Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

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Early in this unexpected and unwelcome journey, I began having heart-to-heart conversations with Lilly. These days, those conversations are a little different.

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I’ve always taken a lot of photos of Lilly, but now that I accept that our time may be short, I feel more pressure to capture her essence and read the messages in her eyes that I might miss in the hubbub of her round-the-clock care. Here are a few recent favorite photos of our intrepid canine heroine.

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Today is World Rabies Day, which is meant to “raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent it, and how to eliminate the main global sources.” Nine months into a life / death struggle following Lilly’s severe adverse rabies vaccine reaction, I look at things a bit differently.

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While we use cytarabine — a chemo drug with good anti-inflammatory properties for our needs — at lower doses than would be required for cancer treatment, Lilly still suffers from a dry mouth after her injections every 3 weeks. Her nose is also CRAZY dry (more from the steroids than the chemo), but not nearly as bad as in February, when she developed massive nosebleeds. Here is a recap of our solutions.

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You have our apologies for the lack of blog posts this week. Just too-too-too much going on with Lilly, with work, with my mom (who is terminally ill). Here is a little VIDEO recap of Lilly’s recovery so far.

Keep in mind that her ultimate prognosis is unknown. We could still lose this battle. This new treatment regimen could fail. BUT, for now … this is how Lilly looks and acts (much of the time). The rest of the time, she sleeps … a lot.

For now, we are simply grateful for each DAY, whether it is a good one or not.

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I am humbled and honored by your continued devotion to our troubled journey. Thanks to YOU and your chip-in help, we’ve been able to pay our bills this month. In a way, we’re starting with a cleaner slate. Not much money, but not much debt.

Sort of.

If you can ignore the nearly $16,000 we’ve spent and all the emotional and physical angst.

Amid all that, we’ve made some big decisions about Lilly’s future in consultation with our veterinarian.

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