A Tough Week - W/E 28th May 2023

This week has been a tough one. It started off okay, with OH running the Half Marathon on Sunday. Work called and asked me to work, until I told them I was on two weeks leave. The dog wasn't too well today. She's really uncomfortable and struggling. We managed to medicate her which helped and I walked her down to the park where she sat in the grass and fell asleep. It felt sad, like it might be the last walk to the park that she ever did. We eventually made it back home, but we are quickly coming to the realisation that she's not going to be with us much longer.

On Monday, it was OH's birthday. He opened his presents in the morning. I'd bought him mainly consumables, as he didn't want anything much for his birthday. I had booked us tickets to go to a local cinema in the evening, to see The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.

I went out and did the weekly shop as usual. LB wasn't having a good day today, so I chatted to her on the phone for quite a while whilst I was out. When I got back home, OH and I headed up to the cinema. The film was a bit silly to be honest, but I like Ryan Gosling, so I was happy watching it. It was a good distraction from everything, which we probably needed. We were going to go to a restaurant afterwards to get something to eat, but decided to just go home and eat, as we didn't want to leave the dog alone any longer than necessary.

Her deterioration came at a difficult time, as we were due to head off to a family wedding at the weekend in Yorkshire. Certain family members had an opinion, which I didn't share. I wasn't going to rush into anything for sheer convenience. Our dog has been an important member of our family and is very precious to us. We decided to play it by ear and see if she picked up through the week.

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym, which was good. I hadn't slept hardly at all the night before, so I had to have a nap later in the afternoon. I couldn't seem to put my mind to anything, as the dog being unwell was a bit of a curved ball that was consuming my attention/thoughts/feelings.

We got some additional sad news on Tuesday, that a friend's dog had died peacefully at home overnight. The friend in question died last year and her nephew was looking after her dog. At least she (the dog) would have someone to welcome her over the rainbow bridge. It helped me to think about that, especially if our dog passes in the near future. It was reassuring to think that our friend might be there to welcome her too.  I was grateful not to be at work whilst all of this was going on. 

Tuesday, was very wet. It rained from midday onwards for most of the day and was forecast to rain the whole of Wednesday too. 

On Wednesday, the dog seemed to rally quite well and the medication seemed to have kicked in and was helping her. She was still eating and drinking and going out into the garden. As a consequence, we decided to take her to the wedding with us, postponing any decision.

The trip up to Yorkshire was fine. The dog had a good sniff around the garden when we got to OH's parents house in the camper van and was still eating, but from Friday onwards, she started to deteriorate. We managed to get through the wedding and we took the decision to take her to the vets on Bank Holiday Monday evening. The vet said that it was most likely a brain cancer that had caused her deterioration, bless her.

We brought her body back to London the next day and she is now safely buried in her precious garden, a place that she loved to come back to, underneath where the new shed is going to be built (to keep the foxes away). She's been a fantastic little companion, who has given us endless joy and love (in her own way) for the past 11 years. It's been a priviledge to have her in our lives. We will always miss her dearly, but it was time to let her go.

RIP Tippi