Before you get too worried by the title, Jovi is okay. She is resting comfortably at home after her big adventure to the animal hospital on Monday afternoon. If you have been following me, you know that I have been stressing about that trip for a while now.
We actually learned a lot of things, some of them good, some of them bad, but as I said, what matters most is the fact that she is safe and sound at home. I took a video of her while we were waiting in the car, I wish Hive had an easier way than writing a post in 3Speak or uploading the video to YouTube to share short videos, but oh well.
She was panting non stop the entire drive down and when we got there she was shaking non stop like she was shivering. It was funny to watch, but also a painful reminder of just how much of a toll trips like this take on her.
This was the position she stayed in pretty much the whole evening once we got home. They had to shave her belly to do the ultrasound and it's honestly just about the cutest thing. The ultrasound showed that the infection isn't as bad as they had feared, so they are going to try a different antibiotic.
However, it also showed that she has a tumor on one of her adrenal glands. We weren't really surprised by that. Given her age, we expected she probably had some kind of tumor somewhere in her body.
Also, given her age, they weren't even thinking about recommending surgery to have the tumor removed.
The thing that was probably the biggest punch in the gut for me was the fact that the life expectancy of labs is only 12 years. The fact that she is 14 is quite bittersweet for me. It makes me happy that we have had her two more years than the average, but it's also a stark reminder that she is living on borrowed time now.
As we paid the bill and loaded her in the car for the hour drive home, I couldn't help but wish we were in Vietnam where 
My mom was text messaging me yesterday and in the midst of that exchange she asked me if I had heard that an old high school friend of mine had died. I knew the friend had been fighting leukemia for the past five years or so, but it still came as a shock. The last time I saw her post on Facebook she was updating everyone that she was starting a new treatment.
Then there was a post about her having a fever, and I didn't really think too much about it. It turns out, it was a lot more serious than I realized.
To be fair, I haven't been in touch with this person in quite some time. While we were once quite close, life took us in different directions and we kind of went our separate ways. We were never a couple, but I'd like to think at least for a time we shared a friendship that was a little deeper.
We used to write letters to each other (actual physical letters) and continued to do that when she went off to college as well as talk on the phone occasionally. I had the chance to work with her several years later at the same school district where we first met, but we never really connected in the same way. She was dating the man who would become her husband and I was in a serious relationship. Plus, people grow into different people than they were in high school.
I remember for the longest time I never missed her birthday, I would always send a card or a note, and I remember being the only one to show up to her piano recital. The piano recital was something she mentioned off hand, but I knew it was important and I made a point of showing up.
I also remember she was one of only two staff members to speak out publicly at the board meeting where they voted to cut my position (when we worked together). She was just an awesome person like that.
It's interesting because I feel guilty that I should be sadder. I try to rationalize it by saying that we really haven't talked to each other in years, but then that makes me feel even more guilty. I only got to meet her husband once, it was at their wedding, but my heart breaks for him because I can only imagine his loss. She was a pretty amazing woman and her twin girls were lucky to have her for the time they did.
I wish we had stayed in touch more and she had gotten the chance to meet 
Life keeps moving though, and although I didn't want to, I got up out of bed this morning and did a workout on my treadmill. It's not much, but it literally kicked my butt. I'm still a bit winded two hours later sitting in my office. I've found that right now 2.8 MPH is a good solid pace for me to walk at.
I did a short 2 minute stretch of running at 5 MPH around the 8 minute mark of my workout. It was a bit too much. I'm having a hard time finding a good pace for running/jogging that isn't too extreme, but also isn't so slow that it feels unnatural to keep that pace.
I tell you what, kicking the incline up to 3 made a huge difference compared to leaving the incline at 0 the last time I used the treadmill. It will take time, but I am really looking forward to settling into a solid routine.
I'll be out there running with 
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or