Prince Update ~ 10 January 2014: “Make a choice; you can always make another .. “
My Prince’s Gift: “Make a choice; you can always make another choice.”
I made the choice to let Prince make his own choices about his path with his stomach cancer. He’s a boy with a serious behavioral issue, biting, which we haven’t had to deal with in some time. The choices he’s made already are: no Sub-q fluids, no Sub-Q pain meds, no pill pain meds.
I made a “mom decision” and had the meds compounded into a liquid which smells good yet isn’t so tasty as most of the meds are bitter; and there’s just no way of disguising that. Ideally, he’d get it twice a day; in reality, he gets it maybe one time every day or so.
Prince also has choice over what he eats. It’s interesting to see how he gives me clarity on what he does or doesn’t want. This is a boy, who previously to his stomach cancer, ate EVERTHING. One time he even ate a piece of glass from a lamp which had broken, and he wouldn’t give mommy the piece he got. I love clarity.
Prince chooses if he walks, where he walks; if mommy carries him on the walk. Prince LOVES w-a-l-ks. When my Tuna got sick in early 2013, the Dachshunds started going on a shorter walk. I let Prince choose our route each day; he loved choice.
What I enjoyed about our agreement is that he asked for choice; and he actually made the choice. Too often, people say they want choice yet are too afraid to make a choice. Amusingly, “no choice” is a choice by default; yet people used to not making an active choice to fool themselves into believing they haven’t made a choice. They have.
Unless Prince drops dead, or dies in his sleep, at some point, I will need to make the choice with him when it’s time for him to transition. I’ve talked with our holistic vet, Dr. (Philip) Skip Hightman as I want to make sure Prince doesn’t need to have a muzzle on at all, if I have to make the choice to euthanize him.
What I do know is I won’t be alone when if I have to make this choice. One lesson I’m learning daily is that is I can choose how I respond during each day as things evolve with Prince and Blaze each day. I’ve found myself feeling sad or scared when Prince doesn’t eat, or doesn’t walk, or doesn’t .. do something which used to be normal for us. Or when Blaze seems weaker, etc. I
choose to believe that neither of my boys would like me to spend my day of much or any day upset based on them. By training or choosing what I put my thoughts on, I can choose trust, faith, and acceptance that “things are happening just as they are supposed to”, and look for the gifts both of my boys, Prince and Blaze, are offering their mommy as well as any readers here. <3 <3
