I'm utterly amazed to come back to our blog here 3 years later. So much has happened since then; mostly good stuff, only a few challenges. It is so much fun to read the Lilly Birthday post from 2008, we've had 3 birthdays since then and our little hyper puppy has been a full-grown dog for a long time now.

I originally wrote this blog as a way to express and exhaust our feelings in having a megaesophagus dog. Neither Marilyn nor I expected this when we took Lilly home, but we never waivered once we knew the diagnosis. In the three years that have gone by since my last post we have settled into a standard routine, thankfully eliminating the mid-day meal, and watched as Lilly absorbed her training in becoming a highly intelligent and hugely loved member of our family.

To catch it all up, Lilly began to calm down from the typical American Field Lab craziness at about 18 months. A year after that we suddenly realized she was a full grown dog instead of a wacky spazzy puppy! Thank goodness, we never thought that day would come. She stopped chewing up the sprinklers, eating everything that could be consumed, and waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Instead, her current routine is getting up when mommy does, then after a brief check of the yard outside promptly falls back asleep until it's time for either the morning walk or breakfast. Her morning meal is consumed on the same step stool after small doses of Sucralfate (1.5ml) and Cisapride (1.0ml). Spit ups are relatively rare now, and she is able to eat small dry treats.

She's no wallflower this little girl, her best friend is a wolf/husky male that outweighs her by 40lbs. Her social skills are wonderful, with dogs and especially humans. Mare and I have some terrific friends and family who know how to care for her special needs, and of course Lilly is always on extra good behavior when they take care of her. C'mon dog, mix a little of that in when it's just mommy and daddy huh?

Perhaps our greatest gift and resource is our veterinarian Jeff. He is the one who diagnosed and helped us come to grips with Lilly's condition, and his staff at the clinic adores our affectionate little Labbo. They've helped us with challenges from limber tail to thunder freakouts to boarding her when no-one else will. Mare and I consider ourselves some of the luckiest dog owners in the world because our doggy utterly LOVES going to the vet. We're barely in the parking lot when she starts squeaking and doing the front paw "dance". When the door opens, she charges in and immediately puts paws on the counter to say hello. It is such a relief to be able to leave her for days at a time with an entire staff that loves her.

I'll post some pictures here, of Lilly swimming, being naughty and whatnot. In retrospect, it is such a joy to be able to come back here 3 years later with nothing but good news. I'm lucky.

-Rob