Who's pain is it anyway

Here's Vida on Day 16 of her radiation (and prednisone) treatment.

Her determined look is because she does NOT want to open her mouth for the photo. I took a lot of pictures, and at least got a straight on look here because I was waving around a piece of Salmon Paws (did I mention the prednisone?).

I swear, as soon as the camera came up, the mouth went shut.

But do you notice - the mouth is ALL the way shut! That is a terrific improvement (just take a look at the photo in the post called "Zap Away" from March 30th).

I'm going to get a proper photo soon, but I've been giving her a break from too much mouth examination handling. Just get her smiling and you can catch a good look (so if your a fan you'll have to come see her in person).

She's going to the chiropractor tomorrow (Cheryl Ricketts-Mulvey), and I can tell that she really needs it. I hope my back feels better after her adjustment too because I swear that I'm taking on some of her various states of being. I think this process is making me a little too open. I don't normally have such a variety of fleeting pains and problems: back, head, stomach... I need to take care of myself a bit more.

So far she hasn't had any signs of burns that I can see. They said it would start 10-12 days in. That makes me feel pretty good about my herbal concoctions.

I've been flushing her mouth four times a day, a process she's grown accustomed to (chin down, squirt one side, squirt the other). I'm currently trying to work out a recipe that includes irish moss to create a gel - and by currently I mean I'm getting up in the middle of writing this to whisk it as it chills to see if that and my reworking of the proportions gives me gel and not jelly.

I'm quite enjoying the freestyling of these remedies. I'm not using anything too unusual, I'm just choosing judiciously and creating products that my dog accepts.

For instance, I don't want to make something for her chin that has a lick deterrent in it, because I think that sets up a negative energy for the healing. If she needs something applied a few times a day in and around her mouth, shouldn't it be tolerable?

The irish moss is interesting because it smells like the ocean, and she seems attracted to it.

So now I need to get some rest so I can get her back to the vet tomorrow morning at 8am for treatment number 12 (of 19). She doesn't want to use the Bio-Mat so I'm going to use it for awhile.

She vibrates with nerves while we're waiting, but they told me that when she gets to the treatment room she jumps her front feet up on the table as if to say "ok, let's get this over with!"

This is a healing job for both of us, and we're gettin' through it together.