Well, I was hoping to be in better spirits given that we’re now into June, but what can I say, shit continued to hit the fan in May. On the bright side, Bentley went in for a 3-4 week checkup after his diagnosis, and he was sedated again for the blood work and joint taps. No inflammation in the joints and his WBC count went down from 50k to the high end of normal which I believe is around 20k. As a result, the vet tapered his steroid treatment. Those meds man, they make him so fricking ravenous and thirsty. One day, I was out for 5 hours– I came home and my office carpet was drenched. Poor baby. Thankfully, it was nearly all water and no urine. That’s how much he’s been drinking. Now I just open up the doggie door– John set up our garbage bins on the side of the house, to keep Bentley from harassing the mail people at the front door. I know, totally ghetto but what can we do.

So anyway, we’ve been on the tapered dose of prednisone now for almost three weeks. He still doesn’t run and patrol like he used to. I feel like the disease has aged him– Bentley walks like a lumbering old lion and our walks are pretty brief– only about 20 minutes. Also, the myositis caused muscle atrophy in his skull, so his face is leaner and sunken in. It makes me so sad, bc he had the most beautiful, full and smiling face. I was paranoid that maybe we were missing something else, like another disease or condition, but the doctor assured me that the pockets in his skull are purely cosmetic. And I mean, most importantly, the auto-immune disease is under control and he is not in pain.

Every day I palpate his body all over while I groom him. I’ve also been using the LED light therapy (aka low-level light therapy and photobiomodulation therapy). My friends all think it’s California kooky, but I read a few scientific papers about it and supposedly, the light stimulates the cells for muscle repair. The treatment is typically used for muscle and joint pain. He doesn’t really like it, bc Ben Ben tends to run hot, but he eventually gives in to his tiger mom. In the end, I think it’s helping him, so we’ll have to see.

In other news, my listing imploded. Long story short, the owner did not know there were deed restrictions tied to the home. In other words, she has to seek permission to sell it bc she acquired the home more than three decades ago as part of an affordable/subsidized housing program. Yup, that means, the transaction is going to be canceled. A bunch of other complications are tied to this whole thing, so I’ll just say, it’s a project.

Meanwhile, J’s mom has declined considerably. He is there now, with all her kids. I’ve reached out to a bunch of dog sitters today and no luck again. Hoping the one remaining sitter who hasn’t yet replied will be able to care for Bentley on short notice. I dunno, 2019 is turning out to be a major shit storm.