it's Paul's special day!

Happy birthday today to Sal's brother, Paul ! He lives in Philadelphia, PA.

We wish you a day of fun, smiles, and happy memories Paul !! :-)

Love,
Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

congratulations, Sal !!!!

Last week, Sal and I attended a ceremony where he was presented with an award ... he is the 2011 FAU College of Science's Associate Professor "Researcher of the Year" !!!! The Dean of the College of Science presented him with a plaque (and a check!).Congratulations, sweetheart! He's such a dedicated and hard-working professor and researcher, so this is very well-deserved honor! Love you, Sal !! :-)

And more good news ... (most) of Aruba's cytology report came back from the pathologist and is looking positive! We are relieved, and so happy! Neither her liver nor the nodule in her spleen appear to be cancerous. Her liver, however, is somewhat abnormal with inflammation. She is now taking a powerful liver antioxidant that her veterinarians believe will help heal her liver substantially. We'll have more bloodwork done in a month to monitor the health of her liver. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and concern for our precious Aruba!

Aruba update

Hello everyone and thank you SO much for your thoughts and prayers for Aruba! So appreciated!

We were able to quickly get an appointment with an Internal Medicine veterinary specialist yesterday. She evaluated all of the many blood tests Aruba has had, examined her, and did an ultrasound. The news is a bit mixed, but is more positive than negative ... as best that she can tell, Aruba's pancreas is HEALTHY !!! It's her liver and possibly spleen that appear to have some complications, to what degree it's still uncertain. I say "as best that she can tell" because the pancreas is very difficult to see in an ultrasound, I guess it's buried behind other organs/tissue??... but she said that she and another specialist took a close look and since the tissue, fat, etc. that surrounds the pancrease is not inflamed or anything, then the pancreas itself must be fine. Apparently, if the pancreas were diseased, the surrounding area would be, too.

During the ultrasound, she noticed that Aruba's liver looks a bit abnormal, and that her spleen has a nodule in it. So, she took cell samples from both (through a tiny, fine needle) and sent them to a pathologist. Hopefully, everything is benign. {more waiting}

Apparently the organs in the digestive system --- liver, pancreas, spleen, intestines --- are all so interconnected in their function, that when one is abnormal, it can actually show up in blood tests that another organ is instead (or too). The vet admitted that it's a frustrating and challenging part of her specialty.

Overall, she said Aruba seems quite healthy, and that maybe her liver needs support with antioxidant supplements and monitoring. We'll also be watching that nodule in her spleen. We're relieved, but cautiously optimistic until the analyses of the cell samples come in....

On a lighter note, Aruba was such a trooper ... I'm sure she didn't like having her belly shaved ... and she apparently wasn't willing to lay still for the ultrasound, so they gave her a sedative. She looked adorably "stoned" afterwards! It made her more goofy than usual, LOL! She's so precious.

Enjoy the weekend,

Aruba

Yesterday was a difficult day....

Over the past 3 months, our sweet Aruba has had a series of blood tests, each more specialized than the last, trying to get to the bottom of why some of her digestive system values are elevated. And yesterday more definitive results came in, and her veterinarian diagnosed her with pancreatitis!

We are so heartbroken. :-(

What's most confusing is why she has it? We just don't know... I guess as with anything medical, it's complicated. Typically, it occurs in dogs who are fed "cheap" dog food full of junky filler ingredients. But this has not at all been Aruba's diet! She and Buddy have always eaten a high-quality, premium, organic, vegetarian dog food. And no table scraps. And only low-calorie, nutritious veggie treats. It could be that it's a metabolic or biochemical cause. Hopefully, we'll get more answers as we dig deeper into this.

Thankfully, she has no symptoms so hopefully we've caught it early. What's so scary though is the vet's assessment that it's "chronic", and that pancreatitis can often flare-up seemingly overnight into a terribly painful and dangerous medical condition.

We're hoping that with careful management, we can conquer this disease! We've already made an appointment with an Internal Medicine veterinary specialist (actually, she's at the same clinic where Buddy had his cancer surgery --- they have TONS of specialty veterinary expertise there!). We'll also have a veterinary nutritionist evaluate how to appropriately modify Aruba's diet. Apparently, pancreatitis patients need to be on an extremely low-fat diet.

I was up crying most of the night. Now BOTH of my precious angels have been stricken by disease, it's overwhelming. I love them so much!

nature's eye candy

Hi there, happy Monday ... hope you enjoyed the weekend?

Mine was OK, aside from my totally FRAYED nerves from the endless hours of noise blaring from my neighbor's too-loud radio ... this wasn't the first time by far, so we spoke to him about it ... I'm sure hoping that it won't continue! So incredibly inconsiderate ... I guess some people really don't care that others want to enjoy their weekends off, too??

To unwind, Sal and I took a nature walk yesterday evening at Green Cay Wetlands. It's one of our favorite ways to relax, savoring the tranquility and Florida's natural beauty. Saw some baby wildlife too ... spring has sprung! And Mother Nature treated us to this spectacular sunset!

What a nice way to bid farewell to a day.....

Have a great (and peaceful) week,

sweet !!

Do you love cookies? (and who doesn't ?!)

Want some gorgeous, delicious custom-made cookies?

Look no further! (and prepare to be tempted!)

Sal's cousin (also a "Susan") in southern New Jersey (near Philadelphia), can make your cookie dreams come true with her Susan's Decorated Sweets biz. Just e-mail her at wseaton@comcast.net, or call or text her at 609.634.7487 and specify what color, shape, quantity you'd like and voila! ... the gourmet works of sugar-y art will be delivered or shipped.

Susan's a Wilton Method Cake Instructor, plus she worked in her parents' Italian & Swiss bakery, so she has had top-notch training!

Her cookies were recently featured at a local boutique's Vera Bradley summer product launch & display... they coordinated with the floral patterns on the new VB purses ... check out Susan's adorable purse cookies for this event!

Cookies are a fun & festive addition to any occasion or party or event ... think upcoming holidays ... Easter, springtime garden parties, christenings, Mother's Day, graduations, birthdays, bridal showers. Or maybe just because you have a sweet tooth! Or even if you're addicted to your iPhone !

OMG how cute are those ??!!! There's no app for that, LOL !!

I've already placed an order!

Congratulations, Susan! I know you will have lots of sweet success! :-)

family ties

Hi there and happy April, happy weekend!

First a BIG 'thank you' to everyone who e-mailed and called me asking about Buddy's recent check-up at the cancer clinic --- thank you so much for your concern and thoughts! He is doing so well, and we are so thankful !!! Our precious angel! His oncologist has cut back his chemo dosage even more ... to every 4 days now, yay! He's contending with some normal aging issues tho, a heart murmur and cataracts. And arthritis, but ironically it's greatly eased by the anti-inflammatory meds he takes along with his chemo (apparently cancer "needs" inflammation in order to grow, so oncologists prescribe anti-inflammatories). Plus, he takes a joint supplement (and gets backrubs!), so overall he's comfortable and has a lot of mobility, still jumps on and off the sofa. And as best we can tell, he suffers little or no pain from the arthritis.

Sal and I had a nice weekend visit with my parents ... we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at an outdoor cafe at the Don CeSar Beach Resort, that magnificent "pink palace" on St. Pete Beach. Love it there! My Mom and I both ordered this delish tropical fruit plate with banana-macadamia nut bread (I loved that coconut-covered banana!):

Afterwards, we enjoyed a walk along the spectacular beach together under the Florida sun. Another nice family memory!