My sweet little Ginger - Ginger has her angel wings

[Squirt's Mom]

Holding you both close in my heart, thoughts, and prayers.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[My sweet Ginger]

Sharlene, I took your advice and got Ginger a doggie pen.
A lot of them looked nice and cute but she needs one that's big enough for her to roam around and I found one that's big enough for her. It's 65"x55" and you can make it round if you want to.
It seems to be working fine. It's sad the story behind it but we can't not deny the reality either so here we are. She can circle around in there as long as she needs to and it's very hard to get stuck even for her.;) She has a bed and water with her so she's all set.
I uploaded a pic of her in her pen so check it out.

[molly muffin]

I like it Song. Perfect for her and safe. Easy for her to see you. No getting stuck. It's hard making changes but i do think it will give you and her peace of mind.
Good job. I know these days are hard.
Big hugs

[Squirt's Mom]

What a great idea! Grace lived in a pen very similar just about the whole time she was with us and she was very content in her pen. Being blind and never really adjusting to that situation made her unsettled being free in the whole house tho she liked to roam at times. She would be out of her pen if she wanted to roam the house but she always came to her pen and wanted back in. She felt safer there and everything was familiar to her, she knew right where everything was when she needed it. She is such a doll and you are a superb mom, Song.

[My sweet Ginger]

She still gets stuck (I told you she's a pro at that.;)) but it's way less, I mean waaay less than before. She seems to get stuck more circling to the left than to the right.:rolleyes: Although I'm sad looking at her in there I still think it's best for her and me for the time being. She gets to come out often enough for one reason or another so I try not to feel too bad for her.
I'm sure it will be one of our new normals soon enough. Thanks all.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Song,

How is our sweet Ginger doing these days? Haven't heard lately and she has been on my mind.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[My sweet Ginger]

Thank you Leslie for thinking of Ginger.
What else can I say but to say that she's amazing.
She's doing better than a few weeks ago so not so much falling over anymore, now it usually happens only right after a long nap or first thing in the morning.
She still likes my mush and eats on her own better too.
Still on Keppra x3, tylosin x2, Amlodipine, Soloxine and Cyproheptadine.
No idea what her cortisol level is and not planning on getting one anytime soon.
She spends a lot of time in her pen but also gets to roam around the house too. She smells the grass when outside and always tries to go on the street.

Saw Dr. Hammond last week and we talked about her quality of life.
He said although her quality of life is very low she's not depressed as much as we think she is and she's really not aware of what's going on with her so not really suffering from her point of view. He said she is like an old person with dementia and some other problems that are under control and in his opinion that is not a good enough reason for euthanasia at this point. I feel better that we think along the same line and am comfortable keeping her with me until she shows more adverse signs that clearly show she's suffering.

I have no doubt that she will make it to her 16th birthday on 12/23.
We will have a big celebration and you are all invited!

Added a few pics from this morning.

[molly muffin]

That is a great update on Ginger.
I fully expect to be celebrating with you and Ginger and the rest of the gang on 12/23
16 wow.

[My sweet Ginger]

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY MY SWEET GINGER!!!
Mama loves you. :)

[Harley PoMMom]

Happy Birthday, Ginger!!!

[Budsters Mom]

Happy 16th Birthday Ginger! :p

[labblab]

Oh, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY from me, too!!!!! :) :p :D :) :p :D :)

[judymaggie]

Have a wonderful birthday celebration!! :D:D

[addy]

Have the happiest birthday sweet darling Ginger

Big hugs Song

[My sweet Ginger]

Thank you everyone for your sweet birthday wishes for Ginger.
She's doing pretty good considering all the things she's got going on inside of her tiny boney body. She eats good and a big thanks to liquid tylosin, a much better controlled GI system. I'm so thankful for that. She's off appetite stimulant for a while now. I can tell that her cortisol is definitely higher now going by PU/PD and an increased appetite. I'm not planning on doing ACTH as appetite rather have her eat on her own and enjoy what she eats as her eating is still far from being ravenous. She seems to be comfortable in her own world so I'd say she's doing not too bad.

Happy Holidays everyone. Hugs, Song and Ginger.

[molly muffin]

Well, I'm late, but sending Ginger HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings :)

Hope you are having a Happy Holiday Season.

[My sweet Ginger]

An update.

Ginger's been off her special much and appetite stimulant for over a month. ;):D:) She also manages her seizure on x2 daily dosing schedule instead of 3x daily (Keppra). With her increased appetite pill administration is a breeze now and what a difference that makes! Although I suspect a rising cortisol in her body I don't think it's yet to be at the point of being "ravenous".

She had a good check up with her neurologist yesterday and he didn't really have an answer for her good appetite and twice daily dose on Keppra. He wants me to do a urine dip stick test for possible diabetes.
She still wears diapers and paws 24/7 but these days I'm just happy and enjoying watching her finally enjoy eating for how long ever this may last.

The thing is tho despite with a much bigger appetite she still continually loses weight, now down to 6.4 lbs from 10.6 when she was first diagnosed in Sept. 2013. She looks like skin over a skeleton, nothing more, nothing less. It's amazing to me that she can still get up and walks around being so frail and skinny.

[judymaggie]

Ginger sounds like she is doing really well except that darn weight! Please give her a gentle hug from us.

[Tammysmom]

So happy to hear Ginger is doing well. What a little fighter she is. Could her weight loss be caused from muscle loss ? Just a thought. Best to both of you. Brianna

[My sweet Ginger]

Thank you.

I have to say so as she has no muscle mass anywhere anymore despite she walks around long enough hours a day, sometimes 2-3 straight hrs if I don't stop her. I will be surprised if she loses any more weight. I can protruding bones everywhere on her body, from her face down to the end of her hips.

[Budsters Mom]

Oh Song, this truly is a good update overall! :p I am thrilled to hear that Ginger is eating and managing to get around on her own. Now, if we could just get a little weight on that sweetie. What an amazing spirit she has!

Hugs,
Kathy

[My sweet Ginger]

Yep, I've got to give it to her. Every morning she still gets up and does what she wants to do whatever that may be, walking, drinking, eating, doing her business, sleeping, getting stuck, still walking towards me at times and falling over on hardwood floor without any whine or complaint. These days she doesn't even cry that much when she gets stuck. She'd just stand there wherever that maybe. I try not to cry and not to be sad about her slow overall declining. Rather I'm enjoying our time together and her good appetite as long as she is in no pain. Maybe at 16 she's not doing so badly after all.

[molly muffin]

That is a good update Song. Very happy that she continues to do what she wants nd enjoys those things.

[addy]

I think it is a good update too, cherish each moment, Song, give Ginger kisses for me.

[My sweet Ginger]

My sweet Ginger needs lots of prayers right now.

[My sweet Ginger]

Rest in peace my sweet Ginger. Broken hearted mommy.

[Spiceysmum]

I am so sorry. My thoughts are with you.

Linda X

[Tina]

Oh Song, I am heartbroken to read this sad news. Sending my thoughts and prayers to you at this most difficult time. I am so sorry for the loss of your precious Ginger.

Hugs,
Tina xo

[labblab]

Oh Song, my heart just now skipped a beat. I slept poorly all night and I wish so much I had gone ahead and gotten up earlier to be able to sit alongside you. But thankfully Linda was here, and now Tina and me. And more of our family with each passing hour. I hope it is OK that I have written that Ginger now has her angel wings. Because that is how I think of her sweet spirit, free and soaring and happy and playful and healthy once again. She really has become our little angel through these years, and now she has her wings to prove it.

Fare thee well, sweet little girl, on your newest journey. We are here for you, Song. We love you both dearly.

Marianne

[molly muffin]

Oh Song. My heart too just broke for you. RIP sweet Ginger. I am so sorry and send you my sincerest condolences.

[Joan2517]

Song, I am so sorry for your loss of Sweet Ginger...this is such sad news.

Joan

[Squirt's Mom]

Dearest Song,

There are no words to make today better, to relieve your pain. No matter how long we have seen this day coming, no matter how well we think we have prepared, when it does come we are still shattered to our core. This I know - your precious girl had the very best care available through your hands. You gave her more life and more days than anyone else could have and you gave those days meaning for her. She left this life filled with her mom's love, which she will carry forward with her always. Your sweet Ginger is now whole again in body and in mind; she is as she was in her younger days before illness struck. And now she is watching over you just as you have watched over her so tenderly. She knows that one day she will be in your arms once again, never to be separated.

Our deepest sympathies and love to all,
Leslie, Trinket, Brick, Sophie, Fox and all our Angels

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

John O'Donohue
Benedictus: A Book of Blessings
(or To Bless the Space Between Us

[My sweet Ginger]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words. The saddest thing is that I can't be with her right now.I'm thousands miles away from her, out of country over my mom's passing. Life couldn't be more cruel timing wise. I will see her in a couple of days. I thought she was going to wait for me. I am so not ready for this. I really wanted me to be the last thing she sees as all she ever wanted was just being with me before she got sick.

[labblab]

Oh Song! I am so sorry about your mom's passing, too!! So much for your heart to handle right now.

I surely understand why you are crushed to be so far from home while Ginger passed. But I think that sometimes there is a plan that guides a death that is not ours to understand. One of my best friends is a nurse who has told me of countless times that a family has been holding vigil over a loved one's deathbed for unbroken hours, only to have the passing take place during a brief moment when the family had been encouraged to go and have a short rest themselves. It's almost as though the patient was just waiting for them to leave before feeling free to make their passage. Perhaps to relieve them from the pain of witnessing the end? Perhaps just to take that final dance in peaceful solitude? I guess it is not for us to know.

But in truth, Ginger's final moments were just the blink of an eye out of the lifetime of love that you two shared. She was, and always will remain, beloved, including at the moment of her release.

I am so, so sorry for you, though. I know how much it would have meant for you to be with her. And I am so very sorry about your mom. Song, you will remain in my own heart and thoughts.

[lulusmom]

Oh Song, I am so, so sorry. Please don't beat yourself up over not being there when Ginger passed. I was not there for my, Jojo, so I know a bit about cruel timing and the guilt that comes with it. Our pups love us unconditionally and unlike us humans who are our own worst enemy at times like this, they don't have resentments, hold grudges or feel let down by us. Your arms weren't physically around Ginger when she passed but I believe with all my heart that when she left this world, it was your face she saw.

You were there for me after so many losses in my life and I so wish I could be there for you. Since I can't be there to give you a big consoling hug, just know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I'm sending back some of that positive energy you passed onto me when I needed it the most.

Godspeed, sweet Ginger.

(((HUGS)))
Glynda

[Tammysmom]

Song, I am very, very sorry . I know how much you loved your sweet Ginger. And always will. You both will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[judymaggie]

My heart goes out to you, Song--I have followed Ginger's journey over the years and your love for each other was always evident. Take care and know that we are all grieving with you.

[Renee]

So very sorry to read of Ginger's passing. I always thought of her as one of the 'originals' since I joined this board. Sail on sweet Ginger.

[Harley PoMMom]

Oh Song,

I am so terribly sorry for your loss and my heart goes out to you. My boy, Bear, passed away when I was at work, so I too, know how you feel, but we have to remember that they know how much we love them and would have done anything for them...our babies live on in our hearts forever and in time those memories we have will put a smile on our faces instead of so many tears.

Sending you huge, loving, and consoling hugs.

With Heartfelt Sympathy, Lori

[Trish]

Dear Song

So very sorry to hear this news about your little love and your Mom too, what an awful time for you. I hope they have found each other in heaven and will be together. Big hugs to you xxxxx

[Budsters Mom]

Oh Song, I am so very sorry to read this news today. :o

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Ginger had a full and loving life. She spent every day feeling deeply loved and cherished, which is truly a blessing. I am very sorry to read about your mom's passing too.

Fly Free Sweet Ginger, fly free!

Huge Consoling hugs,
Kathy

[molly muffin]

Oh dearest Song. I am very sorry to hear that your mom also has passed what a very horrible heart wrenching time you are going through. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache you are experiencing right now.
we are here for you. And time day or night.

[mytil]

Oh Song,
My heart is with you and I am so incredibly sorry!!! Life can be very cruel and know we are all here for you.
(((((hugs)))))
Terry

[spdd]

My heart goes out to you, the passing of your mother and now your fur baby. Everyone is right when they say timing can be cruel, but I believe there truly is a purpose as to why things happen the way they do, even though we just don't know why. My heart goes out to you and my condolences especially at this time. Take good care of yourself, with all that is going on, you need to make sure that you baby yourself a little now too. Rest in Peace sweet Ginger, our babies were there to greet you.

[Lola]

Son, I am so sorry for your loss. Ginger is running in heaven pain free.

please be strong

[My sweet Ginger]

I got to hold my baby for one last time this afternoon. Needless to say it was devastating but I had to see her before she takes her final journey over the rainbow bridge and I'm so glad I was able to do it. It is so untrue when people say you can prepare yourself for one's death in cases like Ginger's. No, that is so not true. It is as devastating if not more.
My husband who I rarely see cry, has been crying ever since and in a terrible shape that I have to console him.
She was such a trooper and fighter to the very end. Never whined or cried for anything else except for occasional cries for help when she got stuck somewhere. She was still eating good and taking meds and walking around on her last day. So it was really unexpected and once she collapsed on the floor the end came within a few hours never regaining consciousness. So I hope she didn't experience any pain.
Yea, as Marianne said she already was an angel to me in every sense even before her angel wings. She was the best dog ever and we miss her so so much.
Thank you so much everyone. It really means a lot in devastating times like this although I become a total mess each time I'm here and lose it. Thank you.

[Roxie]

So sorry for your loss!:( You are so right that you can't prepare for it and I am currently feeling your pain.:( Just take comfort in knowing little Ginger is not suffering and is at peace now.

[apollo6]

I am so sorry for the lose of your sweet Ginger. There are no words that I can say to ease the pain. She will always be in your heart and soul. May you, Ginger be free and whole in heaven.
Love Sonja, Angel Apollo and Karma, Ariel.

[RhondaAndDennis]

So sorry for the loss of your little sweetie. I can tell you were a loving and caring mommy. Rhonda