Keeley's last days

 I had Keeley put to sleep on Sunday evening.  He had an aggressive cancer.  The tumor was wrapped around the inside and outside of his jaw bone and up into his ear.  It caused him intense pain to open his mouth.  For the last 6 weeks he had begun using his mouth less and less and the muscles in his head and face were going through atrophy.  I was giving him only soft foods because it was obvious that anything that required chewing hurt him.  In the past 3 weeks he started getting lethargic and antisocial - just not acting like himself.  He stopped barking or even growling.  At first we thought it was myositis, but the blood test results were negative.  Then last Thursday he had an MRI and got the cancer diagnosis.  He went downhill super fast.  He just looked so sad.  There was talk about removing his jaw bone, but to me that sounded barbaric and there would still be the tumor that was in his ear.  So that's why I made the decision to put him to sleep.

I tried to make his last 2 days as nice as possible.  On Saturday we took him to the beach since Keeley always loved the beach.  He did perk up a bit when we started getting close to the lake, but for the most part he just wasn't feeling it.

Then we took him to Dairy Queen.  His eyes did get wide when he saw me get into the car with ice cream, but he never even sat up or anything.

The rest of the day we just lay around and napped together.  He definitely wanted me with him but he looked really sad all day.

Then on Sunday, he woke up feeling pretty good.  He seemed very alert or at least more so than he'd been for the last couple of weeks.  We took him to Lake Park and he loved that.  He was eager to walk all around.  It was the most I'd seen him move all week.

We went on the trail and across bridges and cut across fields.  He wanted to keep going too, but I was worried about him over-doing it.

It was a beautiful day and we just sat and enjoyed it for a while before going to Arby's (another treat for Keeley).

He was feeling so good that when we got home, we went for another walk with Teagan.  He was acting almost like his old self again.  He hung out for a while on the balcony too since he likes to keep an eye on all the goings on.

We took a short nap together on the sectional.  I pet him lots and sang him his puppy song.

And we spent his last hour hanging out together outside.  Weather wise, it was just the kind of day that Keeley liked:  warm but not too warm, with low humidity, and some nice wind blowing right up the driveway bringing all the scents in the neighborhood right to his nose.

Since the day had gone so well, I started having second thoughts, but decided it was best to go out on a good note.  During the work week I wouldn't be able to spend much time with him and he wouldn't be happy with that.  I'm glad I had this last good day with him.  

We went with www.petlossathome.com because I figured Teagan needed to see Keeley to understand it.  But even so, I'm not sure if she really understands.  I guess maybe in her own way she gets it.  I don't know.  Sometimes it seems like she looks for him.  She really depended on him for so much.  I'm worried about her.

And I miss Keeley so much.  I am so completely heartbroken.  He was my baby.  And he was just so so very good.  I can't imagine that another dog could ever compare to him.  Just when I think I'm done crying, something will set me off.  Like, I opened up the dishwasher to put the clean dishes away and I thought that I have way too many doggie dishes now and I started crying.  Or today 4 condolence cards came in the mail.  I read the first 2 and was fine, but I started sniffling at the third, and by the fourth one, I was in tears.

I just picked up his ashes today and I thought that would give me closure, but I was crying again.  I guess that's just how its going to be for a while.  It all just happened so fast and I really expected to have several more years with him.  He was only 9 years old.  He was just the greatest little dog-boy!  And now I don't know what to do with myself - I don't really feel like doing anything.  I'm so lousy at dealing with stuff like this.

MKE CO PARKS: Bradford Beach

(and the bluffs on the south end of Lake Park)Keeley and I were taking our normal morning walk at Lake Park today when we decided we'd go explore Bradford Beach a little.
A lot of the Milwaukee County Parks connect together. And almost the entire lakefront is green space and parks. Here we are at Lake Park looking down from the bluffs. Below is Lincoln Memorial Drive, Bradford Beach, and Lake Michigan.
Lake Park extends almost all the way to the Old North Point Water Tower which you can see in the distance here. It's a victorian gothic style tower that was built in 1871.
To get down to Bradford Beach, there's this nice path that takes us down the bluff.
Keeley really loves this path. Once the leaves grow in on the trees, it will be covered in shade.
Keeley's got a cute butt.
When we get to the bottom of the path, there's a little pedestrian bridge that goes over Lincoln Memorial Drive. We're leaving Lake Park now.
The bridge takes us to the Bradford Beach House. In the summer they have some volleyball events here. There's a snack shop and patio tables and chairs.
Bradford Beach is 29 acres. It's quiet here this morning because it's kinda cold and windy.
Keeley likes exploring. He doesn't mind a little cold.
And he likes wind a lot. Check out his ears blowing in the wind here.
Keeley likes to walk on sand too. It must feel good on his paws.

In the summer we often see people with retriever type dogs playing with them on the beach. Keeley always wants to follow them into the water but I'm reluctant to let him because I don't think it's clean enough.

Five years ago, the beach was really bad. There was a lot of bacteria like e coli in the water. Recently there's been efforts to clean up and revitalize the beach. Companies like Miller Brewing Co donated a lot of money. And the beach is trying to get Blue Wave Certified by the Clean Beaches Council.

I'm still reluctant to let Keeley go in though. Just this past week the city dumped raw sewage in the lake, overflow from all the rain we've been having.
As we were leaving we saw this sign. Keeley made sure he left his mark on it.