Stem Cell Therapy In Use Now

Did you know that there are several stem cell therapies that are currently being used routinely to treat some diseases? I would like to talk about the stem cell therapy in use now and contrast that with our Stem Cell Nutritional supplements by Stemtech.

There are stem cell therapies that are used regularly now, both for pets and for people. The people-type therapies include adult stem cell transplant from bone marrow stem cells; from peripheral blood stem cells and there is umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants The most common type of stem cell therapy is the bone marrow transplant, which is used to treat leukemia and other types of cancer as well as various blood disorders. These treatments can be very expensive (especially for those without insurance coverage) and can be uncomfortable.

A bone marrow transplant requires that the patient's bone marrow stem cells are replaced with those from a healthy, matching donor. All of the patient's existing bone marrow is killed using a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, then a sample of the donor's bone marrow (with healthy adult stem cells) is introduced into the patient's blood stream. A successful transplant would mean that the adult stem cells that were introduced migrate into the patient's bone marrow and then begins producing new, healthy adult stem cells to replace the ones that were killed off.

This type of therapy is extreme and necessary in certain situations. For those of us who may not have extreme medical conditions requiring total bone marrow transplantation, we have a stem cell nutritional product that allows your own body to work on healing itself. Our flagship product, StemEnhance, allows your body to release about 25% more adult stem cells from your bone marrow into your blood stream. This increase in adult stem cells allows your body to heal itself better because those migrating adult stem cells are essentially easier to access and utilize. Without going through a transplant situation, your body now has more adult stem cells in the blood stream, which means it can heal areas faster. The best thing about StemEnhance is that it is a completely natural product and does not introduce anything artificial into your system. All StemEnhance does is allow your body to release more adult stem cells into the blood stream.

Our next product, StemFlo, helps to keep your blood flowing better throughout your body. By having improved circulation, your body is better able to carry the adult stem cells to the areas in need. Our last and newest product, ST-5, enhances the migration of your adult stem cells into the cells that are in need. The best part about ST-5 is that it is a powder (all natural) that can be mixed into almost any liquid and then consumed. It

• Supports stem cells’ ability to migrate
• Balanced, Sustained energy
• Bio-available vitamins & minerals
• Appetite-satisfying protein & fiber
• Supports healthy body-fat & muscle
  (low in calories)

All three of these products combine to provide the tools for your body to renew itself and will reduce your need for any additional vitamin supplements. We also have adult stem cell products for Dogs and Horses too. Since all of the products are natural, there should be minimal negative reactions to them.

Taking StemEnhance, StemFlo and ST-5, or any combination, will help your body to heal itself and work on staying healthier overall. If you have any questions regarding these products or our Pet products, please feel free to contact us through e-mail. Our website also has a large amount of information and Frequently Asked Questions that is also very useful.

Until tomorrow...

One Sick Bird

Well, some of you may have wondered where I wandered off these last 48 hours. My bird seems to have had some type of stroke and I have been trying to nurse her to some version of health these last 48 hours. Currently she is one sick bird. I have a Double-Yellow Headed Amazon, subspecies Tres Marie and we have been together over 28 years. She has had some health issues in the past, but has been healthy these last two years. Three years ago I finally discovered her true gender, she laid an egg for the first time since we were together, even the various vets believed her to be a male...

Anyway, you may have noticed that I don't use the term "own" this bird. We have been together so long that there is no real way that I own her anymore than I own the air I breathe. I may have owned her the first few weeks, but after that, whatever she needed or wanted, she usually got. Not much different than having children. Actually, many people teased me that she was essentially my child. We have had many adventures together, she has been through a lot of moving, she has been through a marriage and a divorce, and most recently, she has been on the road whenever we travel. I do not leave her or board her if it is at all possible, especially as she has gotten older.

When I first encountered her, she was a pretty sick little bird too, and it took the vets and I about a year to clear all her respiratory problems up. We discovered in that year that she had allergies and a light form of asthma. We were able to create allergy shots for her, and I learned to clean out her nose when she got too congested. You could say that our relationship developed quickly due to her need for medical care, but even though I was giving her shots several times a day, she quickly learned to trust me in all that I did. She did also learn to hate one particular towel (which I always used to wrap her up prior to giving her a shot or flush out her nose...) but after all was said and done, she did trust me to help her feel better.

Two years ago, she seemed to have had some sort of mini-stroke (my observations, not the vet's), not sure what it was, but she lost some movement in one of her feet. She seemed to be in a lot of pain when she put weight on her foot, so we assumed she wrenched it somehow. We took her to the vet and he provided her some pain medication and some antibiotics, but she quickly got worse. At one point, she had lost so much weight that we thought for sure she was not going to survive, but once I discarded the medications and just gave her protein drinks, she rallied and became healthy again.

A year after that episode is when she started laying eggs, which is very odd for a bird as old as she was. (BTW - she was estimated to be around 7(ish) years old when I found her, don't know where she was for her first years..) She stopped laying eggs last year for which I was very grateful, since I didn't want to cook the ones she laid and I was also told that a bird in her mid-30's laying eggs was hazardous to her health. She still seemed fine, with some bouts of depression when we were not on the road.

She loves traveling more than any animal or person I know. If we don't drive around with her after a month or so, she gets depressed and then sick...

Well, late this last Friday evening, I heard some scrabbling on the bottom of her cage and knew something was not right. After 10pm she is usually on her night-perch and doesn't move around until dawn the next day. When I covered her that night, she seemed fine, but when I uncovered her around 11:30 that evening, she was on the floor of her cage with her wings spread out. When I reached into the cage to see what was up, she just fussed at me, but couldn't move. I thought she had somehow tangled her foot on the floor of the cage, so promptly went underneath to see if I could help.

What I discovered was that she was unable to move either of her legs or feet. Her right foot was curled up, and her left foot was open, but would not close. The only thing that moved on her was her beak and her wings. I picked her out of the cage and tried to see if anything was broken. I discovered that she had lost a frightening amount of weight, but could not find anything else wrong. Since then, I have spent all my waking hours with her, trying to entice her to eat and drink and hopefully regain the use of her legs and feet.

Today she is looking perkier, but is still unable to move either of her feet. She is learning to move around by dragging her body with her beak and with her wings. I continue to spend the majority of my time with her on either my lap or chest, or on a pillow right next to me. She is more alert today and not sleeping as much, but I am not sure she is out of the woods yet. What she is eating today is a protein drink (ST-5) and that does seem to be giving her extra energy. She doesn't seem to be in any significant pain, but seems to go through bouts of extreme frustration because she cannot climb onto her perch, nor can she sit on my shoulder, which she loves to do.

I will continue to work with her, hoping that she will rally, but if you do not see me online much, please realize that I am not ignoring you, but focusing on helping my bird recover. I was forewarned that due to her earlier respiratory illness, she may have a shortened life expectancy (this species lives to be about 50 years old), but she is still relatively young for her species and I am hoping that she will recover fully, like the last time. I am even hoping that the ST-5 combined with a little bit of our StemEnhance product from StemTech will help her to recover. The ST-5 has done wonders so far this weekend, and I will start her on the StemEnhance first thing tomorrow. (The StemPet product does not seem to appeal to her since it was designed as a chewable pill for dogs and she doesn't want to chew anything right now. The good news is that she really likes the ST-5 in both juice and plain water.)

I will keep you all posted, sorry this was a long rant, but I am very worried about my companion, and anyone who has had the privilege of being owned by a dog, cat, or any type of pet, most likely understands the worry and pain I am going through. I admit, I am greedy, 28 years has been great, I would like another 10 more years with her. She has done a lot to improve my quality of life.

Until tomorrow...

More STEMTech Information

Well, I am pleased to see that already STEMTech has posted their new logo on our back office. I am sure it is going to take some time to get the new logo inserted all over the website, but I really like the new look. It is clean, edgier (is that really a word?) and just cool. The logo I have posted here is the new one that was unveiled on Friday. I have even more STEMTech information, I have been eagerly watching for the specifics on the new ST5 with MigraStem that was also announced at the Friday web cast.

STEMTech has posted the product information on the new product, ST5. You can read all about this wonderful new product here. We are all learning about this new product together since I was unable to attend the annual conference this year. You can bet, I will strive to move heaven and earth in order to attend next year's convention. The biggest conflict I had was that the convention coincided with our preparations for heading out to Custer, SD for the 70th annual Sturgis Motorcycle rally.

In a nutshell, what ST5 can do for your body is to allow your adult stem cells to be absorbed more readily into the tissues. ST5 provides high quality proteins, essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes for balanced energy. The coolest part about ST5 is that it is not in a pill form like StemEnhance and StemFLO. Granted, I don't mind the pills, but it is really nice to not have everything in a pill form. I can also mix ST5 in virtually any liquid, so if I want a quick pick-me-up juice, I can add ST5 to it and get an even better boost.

I should have some ST5 here in about a week, so if any of you are local to me and interested in trying our new product, ST5, please feel free to contact me to arrange a meeting and tasting. I can't wait to get my new product and play with it. I have had such good results with the StemEnhance and StemFLO that I can only imagine how great I will feel by adding ST5 to that mix. By the way, our dogs are continuing to be fantastic with the StemPETS product. They each get a half a tablet each day, and now we are using it as a "treat", even though they only get a half a tablet each day.

Now you can see why I am so excited tonight. The information on ST5 is out, the product should be shipping shortly and we will be able to continue on our improved health... That is all I have for now. If you need or want more STEMTech information, please feel free to e-mail at hawgwash1@yahoo.com with your questions.

Until tomorrow...

Hawgwash and the STEMTech Opportunity

Yesterday I talked a little about the multiple business opportunities we at Hawgwash, LLC have to offer. We have added business opportunities that, in our belief, cover a wide range of interests. Our goal is to provide the customer with as many options for building a second income as possible. Not every opportunity either appeals to everyone, nor is every opportunity going to work for every person. Tonight we are going to cover the STEMTech business opportunity.

We chose various business opportunities that would complement what we do at Hawgwash, LLC. The first business opportunity we are going to review tonight is our newest addition, STEMTech International. STEMTech is the newest business opportunity we have added to our nutritional line and personally, I think it is one of the most innovative and cutting-edge opportunities on the market to date. We were first introduced to STEMTech International in early December 2009. The compensation plan looked great, the website was awesome, but the most important thing we needed to know was if the product was something we could personally and professionally stand behind.

In order to discover that, we researched the concepts of Stem Cell Nutrition and ordered products for us to personally try. As we waited for our order to arrive, we continued to research both the company and the concept of stem cell nutritionals. By the time our product and the distributor kit arrived, we were well informed about who STEMTech was and what they stood for. I had a very difficult time locating any negative information on STEMTech (which is excellent for any market) and found relatively little competition in the niche market they were going after.

The distributor materials were excellent. They materials were easy to read and understand. The compensation plan was not as complicated as many that we had seen before. What I really liked about STEMTech though was the concept of the stem cell nutrition. Many other nutritional companies make claims about health achieved, but STEMTech actually had medical journals documenting their statements. The more we learned about the company and the product, the more excited we became. This is a new nutritional supplement, it is cutting-edge technology, but the best thing is that the statements are backed up with proven scientific studies. If you looked to other nutritional companies, you would be hard pressed to locate the same quality of research that has gone into the StemEnhance product.

So, technically on paper, the company looked excellent and the products looked very solid. The next hurdle that had to be covered was, did the products work for US? Well, for those of you who may have been watching our website over the years, you may have noticed that we did not include any STEMTech links or information on our website until the end of January. That was because we became the human guinea pigs for the STEMTech products. We wanted to be able to say that we have personally used and can personally vouch for the products.

We do not believe in promoting anything that we can not personally stand behind. Ethically, we cannot (actually do not wish to) promote a product that we personally don't believe works well. We will also not promote a business opportunity that we feel will not benefit our customers for one reason or another. So, at times you may see us promoting different products on our website, but rarely will you see us promoting new opportunities unless we are VERY sure that the particular opportunity is viable and ethical.

So, after a month and a half of personally using the StemEnhance and StemFLO products, we felt confident that our customers would experience similar improvements in their overall health and well being. I know that by the end of January, I personally saw significant improvements in how my body was behaving and as the months have gone by, I have experienced better and better overall health. I have been able significantly reduce the number of over the counter medications for some personal afflictions, and am happy to say that I have completely eliminated other medications entirely from my life. I am thrilled with the physical improvements I have experienced and feel that my quality of life is better than it has been in many, many years.

After experimenting successfully with the StemEnhance and StemFLO products, I then decided to put our dogs on the StemPETS product. As you may have read in previous blogs, StemPETS has done wonders for our dogs also. We are continuing to monitor the response of our dogs to the extended use of StemPETS, but to date, all we have seen are improvements.

So, in terms of product and business opportunity, we can wholeheartedly endorse the STEMTech products for others, if they are interested in promoting a nutritional business opportunity or are interested in improving personal health. Tomorrow we will review one of our other business opportunities.

Until tomorrow...

More Adventures in Dog Grooming

Well, today was the day...I got to experience more adventures in dog grooming today. I put it off for as long as possible, but had to groom the dogs today...they were pretty darned shaggy and with this heat, were very uncomfortable when going outside. The good part about having the dogs shaggy was they did not fight me for going back into the house. Usually once they are outside, it takes major coaxing to get them to come back inside. Prior to grooming, they came in as soon as they completed their business.

I hadn't even bathed our little Yorkie, Hawg, since his surgery for kidney stones, which was over 3 weeks ago. I did a light rinsing, but since the vet said not to get him too wet, he really didn't get a good bath. All I had done prior to this was to take a damp wash cloth and wipe his belly down a bit... Needless to say, he in particular was getting more than a little stinky... Since I didn't wash Hawg, I didn't wash Gypsy either. She puts up with a whole lot more fussing, but since I wasn't washing one dog, I didn't want to wash the other...mainly because if I wash Gypsy, then Hawg (even though he is hydrophobic...) wants to get in on the deal. Usually that means he falls into the tub while I am washing the other dog...

This time, since the dogs were so shaggy, and I really didn't want to spend 5 hours grooming them, I tried a different dog grooming method, I clipped them first and then washed them. I know you are SUPPOSED to wash them first, but after grooming, there is so much loose hair that gets EVERYWHERE, I end up wanting to wash them after the grooming too. Washing may not sound like that big a deal when you are talking about dogs under 15 pounds, and it really isn't. What takes so long is waiting for them to completely dry before you start clipping them.

Neither dog likes the blow dryer, so I have to wait for them to air dry. Since we are now in double-digit humidity (it is all the way up to 25% today....) I figured it was going to take longer than usual for those little monsters to dry. Also factored into that was how much hair they had. I figured that if I washed them first, it would take at least an hour for them to be dry enough to clip. So....clipping first...

Actually, because the dogs had so much excess hair (the hair really seemed to grow a whole lot faster this time, probably due to the StemPET nutritional they have been consuming) it made more sense to cut all the big stuff off before washing. I was also hoping that since they get really wired after a bath, perhaps I would have an easier time grooming the dogs prior to their bath...

All this was wishful dreaming. The clipping did work OK even on dirty hair, but the dogs fidgeted as much as usual, Hawg was particularly twitchy today...possibly because it was so warm or possibly because he was reminded of his surgery...don't know, he doesn't verbalize too well...you know how that goes. So, I chose to clip Hawg first because he is so twitchy. That was a good idea, unfortunately, the lack of bath did not make my dog grooming any easier for him. I got his body, head and face nicely trimmed up, but could make only a minimal dent in trimming all that excess hair on his legs... Overall though, he was OK to groom, right now he just looks like a mini Clydesdale horse, nice and trim in the body, and these bell-bottom feet... looks kinda cute, but embarrassing if any other dog groomer takes a look at him. Perhaps I can convince people that I am working on a new style of cut....yeah, right, like anyone who knows anything about grooming will believe that....

Gypsy was a dream (as usual) to groom. She just stands there, looking sad, but tolerating all the clipping and shaving and cutting that is done. I think she rather likes the attention, but doesn't want to make it too easy for me. After I get the majority of her groomed, she then starts fidgeting and slowly trying to ease her way off the table... All I have to do is to pick her up and place her firmly back on the table, and she stays put for another few minutes...She looked good after her grooming. I was worried about how she was going to turn out because somehow, in the last week and a half, she managed to get her muzzle hair so matted I had no choice but to cut the majority of it off. Now she has sort of a poodle look about the face, but the good news is that she does not get that beard dunked in water when she takes a drink. I trimmed the rest of her face to match the shorter muzzle cut and after her bathing, did find a section that I will have to re-trim because it is longer than the rest. That additional trimming should only take me another 10 minutes to get cleaned up.

A dis-advantage to bathing the dogs after the clipping is that I can now find all the long hairs that did not appear when the dogs were dirty. Now I will have to re-trim the dogs in the next day or so in order for them to not look too much like a hack job. They really don't look that bad, but again, if you know what a good groomed dog looks like, you will see that they are not as neat as they should be...also...I am a bit of a perfectionist... I like a really neat look, and hate to see even a few hairs that are not the same length...

So, I did have more adventures in dog grooming today, I think going forward I will wash the dogs After the main grooming because I REALLY like the fact that the dogs are not tracking loose hair all over the place. How many times after you have had a hair cut do you want to go home and wash your hair? I know I can't wait, because I hate all that loose hair and I feel particularly itchy. The dogs don't seem to be as itchy today either, so perhaps my theory is accurate.. You never know...

One of these days though, I will get good enough with dog grooming to be able to groom these two wiggly monsters in one sitting instead of knowing I have two sittings to deal with. Practice makes perfect. Even better, I am going to find some natural way to get Hawg to settle down so he doesn't stress so bad when I trim his feet and legs. I do know it's not me or my grooming style, the groomer I used to take him to told me he is a major pain about his feet. She puts his head in what looks like a half a hamster ball (a round version of the cone) so he doesn't nip any clippers and then she trims his feet and legs. She also grooms Hawg in segments because he gets so riled up when he gets groomed. So the key is to find some version of a natural "doggie downer" (phrase taken from an old Saturday Night Live show ["puppy uppers and doggie downers"]...) so Hawg doesn't get so anxious about his legs being groomed... If I am successful, I will let you guys know...

Until tomorrow...

Yorkie Health Update

Well, thought some of you might be interested on how our little Yorkie, Hawg has been doing. This will be the last of your Yorkie Health Updates. Haven't written about him much because I don't want to bore you will all the mundane little things that really don't need to be covered. Hawg got his stitches taken out today and is doing just fine.

It was a little touch-and-go for him this last week, actually more touch-and-go for me, not him because I was not sure how fast he should be healing. Hawg was still doing some internal bleeding 7 days after surgery, and the vet had originally said the bleeding was to have stopped after 5 days. Since I am such a worry wart, I called another vet, described the procedure that Hawg had gone through and asked when there should be no more bleeding. Based on what I told them, the vet indicated that the bleeding was normal up to 10 days after surgery, because Hawg's surgery was so extensive. Well, imagine how much better I felt.

As if on command, the next day, Hawg exhibited much less bleeding, and by the 10th day, there was virtually no more blood. Yippie!!! Then all I had to do was to worry about how and where to get his stitches out. He had a total of 10 stitches, and normally I am not squeamish about that, but where the majority of the stitches were, well, I wasn't going to be snipping around ANYTHING...

When we arrived in Corbin, KY yesterday, I started asking around for a vet. I couldn't keep Hawg's stitches in forever, so figured this would be the best time to get them removed. I was pointed to the Corbin Animal Clinic, which was about 2 miles from the motorcycle rally. I rode over there yesterday to ask if they would remove Hawg's stitches, and was pleasantly surprised to receive such a kind and positive answer. I always worry about going into a vet's office in an area that I am not familiar with. The people at the front desk were wonderful and kind and gave me a few blocks of time that I could bring Hawg in. Gratefully, I went back to our motor home and let Hawg know he only had one more day before he had his stitches removed.

This morning I loaded Hawg up on the bike and we rode together to the Corbin Animal Clinic. Within about 10 minutes after arriving, they came out to get Hawg. They verified where all the stitches were supposed to be and took Hawg in back. Within 5 minutes (seemed longer to me, but as you know, I am a worry-wart) he was back, sassy as ever. The vet said he is healing well and should be just fine. After my stomach finished doing all kinds of back-flips, I thanked everyone at the Clinic, put Hawg back on the bike and headed back to the motorcycle rally.

It took me about an hour to calm down after that (it only took Hawg about 10 seconds to calm down...) and now he and I are much happier. I am sure he feels much better not having all those stitches and I feel better knowing there is nothing more for him to do except finish the healing process. Hawg is loving this venue, the people we have met are awesome and are definitely "dog" people. He is being spoiled by everyone he meets, so I am positive his healing will proceed even quicker now that I am not nervous (my stress did cause him to be a bit stressed too) and he now gets to meet people again (again, in my over-protective state, I wouldn't let anyone touch him while he was "healing", since I didn't want anything to go wrong...I am such a pain sometimes...). Both dogs are still happily eating their StemPETS nutritional supplement too, which is probably what is keeping Gypsy healthy and helping Hawg to heal well.

Next time you see Hawg, you will never know he had any type of surgery. On a slightly different note, Gypsy has really been liking my over-protection of Hawg because I don't walk them together. She gets individual attention when we walk then he gets attention. Gypsy has been thriving on this individual attention, so I may make more of a habit of walking them separately. We shall see, since each dog loves a good brisk walk. The even better news is that by my walking both dogs separately for the last almost 2 weeks, I have lost a good bit of inches around my middle. My belt is now pulled into the last notch. The extra walking along with my watching what I eat (and taking my StemEnhance regularly) has finally done the trick to helping me to lose that extra padding. More reason why I may just keep walking the dogs separately...we shall see.

Until tomorrow...

How is Your Pet's Health?

Today we went back to the Surgeon to find out how our little Yorkie, Hawg, is healing. For those of you who may have missed the last several days of blogs, Hawg, had to go in to the Animal Hospital for emergency surgery, he had kidney stones that he could not pass. This is a scary experience for anyone who cares about their pets, but even more frightening when you are not near your home and have to go to an unknown vet in a town you are visiting. How is your pet's health?

We thought our Hawg was healthy. We take both him and Gypsy in to the vet for their annual physical, we get their annual shots and nothing came up as unusual for either dog. We were introduced to a new nutritional line of products that are completely different from all the others we have seen on the market. This line of nutritional products from STEMTech are based around naturally increasing the amount of your own adult stem cells in your circulatory system so that your body can better replenish and refresh itself. I have been taking StemEnhance since late December and started taking StemFLO in early February.

Personally I have seen significant improvements in my overall quality of life since I started on the STEMTech products and expect to continue to see improvements overall. Since STEMTech also offers stem cell nutritional products for Dogs and Horses, I figured that if I was experiencing improved quality of life issues, then perhaps our dogs could also benefit from the same improvements in their quality of life. I started giving StemPETS to both of our dogs in mid-May.

If you know our dogs, their quality of life is pretty darned good, especially because they Hawg is 4 and Gypsy is almost 5 years old. They have been experiencing good health and are lean and active. I figured that in order to keep them happy and healthy, I should start them on the stem cell nutrition regimen early on so that they have a longer and better quality of life. Since they exhibited no health problems, I figured that taking StemPETS would keep them healthy and active over the years and that they may experience less aging issues along the line.

What I did not expect was to see the benefits of putting them on a nutritional product before problems arose. It appears that Hawg had been developing kidney stones for months, if not years prior to my putting him on StemPETS. The advantage that Hawg had because he had been on StemPETS for at least a month prior to this incident is that he remained relatively healthy and strong, even through the surgery.

The Surgeon was impressed with Hawg's overall health and was very impressed with how well Hawg recovered after his surgery. By day 3 after surgery (today), the bruising around Hawg's incision is almost completely gone. He has started playing with his toys again and wants to go on longer walks. He does not look like a dog that had major surgery three days ago. At Hawg's re-check after surgery, he was not running any fever and was as perky as ever. I would like to attribute Hawg's strong health and recovery to the fact that he had been on a steady regimen of StemPETS prior and right after his surgery.

If you have a dog or horse, how is your pet's health? StemPETS is a natural stem cell enhancer for your dog, and a great way to help them achieve optimal health. The tablets are chewable so you don't have to struggle with shoving a pill down your dog's throat. Better yet, the pills apparently taste great to the dogs, they eat the pills willingly, if not eagerly. Remember, as your pet ages, the amount of adult stem cells decreases. StemPETS supports your pet's ongoing health by supporting the natural release of your dog's adult stem cells from their bone marrow. You will be happy and your dogs will be very happy...and healthy.

If you have specific questions regarding StemPETS, please feel free to contact me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Until tomorrow...

Update on our Sick Little Yorkie

Our Yorkie, Hawg went through surgery yesterday to remove some kidney stones from his bladder. I didn't sleep well all night on Thursday night, worrying about if I had made the right decision, if I had picked the right vet (he was the only one in a 50 mile radius..so that was sort of a no-brainer) and if I should have gotten a second opinion. It is probably very common for anyone who has to take care of a child, person or animal to second guess decisions that are a little risky. By Friday morning, I was almost a basket case, wondering if I did the right thing.

The Animal Hospital told me that Hawg would be out of surgery by noon, so of course, I called at 11:30 to see if he was out yet. My hands were sweating when I dialed their number. Imagine my stress when they told me he hadn't even gotten into surgery yet. They probably had some other emergencies that took priority, but I was even more worried, because my waiting wasn't close to being over. The nurse did tell me to call back by 2 pm to see how he was doing, she was sure he would be out by then. Two hours can be an eternity for someone worrying...

At 1:30 I received a call from the Animal Hospital. My heart leapt into my throat, I figured something went terribly wrong, but was glad to hear the nurse on the other line tell me Hawg came through surgery just fine, but there were some complications...minor, and fixed, but complications all the same. He had not 1 but 3 kidney stones lodged in his ureter. Prior to the surgery, they had tried to flush the stone back into the kidney, to no avail. So the vet had to open part of his "wanker" (this is a 'G' rated blog...;-0) to get out the stones. It turns out that the vet removed a total of 7 kidney stones versus the 5 we had originally seen in the X-ray. That really was the only complication. Hawg came through the surgery fine, but they wanted to keep him overnight in case of any complications.

Well, after much worrying on my part, I called the Animal Hospital to find out if I could still pick Hawg up today. I worried that something bad happened overnight, and wanted to know for sure if he really would be OK. They did confirm that I could come and get Hawg shortly. You can bet I jumped right on the bike and hustled my little butt right over to the animal hospital. By the time I got there, I was a nervous wreck. The nurse told me it would be a few more minutes before they could get him ready to see me.

Next thing I know, I hear this noise, and here is Hawg, wiggling like mad to get to me. Boy did that do my heart good. He was as wiggly as usual. Then I looked quickly at what I thought would be a relatively small incision. I probably should not have done that, but I wanted to see what we had to deal with. Poor Hawg, it looks like he has about 5-6 stitches (I couldn't really count that well) running along the side of his "wanker" and a few stitches where his kidneys were. I am not sure if there are more stitches, his hair is pretty matted and still a bit messy, so until I can bathe him, I am not sure how many more stitches there are. My bet is he has probably a total of 10 stitches in a 6 pound little Yorkie. No wonder he was a bit sore. To top that all off, because they had tried to flush the kidney stones back into the kidney, he had been catheterized too, so he was bruised a bunch too. Poor little guy...

How many guys are squirming uncomfortably right now? Steve did the same thing when I tried to tell him what they did to his little Hawg. As it stands, Steve tried to look at the incision, and turned at least 10 shades of white, cringed and ran off. Some support system... ;-0 Glad I don't have to clean the area yet. The good news is that on the request of the Surgeon, we will be staying through Monday, so he can check Hawg out and be sure he is healing OK. Then it will be 10 days before the stitches can be removed. We will have to find another vet to do that, there is no way even I would want to try to remove stitches in Hawg's most private parts...heaven forbid if I twitch and nick him...(OK, you guys squirming again?).

Anyway, Hawg is back with us and on the mend. We are striving to keep him quiet and not jump so he doesn't pull anything. Gypsy is glad to have him back, but she thinks he smells funny and she is a bit jealous of the attention we are providing Hawg. He gets picked up if he wants up on the couch, and Gypsy still has to jump up herself. The good news for Gypsy is that she still gets walked by herself. I do not want to be walking two dogs at the same time when Hawg is still healing. I am trying to give Gypsy extra attention, so she won't feel too left out.

Hopefully in the next 14 days, Hawg will be back to his old self and this will just be a bad dream to him. Looking forward to quick healing. The even better news is that the vet said it was OK for us to start giving Hawg his StemPet immediately. He took it with no problems. I will probably double his dose during these early healing days, so that he can heal a little quicker. I will let you know how well that works. I still believe that StemPet kept Hawg from getting major infections while he was trying to pass those kidney stones. He could have been in bad shape by the time I brought him in. The surgeon kept telling me how impressed he was with Hawg's overall condition. Gotta thank StemPet for that to some degree...

Please let me know if you have any questions about the StemPet products or the human products, StemEnhance.

Until tomorrow...

One Sick Little Yorkie and StemPet

Well, today was far more stressful than it should have been. Our little Yorkie, Hawg, had been exhibiting some discomfort when going to the bathroom. We had assumed that because of the excess heat and humidity they had been in, he was just uncomfortable and nothing serious was wrong. What we found out though was that we had one sick little Yorkie.

Last night I noticed that Hawg was straining a whole lot when going to the bathroom. He was straining so hard you could hear this little guy fart. Normally you do not hear dogs fart, but this guy was making farting noises. I found it somewhat funny, but was worried because I know he is sick when you can hear him fart. As I observed, he was really straining with his urination. Since we try really hard to make sure our dogs are well fed, healthy and have enough exercise, I couldn't believe that we were seeing health problems with Hawg.

I was relatively diligent (sometimes forgot to give them their dosage) in giving Hawg and Gypsy their StemPet to keep them healthy. Except for the straining, there were no other obvious signs of illness or listlessness in Hawg. By this morning, he appeared to be unable to urinate at all. We were able to locate a Veterinary Clinic within 3 miles of our rally site (actually the ONLY Vet within 50 miles of this site) and shuttled him off to the vet first thing in the morning.

As luck would have it, by the time we got to the vet, Hawg was having minimal problems urinating all over. I was almost tempted to leave assuming that all was well, but knew better. The vet looked at Hawg and could see no physical problems, even no evidence of any type of kidney stones (the symptoms I described seemed to indicate he had kidney stones). After X-rays, we discovered that Hawg had 5 kidney stones. No wonder he wasn't feeling too good. We think that the brief motorcycle ride from the rally to the vet may have knocked one of those stones enough that he passed it, but he was a ticking time bomb for the other stones.

Hawg is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning, to remove the remaining 5 stones. I am worried sick since this will be the first time in 4 years that he has not been with us overnight. Theoretically, we don't get him back until Saturday, two nights without our little monster. We will survive, but just barley.

The good news in all of this is that I truly believe that the StemPet that we have been giving both dogs has been instrumental in keeping Hawg healthy in all other aspects. Kidney stones do not form overnight, and he has only been on StemPet for the last month and a half. What I believe is that Hawg was not running any fever, nor was he exhibiting any other problems because the StemPet was working to keep him as healthy as possible. His weight is good, he remained alert and active, heck, if I didn't notice the straining when he went to the bathroom, we probably would not know anything was bothering him. We currently have one sick little Yorkie, but he will be on the mend quickly.

As soon as he can, we will put him back on StemPet after his surgery so that he can heal quickly and safely. I would like to believe that he didn't have any other problems because StemPet was helping his immune system do what it does best, keep him healthy. We should get Hawg back in two days (the two longest days of our lives...) and I will keep you all posted on his progress.

If you have any questions regarding what StemPet may be able to do for your dog, please feel free to contact me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. We also offer products that will help us people to stay healthier too. We offer StemEnhance (StemPet and StemEquine are the animal equivalents) which allows your body to release 25% more of its own adult stem cells into the circulatory system, thereby allowing your body to better regenerate itself.

Until tomorrow...