Hello, everybody. We're still alive.

Sorry for the bland attempt at humor. I did not copy that line from the movie The Martian. I just responded to an email from an old friend who said he hasn't heard from me in awhile and he wanted to know how things were going. If you don't mind reading this I'll fill you in with the reply I sent him. Most of this stuff you probably already know so don't be shocked when I talk about my bout with cancer last year or the latest complications.

I am still dealing with the after effects of the radiation from the cancer treatment. With all the warnings and precautions they never told me about what the long term problems would be. A few months ago the Urologist was about to restart the Lupron injections to keep my testosterone low until my visiting nurse researched my list of health complaints and informed me she thought they were being caused by low testosterone. The Urologist advised me two years ago that the prostate cancer feeds on the testosterone so even after the radiation wipes out the cancer any new appearance of testosterone can regenerate it. So he planned on a three year program of six Lupron shots, one every six months. (Talk about the high cost of prescriptions, go look that up) But the radiation did more than kill the cancer, it fried my testicles and they no longer produce any testosterone. The only small amounts in my bloodstream are coming from my adrenal gland. So my Primary Care doctor has now got me on a prescription for Andro-Gel  to raise my testosterone levels. (The last blood test I had showed the T-level was 173 and the normal T-level should be 300-720.) And they plan to keep a close watch to see how much it goes up. By the way, the low T-level problem is not about sex. Testosterone does a lot more.

Other than all that, apart from having no energy to do anything, and paying the price for forcing myself to actually get some things done, I feel fine.

I spend my days hanging out with Bess and Ruff or I should say they spend most of their day hanging out with me in my tiny office. As you can see they fill up most of the floor.

As you can see, baby Bess has grown up to be almost as big as Ruff. And she is still very affectionate with him.

Bessie had her 3rd birthday on July 1st and I made one of our traditional meatloaf birthday cakes, topped with mashed potato icing and we all had it for dinner. I cut it into three pieces and ate it for dinner, too.

 

I have found a new way to pass the time while being cooped up around the house. I started up a Facebook page and joined a bunch of groups that post pictures and stories of their Rottweilers. You can imagine how popular the old pictures from my Living With Rottweilers blog is. In the 20 years since I started my first web site I have posted several thousand photos and none of these Facebook friends have seen them, so I have been sharing them on a daily basis. Here's a picture of me working on my Facebook page.

 

I am so glad the heat and humidity from our summer has finally gone away. The temperatures have finally become enjoyable and I have spent more time outside with Bess and Ruff.

 

Next big thing on the calendar will by the total eclipse on August 21st. This will cross the southwest corner of Kentucky, about a 4 hour drive away, and I am planning to drive down and take pictures - if the weather is good.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your winter.

Regards,
Nelson

p.s. If you read this blog on a continuous basis you may recall the trouble I found looking for an adult Rottweiler to be Ruff's companion after his beloved Sassy passed away in 2014. Ruff was so close to Sassy that after she died he went into a prolonged period of mourning that began to affect his health and I had to do something. I had the foresight to want an older female Rottweiler because Ruff was 7 years old at the time and Axl was 12. I realized that I was getting older as well and didn't want a dog that I couldn't take care off later on after Ruff and Axl were gone. As it turned out there were no adult female Rotts available to adopt or buy so out of desperation I jumped at the chance to adopt a 7-week old puppy. Well, the puppy grew up to be a beautiful lady Rott who now has two big loves in her life, me and Ruff. So I often talk to her and tell her I want to grow old with her since she is the last Rottweiler I will ever have. When she gets to be toward the end of her lifespan I will be 88 years old and I only hope I will be able to care for her. Long live this blog and long live Living With Rottweilers.

One thing I've learned over the years is I could never live without having a Rottweiler for a companion.