Rocky Road

 I had full intentions of keeping up with posting more frequently, but circumstances descended on us immediately upon our departure that drew both Erin and I inward and required our full attention mentally and emotionally. At many points we considered heading home. 

Travel Day One:

Our first day in the car was a normal drive through PA, headed due west. Our destination was a little family farm in Amish country. After the ups and downs of the PA mountains, it was nice to have a very quiet spot to collect our thoughts and recharge. That night there was a spectacular display put on by the lightning bugs behind the camper. Id never seen so many in one place. We ran the air conditioner as it was warm and quite humid. 

The next morning we got up early and did all the morning things and piled into the truck. As Porter got in I noticed his elbow was swollen. I called Erin over to verify. He'd had a bad infection a few years earlier that burst open and remained unhealed for a couple of months until we had a wound specialist reconstruct it. I worried we were looking at the early stages of the same thing. We located a vet that was open and took him in immediately. 

Blood was drawn and tests were conducted and all showed a perfectly normal Porter. So the vets wrote us a script for some pain meds and told us to ice it. The remainder of the day was spent driving to the home of my uncle, Calvin Meineke in Palos Park right outside of Chicago. Once there we were greeted by a few cousins and a jovial Cal and his wife. Porters leg was shaved around the swelling and it became a topic of discussion. We retold his medical history for the 3 thousandth time and went to be around 11. At 1 we all woke up and Porter needed to go outside to poop. He did this throughout the night. I was lucky to have gone back to sleep in the camper instead of where Erin and Porter were as it was very warm in the house. 

The next morning Porter's leg was much worse looking. It was very swollen and turning red. We spent all morning trying to procure antibiotics for him and get them in his belly. He refused to eat his breakfast which was another huge red flag. Once we force fed him his meds and verified he was not going to throw them back up we piled back into the truck bound for Rochester, MN. 

That evening, we arrived and settled into my aunt Jane's house. She and her husband, Tony were very accommodating hosts. Porter had started to limp quite badly, which he did not do the previous day. We gave him his meds and dinner, which he mostly ate and all went to bed. The following morning, his elbow looked even worse. It was, somehow, more swollen, red and started to turn black. We decided to take him to an emergency vet in town. It was, of course, the 4th of July. 

The emergency vet was very concerned with his condition. She recommended we take him to a partner office in St. Paul 1.5hrs away to have him put on antibiotics and pain meds for the night so the specialists could look at him the following morning. Back into the car we went. This was around 12pm. By 12am the next day we finally arrived back at Jane and Tony's. Porter was safe at the vet and they would care for him overnight. The following morning we got a call from a surgeon who intended to open up and clean Porter's elbow as it had burst open overnight. We were heartened by this. The previous time this happened it was some time before we got him to the wound specialist and it seemed we were just skipping over that step this go-around. But the remainder of our trip was in serious question. 

That evening we got a follow-up call from the surgeon. He indicated that there was a significant portion of Porter's skin that was dead and, after removal, left a hole in his leg. As soon as I heard this I got a sinking feeling. He said that over time his skin would granulate back together and that he would have to have his bandage changed regularly. He might also be a candidate for a skin graft to replace it if it wouldn't heal. Shit. Healing was not Porter's specialty. He'd been on Prednisone for a couple years and slowed healing and diminished immune function were hallmarks of its use. We knew he couldn't recover. We knew getting him into and out of the car for a 3 day journey back to NJ was an impossible task. We were faced with an impossible decision but we both came to the same conclusion. 

Erin called the vet's office to halt any further action beyond providing Porter comfort. We made an appointment for the following day at 11:30. 

We are down to one pup now and will never really be the same without our boy. We had 10 wonderful years together. 4 of them were health-issue free. The last 6 have been fraught with complication and worry. Porter was not an easy dog. He barked at everyone. He was intensely anxious. He had health problems galore. But he was the sweetest, snuggliest, most loyal pup anyone could hope for. We were so lucky to have him in our lives and will miss him the rest of our days. We love you, Porter. You are such a good boy. Mommy and Daddy love you so, so much. Tell the boys we said hi.