STATUS: Not Eligible for Adoption (yet)
| January 2024 | * Follow-Up Exam & Echo @ Virginia Tech * Pressure @ stenosis / determine long-term success post-cath * TBD: Whether Atenolol will be D/C’ed * Spay Status & location * Anesthesiology protocol for spay (if @ Littlepage) |
| TBD | Schedule spay according to recommendations from cardiology team |
MEDICAL EXPENSES
Click for Details
| 7/26/2023 | Initial Cardiac Evaluation & Echo, | $1,026 |
| 10/10/2023 | Cath Lab – Virginia Tech Teaching Hospital | $3,436.26 |
| 10/6/2023 | Littlepage – Emergency – Bloody urine | $293.98 |
| 10/20/2023 | Recheck & F/U after urinary issue & cath lab; Simparica Trio | $90.47 |
| 10/25/23 | Simparica Trio (Monthly) | $38.28 |
| 10/24/2023 | Pharmacy – VA Tech – Refill Atenolol (Monthly) | $47.00 |
JULY 17, 2023 – Welcome to Crazy Town
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1748778435592097
JULY 19, 2023
Whelp. Screw me and my plans!
I called cardiology the day we brought Cookie home knowing they have an 8-10 week lead time for appointments. I intended to get her in the system, schedule a visit, and begin fundraising for her care.
The cardiologist got wind of our baby girl, asked for additional information, and had the staff get our little Cookie worked in urgently.
We’re scheduled to travel to Charlottesville next Wednesday, one week from today, and Cookie will spend the whole day being evaluated, undergoing tests, and surely getting lots of love in between — she is bright and sunny and engaging and FUNNY!
Without cardiology, we really don’t know what to anticipate about Cookie’s prognosis, her longterm needs, or even her life expectancy.
I took her into our care knowing that no one would adopt a cardiac puppy with a questionably expensive (and possibly short) future from the shelter. The other siblings with whom she was surrendered had left the building and all found homes. Our Cookie was all alone.
The unwanted. The undesired. The expensive. The wild card.
The NO LESS WORTHY, absolutely precious, perfect little Cookie.But she’s a risk that no one wants to take – financially or emotionally – which is why our beloved T Anna mentioned her to us and why we knew we couldn’t leave her behind.
Cardiology will give Cookie the best possible chance at finding a life outside of this orphanage — they will help us know what she needs, put her on supportive meds if warranted, and give us a much more educated view into her future. If an adopter comes along, we will have already done the hard part and cleared up as many unknowns as possible.
Her initial appointment and the testing she’ll receive adds up to approximately $1000-$1500.
If anyone feels moved to help us get our Cookie the care she needs, we would be so grateful for your help!! Her heart murmur is palpable but only to us. Cookie knows nothing is amiss and that’s how it should always be for her.
🍪❤️🍪❤️🍪❤️🍪❤️🍪
JULY 20, 2023 – Timely approval from the Dept. of Ag!
TLDR: Cookie needs a cardiac evaluation, and if you help us afford it, you get a tax deduction!
In 2018, when I signed up to be a foster mom, I asked the universe for one thing — to send me who needs to be here, and to please not make me pick. I said that I’d take care of whomever I was assigned.
We’ve both upheld our respective ends of this deal, and I have said yes more than once knowing she’d have my back. When T Anna told us of Baby Cookie and her broken heart, we knew we’d find a way; that although we are not financially ready for this, we have been picked.
Cookie and I are traveling to our first cardiology appointment next week — approximately 9 weeks sooner than I anticipated. And right on time, the stars aligned above the bureaucracy making your contributions TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
If anyone can help us get her this consult, we will send you a thank you RECEIPT that will come in handy ‘round April!
Huge thanks to those who have already contributed! If I haven’t already thanked you personally, I will soon!
JULY 22, 2023
Blue thinks the dainty new girl is absolute perfection, a 12/10 charismatic tootie, and has been interested in meeting her.
Cookie, who is 12/10 confident, thinks Blue is such a handsome stud and she enjoys studying him as he demonstrates the fine art of playing with his balls.
JULY 24, 2023
Our corporate debit card arrived 2 days ahead of Cookie’s cardiology appointment in Charlottesville where it will be swiped the first time!
We are only a few hundred dollars away from our $1500 goal, and both of these links will allow you to make a TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION to help us with the inaugural (and by no means small) transaction!
Thanks to everyone who has contributed already! Cookie is a bright, confident, engaging, snuggly, and personable girl — she deserves a chance at a normal, healthy life and I’m grateful for your willingness and generosity in helping us give her that.
I look forward to what we’ll learn about Cookie’s ticker and how to best care for her, but I hope they don’t tell me to kick her off my float!
JULY 25, 2023
Willa just informed Cookie that all the money she’s made will NOT be going toward spangly necklaces or more turkey tendon chews, but toTHE DOCTOR.
Y’all, we smashed our cardiology goal!!! We even have a little extra to spend on medications or follow up appointments, and, okay, maybe one little chew.
Thank you for the tremendous show of love; for being so generous and making it possible for Cookie’s heart to be evaluated urgently.
Cookie is a BADASS little pupper and because of you, she’s going to get a fair shake!
THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!!
JULY 25, 2023
“When a child comes, it’s time to learn…”
But when Zoe and her mom, Becca, come over, the lessons are profound.
Zoe was doing a gymnastics stunt on the edge of the pool and wanted to “see if she could make it all the way around”which from my perspective seemed not-that-important; playful; silly. Fun.
Weren’t we just goofing off?
The more Zoe failed, the harder she tried. And the more she thought about falling, the more she fell.
I missed what was really happening, but Becca didn’t.
Zoe was getting frustrated—in her mind, she had set a goal and was experiencing perceived continual defeat, even if she was laughing about it and I thought she was just being my goofy best little friend — obliviously and ignorantly advising her to stop and take a few breaths to collect herself before a new attempt.
Becca, so in tune with Zoe’s big feelings, was right there to help her employ her coping skills. To use the mantra they established for just such a situation. To build her up!!
It was time for their scheduled departure, but Becca saw that there was something far more important than getting to the sleepover on time, and then I saw it too.
This was a life lesson!
We could have let her fail. We could have sluffed it off, but we did none of those things.
Becca met Zoe exactly where she was in that moment – fully aware she didn’t need advice or instruction as much as she needed her mom and her auntie to believe in her; to be on her side. So that’s what we did.
Zoe did it. She made it all the way around emphatically stating her mantra to victory.
JULY 26, 2023
Cardiology or bust!
JULY 26, 2023
For starters, I couldn’t love our cardiologist or the team ANY MORE! They were wonderful and helpful and they took excellent care of our Cookie.
The echocardiogram shows that our baby has a congenital heart defect on her right side, but that her left side developed normally. Cookie has severe pulmonic valve stenosis.
The murmur that can be heard and palpated is the constricted pulmonic valve trying to pump blood to her lungs. There are two treatment options and her outcome depends on the decision we make.
The cheap, bandaid “solution”: We put her on beta blockers and the cardiologist estimates she’ll make it about a year before the increasing pressure takes her away.
Even Rio got more than a year!
The good but likely expensive news is that there is a device called a BALLOON that can be threaded into the valve to correct the problem and give her back her life, but for that procedure we would need to go to a cath lab at a teaching hospital like VA Tech.
They like for dogs to be a little larger than our baby girl is, so our doc thinks in about 3 months time, Cookie will be a good candidate. We only spent about $1k today, so we still have another $1k in the Cookie Jar. We could spend it on beta blockers, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel, not on this vibrant, engaging, confident baby girl.
More info coming. Mom’s on the case! For now, some pics of this wonderful and insightful appointment. THANK YOU for funding this consult — from an ultrasound, we have learned SO MUCH!
JULY 28, 2023
Got lots to say about Cookie, but before I do, I just want you to see her for who she is — a larger than life personality, an eager, confident baby over whom I have little control.
I can try to protect her, I can shield her and keep her in isolation, but wouldn’t that be selfish!
Whether she gets a long time or a short time is not for me to know yet. My job is to ensure that whatever time is a GOOD time and that her existence honors who she is.
Some spirits won’t be tamed.
Thanks to my loons for their warm and appropriate embrace. Cookie really IS a CRAZY TOWN!!
JULY 31, 2023
Here’s the latest on Cookie:
The plan, as we left it, was for me to call our cardiologist in about 2 months to get a referral to visit Tech’s cath lab, as they were purported to schedule one month in advance.
Naturally, that wouldn’t work for me because I am a mom who needs to take action, and an ADHD adult who needs a deadline, and that loose plan didn’t give me enough tasks. 
So I called Tech first thing the following morning to get information on their cardiology program, estimate cost, length of stay, sort out logistics, etc. — to see what this journey might entail.
Long story short, our referral and all of its corresponding paperwork has been received by Tech who said we could schedule NOW!
On October 16th, we have an appointment for Cookie to be examined by the cardiology department at VA Tech’s Teaching School! They will determine whether she is a good candidate for interventional intervention (a balloon vavuloplasty) at that time.
If she is, they try to schedule those the following day, which means we’d spend at least one night in Blacksburg, and another if she needs to stay in the hospital for monitoring.
Until then, we’ve got some fundraising ideas up our sleeve, and Cookie is going to live as a regular ol’ wackadoodle bougie homeless pupper for whom this mom is cooking.
We wouldn’t have made it this far without the love and support of our community, and as Cookie’s net worth threatens to exceed my own and that of our organization, she paid a visit to thank 3 very special guys who ensured there’s still some money in the bank; that we won’t be starting fundraising from square one again.
Our friends @motoworksva —some of the kindest and wisest TEACHERS I’ve ever known — sold a bike and generously donated half the proceeds to our baby girl, and then they let us do a photoshoot on a motorcycle!
We love you, Motoworks, and we appreciate your support so much!!
AUGUST 1, 2023
Cookie, sweet Cookie. She got to go on her first walk this weekend and was … cuter than expected
AUGUST 2, 2023
Jax took Cookie to her first (working) BBQ last night.
She was exquisite. She met Chance and very much hung with the big dogs until it got dark and she had to sleep in my lap.
I love and appreciate you more than you could ever know, Michelle and Adam. Thanks for loving us, thanks for helping us, thanks for taking care of ME.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1503394080400504/
AUGUST 3, 2023
Stairs are alwasys steeper on the way back down.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/307543031743887
AUGUST 5, 2023
Here ye. Here ye.
We’re planning a fundraiser for our bougie baby Cookie, and it’s NOT just an excuse to shirk my emails and instead employ my creativity in the kitchen.
It was going to be a canine NObake Sale until a couple heroic supporters offered to actually use their ovens in this heat!
First thing this morning, Cookie approved all my frozen experiments from last night …when my friend Chris came over to help, pulled in my driveway, got out of his car, and realized he’d volunteered his time at precisely the right or WRONG place. 
The bake sale is evolving and if anyone wants to contribute — canine or human baked or NObaked goodies AND/OR plan the bake sale 
) please send me a note.
[PS Cookie just tackled Hascal who is 5x her size and has him pinned to a dog bed as I attempt to pimp her fundraiser.]
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3472982042961821/
AUGUST 6, 2023
The biggest, goosebumpiest THANKS to our friends at Bikes & Breakfast Fredericksburg and Motoworks who surprised me and collected donations for Cookie at their monthly gathering this morning!!!
I am amazed by the collective embrace of our community and abundantly grateful to have such wonderful people looking out for us at every ‘turn.’ (Motorcycle pun intended)
https://www.facebook.com/reel/618467237042740
AUGUST 6, 2023
“Pssst….just use it like a climbing wall.
– Hascal 
AUGUST 9, 2023
TWENTY PLUS – is the number of gloriously quiet minutes it took Cookie to consume her breakfast from this new mat.
There is no measure for how much fun I had filling it, nor the peace I enjoyed during its consumption.
We have a winner!
AUGUST 10, 2023
https://www.facebook.com/reel/226342939948616
AUGUST 22, 2023
Good job, mom, for leaving the TP within reach of COOKIE COOKIE THE TROUBLEMAKER!
AUGUST 18, 2023
Raven Hi Fi decided we should have a raffle at our Bake Sale to benefit our cardiac baby, Cookie, in mid September. They’re generously donating a Sonos system that some lucky person will get to win!
If anyone else has something they’d like to put in our raffle, Cookie will come and thank you HERSELF!!
AUGUST 18, 2023
The rules according to Cookie:
You can sleep on the bed, or you can sleep in the crate, but you can’t sleep on the bed IN the crate.
And then sometimes you gotta do a puzzle and pass out like THIS.
Oh Cookie – you are a CRAZY TOWN!
AUGUST 20, 2023
Cookie visited Grammie & Grampie this week and made use of my mom’s kitty enrichment program as well as their toy bin!
( post it notes on sliding door in beginning picture are there so the birds don’t fly into the glass & get hurt)
https://www.facebook.com/reel/311685348068318
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
Motoworks kicked off Cookie’s Sonos raffle (sponsored by Raven HiFi) at Bikes & Breakfast today, and they made me cry. Look at the heart.
They drew a heart. 
Make sure to save the date for Sept 24th. This isn’t your ordinary bake sale, this isn’t a dull fundraiser, but it’s gonna be a Crazy Town EVENT!
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
Cookie is on team Laverne and is modeling trust for our little Vernie, who watches from her den, dumbfounded that she lives with the best belly rubber and has not yet experienced one for herself.
Brooke, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care which belly he rubs. He has loved every dog I have ever brought to him, but I know bringing Cookie is as much a treat for him as it for me to watch.
Brookie Cookie Vernie
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
Cookie is back in Crazy Town and I’m thinking … she’s definitely not going to wear her party tutu more than 5 minutes this Sunday.
Cardiology Update: our appointment at Tech has been moved up to October 3rd! We will go for an exam and Cookie will get a second echocardiogram, and at that time they will determine whether she’s ready to go to the cath lab. Assuming they do, we’ll spend the night and our baby will go in the following day for the balloon.
Mom’s about to find out just how much of a teaching hospital they really are. 
Come wish us luck at the bake sale this Sunday!
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023
Hard to believe our Fun-Raiser is tomorrow, and it’s impossible to receive so much love and support without getting all up in my feelings, but I swear I’m not gonna make it weird.
SIKE!
The fact that y’all would even give up a bit of your precious time to come out and support this event means everything to me; and I’m touched that you even care about getting one of our ‘affordable’ first-run tees, but then you offered to bake stuff, and lend stuff, and show up early and do grunt work, and you volunteered even MORE of your time, thus utterly dumbfounding me.
It’s my inner child that can’t say no—the same little girl who had kitty named Pebbles living in her room for some time unbeknownst to her parents; and who also ‘fudged’ some paperwork as an adolescent and adopted a dog named Gizzy… also to the eventual surprise of her parents.
I have a track record with part of this, and it’s hard to let go of what my dad would say (when he eventually found out ) because of the number of times I got the whole lecture on doing things you can’t afford, blah blah blah.
Dumbfounded.
Because I have lost track of every single person who wanted to help get Cookie to the cath lab, to contribute, bake, support.
How many more hundred dogs before it sinks in that I’m not in trouble every time I bring home a dog? That you aren’t burdened by it? When the cardiologist said “teaching hospital” and “cath lab” I did have a small episode of asystole, but I never had to convince you Cookie was worth saving.
And you joined me in mass… maybe not to bail me out of another irresponsibility expensive commitment, but because …maybe… your inner child is showing up in support of mine.
That being said – I lost track of everyone who wanted to help, and so I don’t inadvertently leave anyone out: we’re going to start setup around 10am tomorrow – come on out if you want – there will be plenty of jobs due to today’s setup day being ruined by a monsoon.
If you’re baking and just want to drop off and leave, tonight is open and anytime tomorrow morning. If you need me to pick up, let me know!! Thank you all!!
Xoxoxo
SEPTEMBER 24, 2023
I’ve never felt so much love in all my life.
I have lots to say but my brain is done, so for now just a report that we hit our goal and have just enough to go to the cath lab!
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart!
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
It wasn’t our first fundraiser, but it WAS our first fundraiser as a nonprofit, and thank goodness you knew what to do, because it was my first bake sale, raffle, and release of merch. And I’d just as soon be the baker.
I have a newfound respect for the art of fundraiser planning, and profound gratitude for all of you who carried me though my first one. Because that’s what you did.
I was in the WEEDS of logistics and process – figuring out how to accept credit card payments on my phone, setting up charity software, and making sure you got the right kind of receipt for the type of transaction you made. QR codes and campaigns that are easy to access and contribute to. Signs. Messing up file uploads. Messing up everything the first time and sometimes many more times after that.
All the while, my Crazy Town still needed me to be the mom, but no matter how hard I worked, I never kept up because I was doing things I’d never done before, figuring out there was a better way, and then doing it allll over again in the name of learning as I went.
And as the day approached, I realized that I didn’t 100% know who was baking or what, or who was coming, and the surprise I got – well – it brought me to tears.
The amount of love and creativity and time and effort you put into your freezers, ovens and waffle makers AND into the packaging – it hit me again all at once as I scanned the tables beneath the tents.
We have merch that I am so proud of and that came to fruition DESPITE my being on the team. We have great colors — colors that have meaning as the 2 most visible to the dog, and my paw is loud and proud again DESPITE me.
I guess I thought we all showed up for Cookie yesterday, and we did, but in your faces, your hugs, your willingness to come with an injury (KELLY) and sparkling beneath the canopies lay evidence of the myriad ways you showed up for me.
I was tired last night. My legs were sore, body depleted, but a soul that felt revived, nurtured, and almost as rich as … COOKIE!
Thank you everyone for loving us so much.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
I don’t mean to belabor the point but we really, effectively raised some fun this weekend which is what Cookie thought her party was for anyway.
SEPTEMBER 30,2023
Cookie is learning how to walk with the big dogs
and has chosen none other than our best boy Blue as her mentor. Jax is fine and all, but he’s Blue’s mentor! She and Blue have had a thing for each other since she was itty bitty that they’ve nurtured as she’s grown into an even bigger wackadoodle.
Blue was Cookie’s age when he was returned the second time to the shelter and where he grew up in one room without anyone to teach him about the world; he was not immersed in the sounds of the outdoors like Cookie has been, nor included in puppy playgroups. He didn’t experience the weather, wasn’t introduced to a cat or other dogs or cars or a lawnmower or any of the other things a puppy learns growing up in a home or in a Crazy Town.
The fact that he can model normal behavior out on the leash with Cookie is a testimony to how far he’s come and, of course, how goodest of a best boy he is!
OCTOBER 1, 2023
T minus 2 sleeps until we’re off to Tech. This little girl is as gritty and tough as it gets, and I’ve never known a puppy who loved mud as much as Cookie!
Yes of course we’ll be adding a bath to the list of prep and hoping she doesn’t have too many scrapes and dings. If she were a human kid, she’d have dirt under her fingernails and permanently banged up knees.
I am so grateful she gets this opportunity, and am secretly excited to play a round of Twenty Questions in a teaching hospital! 
OCTOBER 2, 2023
No breakfast tomorrow for Cookie – so tonight she gets a special last meal
she gets a special last meal
OCTOBER 3, 2023
The Bougie Mobile is on the road, destination VA Tech and we’ve stopped for our first pee break.
CATH LAB OR BUST!
OCTOBER 3, 2023
We got the all clear today, and tonight I get to keep our girl and return her to @vth_vt at 7am for a balloon valvuloplasty in their cath lab.
Today we met with the team who we loved,
and Cookie was a ham and tried to get in everyone’s lap before she was whisked away for bloodwork and an echo.
Big day today and an even bigger one tomorrow! Thanks for all the love!!!
OCTOBER 4, 2023
This is the guy.
Dr. Menciotti is the one who holds Cookie’s future in his very capable hands which will today cut a little hole in Cookie’s jugular in order to thread a catheter into her heart and inflate a balloon inside her stenotic pulmonary valve.
It’s not that simple, of course, there are pressure measurements that are taken ahead and after the procedure as measures of success. She will spend the night in the hospital tonight and tomorrow they’ll repeat the echo. She may be put on beta blockers temporarily to give her heart a little rest, but first things first.
There are a lot of unknowns and a balloon valvuloplasty gives Cookie a real chance of living a full life, so the risks are far outweighed by the reward, and we are exactly where we need to be. This place is extraordinary and so are its people.
Some of you have wondered about the anesthesia— why Cookie couldn’t be put under for spay, but can be anesthetized for this cath.
The difference is in the anesthesia team in the cath lab… who will meet with Cookie this morning and determine the best drugs to use. They will have emergency meds already calculated and drawn up before the procedure starts, so they’re ready in the event she needs them. Anesthesia will not leave her until she wakes up.
After our meeting yesterday, the resident, Dr. Chavez, pulled me aside for one last matter of business — a question — and she began to tiptoe around a subject I don’t need to be delicate about — the “what if” …
“CODE HER,” I interrupted. My baby is a full code.
OCTOBER 4, 2023
Cookie is in recovery and waking up. They are optimistic about the procedure and decrease in pressure but will measure again tomorrow.
She may have a complication called a dissection in her pulmonary artery which is rare but also a known and possible risk.
The plan remains the same and she’ll go to the ICU after recovery and spend the night, and I’m hoping I’ll be allowed to go see her before tomorrow.
OCTOBER 4, 2023
Just spoke to Dr. Chavez and she reports our baby is awake and alert, had a big appetite and went outside for a pee and some army crawls!
The docs are leaving for the night and they’re feeling really optimistic, her pressure is down, and she’s stable.
They think my visiting might make her anxious and frankly I just want what’s best for Cookie. The word dissection holds a certain innuendo and at the time of my last report, I wasn’t sure if I needed to get to the bedside right away.
Next update is scheduled for first thing in the morning, and I’m so excited to see my baby girl I can hardly stand it.
Thanks for being here and loving us and cheering for our precious Cookie!!!!!
OCTOBER 5, 2023
Morning rounds start at 7, so naturally I awoke at 4 to be sure I didn’t miss my alarm clock set for 6 or the call that hasn’t happened yet.
But still it’s today. We made it to today. We made it through the night without a call, which is good. They only call at scheduled times or if something goes wrong. As they say, “no news is good news.”
They are the ones who are equipped to care for Cookie after such a procedure. She’s been on the cardiac monitor and spent the night on the unit which means she had nursing oversight and care all night long — and I’m sure our docs left standing orders and were reachable if they were needed.
And as the mom, I’m learning to be humbled by and grateful to the sidelines. They make me anxious too, but not because I ever thought I could deliver better care. My job was to work my ASS OFF to get her here — to, along with all of you, give her this chance, and then to release her to the team that could help her. Letting go is hard and it will not ever get easier, but it’s not even about that.
I promised Cookie I’d be back. I promised her it was just for a little while. I promised, when I handed her over, that it wasn’t forever. And I asked all my guardian angels to stay at that hospital until I could come back.
I love you little Cookie. And I love you all. Thank you for getting us here, for being here with me as I type these updates and always having a kind and loving word for me too.
Hope the next one I get to type will include a picture of our baby!!!!
OCTOBER 5, 2023
She’s back and better than ever! Valve looked good this morning and pressure across the stenosis is down! — we’re on meds and we’ll be back in 3 months for a follow up.
By the smell of this car, I think Cookie is ready for a post-discharge poop, so this installment must be pinched off here.
More later!
OCTOBER 5, 2023
Cookie sleep-farted the entire trip back to Crazy Town while I chauffeured and reflected and questioned if they were more than farts.
Cookie is on exercise restriction for the next week, so she’s back in my bathroom during party hours to ensure she gets some recovery time and that HASCAL or MONA don’t lead her to poor decisions or remove her bandages prematurely.
Dr. Menciotti’s exam and echo confirmed the original cardiologist’s diagnosis of severe pulmonic stenosis with regurgitation and right sided heart enlargement— the latter being an expected change from the original and the reason we had to move so quickly to raise funds and make our way to Tech.
The procedure itself was a whopping success, and I type that with the utmost respect, admiration, and gratitude for the team that took a severe stenosis and turned it MILD.
Her pressure at the stenotic gradient was 150mmHg before the procedure and this morning it was down to 35mmHg!
So…. The stenosis itself (because yes I asked
him about it…what it felt like and how did it not just snap back shut after the balloon and here’s how he explained it ) is these flaps of tissue that got gummed up and sorta stuck and thus the blood can’t flow flow right and its under pressure – so the balloon fixes that and gets em unstuck, but whether they get gummed back up or not is the ultimate determiner of longterm success.
If those pressure measurements at her 3 month echo continue like these, her prognosis is really good. It means the cath did its job and the whole thing “took.”
The heart, as we all know, is a muscle and her right side (ventricle) bulked up and worked extra hard to pump blood through that gummed up valve all the way until yesterday, so the medication we’re starting, a beta-blocker called Atenolol, will give her heart a little break so that muscle has a chance to thin out and stop being like a cockeyed Popeye.
As for the dissection, well, my babies always throw curveballs — even at the best of the best of the best — and though a risk that we even discussed, it just doesn’t happen that much and therefore the studies don’t exist in bulk. But with what they do know, and with what they can see, things are looking good for the TookTook. Especially with that pressure gradient down.
I also don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to be reminded of the greatest lessons of Rio — that we all have a purpose and destiny, that some of us get longer than others to live it out, but if we sit around worrying about it, we’ll miss out on it entirely.
I have so much more to say about this trip, but for tonight, this is all I got:
For the first time in her life, Cookie is going to bed in Crazy Town with a heart that pumps effectively and efficiently. 
ith a heart that pumps effectively and efficiently.
OCTOBER 6, 2023
The difference is palpable.
The murmur was so severe you didn’t even need a stethoscope – you could feel it.
Her chest is like a metronome now – gone the erraticism; gone the heat.
That bandage doesn’t stand a chance on a healthy Cookie!
OCTOBER 6, 2023
Tiny little snafu today when Cookie all the sudden began peeing blood.
Long story short, it was toward the end of the day, I cleared it via our team at Tech, the emergency vet doesn’t open until tomorrow, I called Littlepage and pleaded my case, and they kindly and graciously took us in on emergency!
Dr. Baker’s scrubs matched Cookie’s purple bandage, and she loved on our girl while I learned that contrast (used during her procedure in the cath lab) can be tough on a little bladder and that Cookie’s is angry.
So we are on antibiotics and an anti inflammatory, and Cookie thought it was a party for her where they all came to dote on her and served really good cheese.
I need to extend my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to the team at Littlepage today who all worked really hard and at the end of a Friday on our behalf. They were ready for us when we got there and lovingly whisked us into the back, and took exceptional care just as they do when we have an appointment that was scheduled. RESPECT! What a gift to Cookie and to the special needs mom too!!!
We love you, Littlepage! We love you, Dr. Baker!
OCTOBER 7, 2023
Photoshoot to celebrate the absence of visible red blood cells in Cookie’s urine AND a bandage update that has a hint of Fred Flinstone.
Oh Cookie. You really are the picture of perfection!!!
OCTOBER 7, 2023
When Cookie snubs her pills, Mom does “surgical” intervention.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/337428015430191/
OCTOBER 9, 2023
Cookie presented to the complaint department with her chart which DOES NOT SAY she can’t wrastle during recovery. Or get the zoomies. And it DOES NOT SAY she’s supposed to do enrichment.
She agreed not to exercise for a week, but didn’t know she was being discharged back to BORING TOWN.
Bamboozled again.
OCTOBER 10, 2023
Cookie wants everyone to know she shat in her slow feeder bowl this morning and had her toofers cleaned by our resident dentist, Willa, while I was in the shower.
OCTOBER 12, 2023
We are officially off light duty in Crazy Cookie Town and the patient of honor woke us for an early breakfast and enjoyed her first permissible playtime in the dark before graciously (I begged her) getting in bed and snuggling with me for an extra hour.
Then … it was off to the races; into the dirt. Into everything.
She’s been aseptic long enough, she says. Hygiene doesn’t bring her joy anyway — wrastlin’ does!
Time will tell whether we survive the new and improved Cookie, who now has the stamina to match her panache.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!
OCTOBER 14, 2023
You really haven’t lived until you’ve blown bubbles in your own mud pie!
-Cookie
OCTOBER 17, 2023
Quick overview of the events that transpired when I took a bath and invited Cookie:
Cookie did enrichment
Cookie abandoned her enrichment prematurely.
Cookie had a cliffhanger grass-blade dingleberry which she chased and dislodged herself!
Cookie stole my jammies and my slippers.
Cookie finished her enrichment.
Cookie chewed the treat pocket of my sweatshirt and I had to confiscate it into the tub.
Cookie stole my towels. Twice.
Cookie wrangled her bed into a new position and did frog pose on it.
Cookie settled as soon as my water was cold.
I celebrate that this baby girl is full of LIFE!
OCTOBER 18, 2023
Hate to deliver bad news so early in the morning, but long story short, CapCut is a chump.
I had to screen record this video in order for you to get to see COOKIE BLOWING BUBBLES in the water trough at approximately midnight.
It’s one of our lower budget productions, but if you laugh like I did, then who cares.
COOKIE!
OCTOBER 19, 2023
When your cardiac meds taste like 
…
