If I were actively pastoring a church, all this would all make sense, as this often go haywire during Holy Week.  But I am not doing 130 services in 8 days like I used to, so shouldn’t life slow down? Well of course not!

Here at the Tirman home we are currently dealing with our dog Viper who suddenly Tuesday evening took a huge turn for the worse.  You may remember that he had a massive tumor removed late last year, and we had thought it was encapsulated.  Of course the first thing that goes through your head is that it was not.  But it was nighttime, and our vet was closed, and in all honesty, he is almost 11 and we had decided to have this surgery and then just let him enjoy his life till its end.  He is not just a very familiar part of our vet’s practice, but he is a celebrity there and we decided to wait it out till morning if he made it, and take him into see her rather than scaring him with unfamiliar places and people.

He made it through the night, although we didn’t fare too well.  Amanda slept on the floor next to him, and no one slept too much.  I carried him downstairs as he suddenly cannot manage and took him to her first thing in the morning.  He was pale and a mess.  But she discovered he had a pretty good fever, and when I say good, I mean significant AND good that he had a fever.  Tumor reoccurrence can cause fever, but so can infection.  And I have never seen her so happy to see him sick.  Hopefully, it is just a bad infection, but he got a shot, some new pills (antibiotics) and his narcotics and anti-inflamatories were increased significantly.

The good news is that he is still with us, although still sick, he is much more stable.  Also, since we were all not crying and holding his paws, we were all able to sleep as well.  Last night Ben wanted to take floor duty and did.  And I think Viper liked it as he can sleep on the air mattress with a little guy, whereas when it was Amanda, he was on his bed.

We are not out of the woods though.  But I overheard a heartfelt talk yesterday that explained it all.  Ben was having a private conversation with Viper and said, “even though you are sick, you beat cancer, and you can beat this.”  Viper is all of ours, but really Scotty’s dog, and before he left for the Marines he asked Ben to take care of his dog for him.  I’d say he is keeping his end of the bargain.

Sorry for the delay my friends.  God Bless and have a blessed Holy Thursday!

Tommy+