mum has now been diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer .They are waiting for MRI as they feel there are now hot spots in her lungs.We have been spending as much time with her as possible but she is quite uncomfortable wee soul . Not sure what they will do for her treatment wise yet. So all in all not a good couple of weeks all round for us all .

Will try and post from an internet cafe when we get our bearings Ananth .Hope you get some reprieve from the pain soon ,will be thinking about you .We travel down on the 12th of May and treatment will be 6 weeks .Unfortunately I do not have a posh lap top that is the wireless type so will email when I can .

keep that amazing charm and fighting spirit going Ananth.

Love Bell and Paul xx

Dear Ananth

I know this is going to sound a metaphysical and (bleep), but I think animals instinctively go where and to whom they're needed. I hope you and Budo have many happy years together.

I was adopted by a cat several years ago (I can't remember when, exactly). He is a beautiful grey kitty (either a Korat or Russian Blue, we think) with a locket (white mark) on his throat, in just about the same spot where I now have my trach scar. I was afraid that he'd run off when I was diagnosed, so I held him tight and asked him not to abandon me. I very nearly abandoned him: a month into recovery, my landlord called my parents and told them I was welcome not to come back to that apartment. My dad and my brother went down and cleared the place out. Just as they were finishing up, my brother put a self-lidded box on a chair. Mr Kitty jumped into the box and quickly settled down. Rob, my brother, closed the box with very little fuss from the cat and took it out to the van. When dad got home, he handed me a box (the box!) and told me to go through its contents right away. My Kitty! He was nearly as happy to see me as I was to see him. He now has a stable home (in our old neighborhood, he went from house to house, but nearly always came back to me), and a single name. My mom called him Mr PIB (Mr. Pain-in-the-butt)--and is he ever! He also gets along fairly well with my parents' 20 year old cat Sylvester. But what PIB did for me during my recovery was the best. I could talk to him while my tongue was still all screwed up without making me feel like an idiot; he gave me the confidence to start talking again. He now follows my dad around like a puppy and seems to delight in annoying my mom. (What does she expect, giving him a name like that?)

Hi,
I love the animal tales. They have no expectations, just accept us as we are, scars, speech, disabilities the lot.
It's a pity more people are not as accepting.

Dear Ananth
I am so sorry that you have been in pain, but I hope that it is now more under control and not troubling you.
Budo sounds like an amazing dog - and very lucky to have found you and your family........I know how much dogs can help when you're not feeling brilliant yourself. Brian and I also have a dog - he's a little Jack Russell (short legged variety). He maybe little but he has a huge heart and shows us so much love. On the days when Brian is not feeling very good (there have been a few lately - the chemo is making him feel very tired) Obi, our dog, curls up on the sofa with Brian and keeps him warm.
I hope that you and Budo share many quiet (and some not so quiet!!!) moments together.
Lots of love,
Heather.xx