more about prostate cancer as it relates to androgen suppression and the lockerbie bomber next time…got sidetracked

My beloved daughter is going to Macon, Ga to get a masters in nursing in August. She wanted a Border Collie like the one she had out west. My wife and I agreed, I suggested waiting until she got to Macon and her own place to get a new dog. A new dog to me means trouble. We got the Penelope during the worst drought in Hall County history. The banks were failing, the stock market was tanking, and Obama and his health care was eminent. It was bad time. I was doing my share of taking her out at night even though I disagreed with getting a new dog then. (About two years ago.) I couldn’t come home from work back then. My wife does Yoga and doesn’t get home until about 7:30 so if I happen to get done with work early, I’d be coming home to a puppy in a cage that needs immediate attention. ( I came home one time and she had had numerous accidents in the cage that required cleaning the cage, Pepe and the floor of the laundry room, all before my wife returned home.) In many ways Penelope was responsible for me getting in better shape. I did not want to come home to all that responsibility… so I’d go to the YMCA and that is when I started spin… I still do that 3-5 times a week. One night on the 3 a.m. walk, I decided not to use a leash. My wife was at the beach at the time, (” John I am going to the beach, here is the dog food, this is the vet appointment, here is the crate and treats, have someone from your office walk her three times a day and I’ll see you in three days.”) My protestations about, ” But I have prostate cancer,” met deaf ears. “You don’t have that anymore John.”  Anyway let me give you some advice…don’t walk a puppy chocolate lab at night without a leash. You cannot see them in the dark! I lost her. Running through my mind was my wife returning anxiously looking forward to seeing her ” baby girl” and me telling her…” I lost her letting her go potty.” One hour later, I found her chasing a squirrel in a wooded lot to the side of a neighbor’s home. Oh…my poor heart. I caught a glimpse of a shadow….and it was her. No lease never again.

So when I show up from work about three weeks ago and a galloping black and white dog runs into my scrotum upon entering my home, all of those painful memories returned. Once again members of my family, particularly the ones of the female persuasion, ignored my advice, input or wishes. ” How cute,” was all  I could muster.

A rescued short-haired Border Collie…my daughter named him “Brother.” She calls Penelope sister so it made sense to name the new dog Brother. I actually like the new dog, however the expected  accidents have occurred around the house, the dents in the screen door, the scratches on my wife’s arm where bites were all expected consequences to a new puppy, I’d been there, done that. The accidents prompted me to name him, ” Porta Pottie” instead of Border Collie.  But there is a new twist to this dog. Bess is finishing up her sciences to enable her to begin the masters program so he is in class a large part of the day each day. As well she has been in about 10 weddings (it seems) since she came home. So…what to do with Brother. We have become grandparents to this dog. “Tell mom I had to go in early…Brother is in the crate and needs to be let out to go potty. I’ll be back at 2. Thanks dad.” And off she goes. I relay the message and then I’m off to work. Poor little Karen my wife, grandmimi to the new puppy.

The biggest winner in all this, other than Bess using us and the carpets in our home to train Porta Pottie,  is Penelope. She and Brother love each other. They love to swim together in our pool and at the river…we even got Brother his own life-preserver like Pepe’s. He is becoming much more proficient in swimming and chasing balls in water and in fact has become a joy, but still is somewhat of an issue about the  puppy sitting thing however. As my mother would say, “John this too shall pass.”

So why this post…I don’t know. I came up to the river to do some writing with Penelope. I couldn’t bring Brother because I’d get nothing accomplished, he’s too hyper.

Maybe I miss Brother, I think I do. It appears to me that Penelope is sulking as well.

I am really going to miss my daughter and Brother when they move to Macon in August.