Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Good news

I just heard from the doctor and Angus came through the surgery well. I'll pick him up this afternoon.

Angus

On a non-scuba related topic, many of you know that my "son" is a 175 lb. Great Dane named Angus. As I write this my baby is having surgery. He has benign prostatic hyperplasia; which is a benign tumor in his prostate.
If left "untreated" the tumor most likely would turn cancerous.

To treat this, his "manhood" is being removed. Over time the lack of testosterone in his system will dissipate the tumor. This is good news. So, at five and half years of age, my champion bloodline Dane is being fixed.

He also has gingivitis hyperplasia. In layman's terms, his gums are growing over his teeth. If left "untreated" his teeth will rot and generate an entirely new list of problems. So, his gums are being cut away.

The doctor shares that these are relatively common procedures. But as you can imagine, I'm a bit concerned.

I appreciate any and all prayers for Angus and the surgeon. I'll post an update with any news.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Diving withdrawals

I didn't understand it early this summer when Lee told me I'd have a hard time dealing with the "off-season" of diving. Now that I'm in the midst of this suffocating time where we cannot dive the ocean blue, I know exactly what he meant.

I've been going through extreme withdrawal. Every night since my last dive in October, I dream about diving. Don't misunderstand, I dream about other things, too. But I can count on jumping off the back of a boat every night into the deep.

It's almost like my dives are playing on a continual loop reel in my mind. I keep exploring the reefs off the coast of Charleston, the ship wrecks off of North Myrtle and the sites off Jupiter, Florida. I'm even creating dreams about the places I've been reading about in my diving magazines; places I long to go visit and dive.

The dreams are so real, I almost expect to wake up in my wet suit covered in the sticky wetness of saltwater. Until the season starts, I guess I'll just continue jonesing for my next dive...