08.29.08
Posted in Dogs at 8:24 am by kimi
We’d like to say thanks to everyone who have been asking us how we’re all (dogs included) doing without Beamer. For those of you who never met Beamer, he was a BIG guy . . . everything about him was big! His tongue was big, his ears were big, his paws were big, and his love for his toy was big! #1 priority for Beamer was playing with his toy . . . if given a choice, he’d much rather play than eat! Everytime we’d go out into the backyard, Beamer was right by our sides, not-so-subtly reminding us that we hadn’t thrown his toy yet. 
Things are definitely not the same without Beamer. Feeding time feels strange because we’re only scooping food into 2 bowls, instead of 3. Shooting down the patio to clean it feels strange because Beamer’s not shadowing us, reminding us about his toy. Beamer’s absence is the biggest when it’s playtime.
Koko & Irwin seem to be doing okay without Beamer. We think that Koko is secretly relieved that Beamer is gone . . . she & Beamer never really liked each other too much. They kind of just tolerated each other and Beamer LOVED to pester her.
Irwin & Beamer, on the other hand, were buddies. From day 1, Beamer was Irwin’s pal. Irwin loves to wrestle with Koko, but he always slept near Beamer. We would often find the 2 big guys sleeping together in Beamer’s igloo! While Beamer was in the hospital, Irwin would look for him all the time. We took Koko & Irwin with us to see Beamer for the last time . . . they were also in the room when Dr. Hatami put Beamer to sleep. Irwin could sense that something was not right with his buddy. Since then, he hasn’t been looking for Beamer . . . it seems like he’s accepted that Beamer is gone.
So . . . we’re all doing as well as can be expected . . . missing our tiny guy & our big guy, but taking things one day at a time.
Permalink
08.27.08
Posted in Logan at 11:42 pm by kimi
Today is August 27th . . . it’s been one month since Logan left us. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that we were sitting in the NSCU, holding Logan’s hand and talking story with all of his nurses . . . other times, it feels like it’s been forever since the last time we patted his back or rubbed his forehead. Lance & I can’t believe that we’ve managed to survive a month without our precious baby . . . on the day that Logan left us, we were sure that we couldn’t live without him.
The pain is still raw and the hole in our hearts is still enormous . . . we miss Logan tremendously and would do anything to bring him back, but we know that can’t ever happen. We talk to Logan every day and ask him to help us survive one more day without him.
We’re slowly trying to get back into a routine . . . Lance is back at work this week, although he’s working from home. I’m planning to go back to school next week since Lance will be back at the office. Lance worries about me being home alone . . . I must admit that I worry about being home alone too. There are times when the pain is so great . . . those are the times that we are so grateful to have each other to lean on.
We want to thank everyone for the phone calls, emails, blog comments, etc. You’ll never know how much we cherish talking to family & friends and reading all your comforting messages. We could never have gotten through this past month without all of your love and support.
Along with missing Logan, we’re also missing our big guy, Beamer. When we go outside to play with Koko & Irwin, Beamer’s absence is huge . . . playtime was his FAVORITE time so not having him there is so strange. Feeding time also makes us miss Beamer . . . putting food into 2 bowls, instead of 3, takes some getting used to.
Knowing that our big guy is protecting our tiny guy, and that they’re keeping each other company, helps to ease the pain a little . . . one day at a time . . . that’s all we can do.
Permalink
08.24.08
Posted in Lance at 11:41 pm by lance
It had to happen sometime… I have to go back to work on Monday. 
The bad/good news is that I just found out tonight that I need to sit in on a conference that’s being hosted on the mainland. This means that I’ll need to get up at 4:30am… But it also means that I can work from home and spend more time with Kim. I guess it’s a nice way to ease back in to work…
Well, I better get to bed because I’ll need to get up in 5 hours!
Permalink
08.21.08
Posted in Logan at 12:57 am by kimi
In his short 8 weeks, Logan had several “true loves” . . . Mommy & Daddy, his pacifier, and his blue Zaky. All of Logan’s aunties and uncles in the NSCU knew about his Zaky and knew NOT to mess with it!
On the day that Logan left us, we were both in shock as we left the NSCU. As we neared the van, a thought came to me . . . I wanted to use the money that people had given us for Logan’s birth to buy Zakys for the rest of the babies in the NSCU. Lance wholeheartedly agreed with the idea . . . we think that was Logan’s first “message” for us!
About 2 weeks after Logan left us, we went to Makana Mother & Baby to buy more Zakys. Sandy went with us because Cathy (the owner of the store) is a long-time patient of hers. If you’ve never been to Makana Mother & Baby, you should definitely go . . . it’s a great little boutique! Cathy is such a wonderful person and sells the cutest things!
Before we went to the store, Sandy had called Cathy to tell her about our idea . . . she was very touched by it and was eager to help. Cathy had already set aside 6 blue Zakys and 6 pink Zakys for us to purchase. We mentioned to her that we also wanted to buy some preemie and newborn-sized outfits for the NSCU. As soon as we said this, Cathy started pulling outfits off of the shelf to show us. As she was ringing up our bill, we noticed that she did not charge us for any of the clothes . . . instead, she generously donated 12 super-cute outfits to the NSCU! THANKS CATHY!!
We had labels embroidered to sew onto the Zakys . . . they say “In Loving Memory of Logan Shinsato – June 1, 2008″. Jen, Sandy, Lance, and I got together one night to sew on all the labels. Lance and I took the Zakys and all the clothes to the NSCU last week . . . needless to say, our NSCU family loved the gifts! We’ve heard that a lot of babies are loving the Zakys . . . we know that Logan is smiling down at them!
Permalink
08.14.08
Posted in Lance, Logan at 10:36 pm by lance
Ok… So in one of our previous posts I said that in honor of Logan I would be donating blood… Well that day has finally arrived…
My friend Matt just recently started to donate blood again… he’s been reading our blog and saw the post about me wanting to donate blood and it just so happened that a few days before Logan’s celebration, the blood bank called him, so he scheduled an appointment… for both of us!!! Oh joy!!! Thanks Matt!!!
Well, this afternoon, Kim and I met up with Matt and another of our friends, Dolores, at the main Blood Bank office and we all donated blood together. I was very nervous about doing this, but the people there are very good at keeping you calm.
Kim usually takes a long time to donate blood, but today she was done in 7 minutes… mine on the other hand took 12 minutes. My arm was coming sore… not from the blood draw but from squeezing the ball so much. Next time – and yes there will be a next time – I was told to drink more water from the day before I go to donate, instead of on the day of donation.
Anywho, for all those that don’t believe, here’s some pictures to prove that I actually went to donate blood…
Thanks Matt and Dolo!!!
Permalink
08.13.08
Posted in Logan at 5:46 pm by kimi
Several people have asked us about how to donate money to Kapiolani’s NSCU (Newborn Special Care Unit) and/or the Ronald McDonald House. Here’s the info . . .
Kapiolani’s NSCU:
Make checks payable to:
Kapiolani Health Foundation
** on the memo line (or attach a note to your check), please write “In Memory of Logan Shinsato for the Newborn Special Care Unit”
You can mail your checks to:
Kapiolani Health Foundation
55 Merchant St., 26th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813
If you’d like to use your credit card, you can also make an online donation by clicking on the link below . . .
http://tinyurl.com/5gahk2
** in the “Designation” section, select Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children
** in the “Comments” section, please write “In Memory of Logan Shinsato for the Newborn Special Care Unit”
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii:
If you’d like to donate money to the Ronald McDonald Charities, here’s a link to their site . . .
They also have a wish list, but we’re still trying to find out where you can drop off your donations . . .
FYI . . . when you make a donation to the NSCU in memory of Logan, Kapiolani sends us a letter to let us know about it. Thanks so much for the continued love & support you’ve all shown to us.
Permalink
08.12.08
Posted in Dogs at 3:41 pm by kimi
Today was another sad day for us . . . we had to put our big giant, Beamer, to sleep today. As most of you know, Beamer has been very sick since Friday evening. He remained a mystery to the vets because they couldn’t seem to figure out what was wrong with him. His lab tests on Sunday evening showed that his kidneys were starting to fail. They repeated the bloodwork again on Monday . . . his kidneys hadn’t gotten any better or worse, but his liver was also starting to show signs of failure.
The worst news came late last night . . . we got a call from the vet saying that Beamer had lymphoma. They suspected that he had an aggressive form of cancer and that it had already spread to his kidneys and liver. They offered chemotherapy, but didn’t have much hope that it would buy him much quality time.
For those of you who knew Beamer, he was a very playful and active dog . . . he wasn’t one who was content to just lay at your feet and enjoy your company. Seeing him lying there in the hospital’s kennel was hard for us . . . we knew that he was miserable, although the vets said that he probably wasn’t in any physical pain.
When we went to see him today, we took Koko and Irwin with us. They both seemed to know that something was very wrong with Beamer. Irwin was excited to see his buddy, but seemed to sense what was going on. He seemed very worried about me and Lance because we were both crying.
We said our goodbyes and gave him hugs and kisses . . . we told him that Logan was waiting for him. Dr. Hatami (our vet) gave him a sedative to ease him through it. She then administered the final injection . . . within seconds, our beautiful golden was gone. He went very peacefully, with his family by his side.
They say that every boy needs a dog . . . Logan has a buddy now. We think that Logan’s job was just too big for a little guy like him to do alone, so he chose the biggest guy to come and help him. We take comfort knowing that Logan and Beamer are together now, and that they’ll keep each other company until we can see them both again. Now we’ll have two babies to look for in our dreams.
Permalink
08.09.08
Posted in Logan at 11:26 pm by lance
Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Logan’s life…
We could feel the love and positive energies that you all shared with us.
We think Logan would have loved everything about tonight. We definitely felt his presence there.
Thank you again.
Permalink
Posted in Dogs at 11:23 pm by lance
We just got home from checking on Beamer… As Logan’s celebration was wrapping up, Kim got a call from the Vet letting us know that Beamer was not doing too well. During the evening, Beamer threw up blood 3 times and had diarrhea with blood in it also. The vet also said that the insulin they were giving him for his high glucose levels was not helping.
When we got to the vet’s office, Beamer looked a little better than when we had left him this afternoon. He was actually upright as he was lying down… as opposed to lying on his side. He was still very weak, though, and couldn’t stand or hold his head up for too long.
The vet went over the options with us… which included doing an exploratory surgery. Since they wouldn’t be able to do the surgery until late tomorrow afternoon anyway, we opted to have them run a barium series tonight. For this test, Beamer will drink – or they’ll put a tube down his throat – a solution that will help the vet see his gastro-intestinal (GI) system with x-rays. They will run a series of x-rays to track the solution as it moves through the GI system. We should have the results tomorrow morning.
Keep your fingers crossed that they find something.
Permalink
Posted in Dogs at 2:48 am by lance
On Friday afternoon, I went out to feed the dogs. While I was getting ready to put the dog bowls down, Beamer barfed in the kennel… YUCK! After barfing, he walked out of the kennel and barfed again… double YUCK! I cleaned up the barf and fed the dogs. Koko and Irwin scarfed their food, as usual, but Beamer just sniffed his food so I took it away. Other than that, he seemed okay. This wasn’t the first time that he had barfed, or the first time that he refused to eat, so we didn’t think much of it.
We went out to Wahiawa to watch the Olympic opening ceremony and didn’t get home until late Friday night. When we got home, only Koko and Irwin greeted us at the door. We figured that Beamer was around somewhere so I went to get their food ready. As I was opening the sliding door, I noticed that Beamer was still MIA… then I saw him lying by the gate. This was really not like Beamer at all… he’s usually waiting at the sliding door, ready to play.
We put Koko and Irwin in the kennel and went to check on Beamer, who was still just lying there, looking at us. Again, this was very strange behavior for Beamer. We called him over to us and it took him awhile to get up… it took a lot of coaxing to get him to walk over to us. He was very lethargic, but seemed to be walking alright… maybe a little bit wobbly.
Pearl City Veterinary Clinic (where we usually take our dogs) just merged with VCA Family Animal Hospital… luckily, VCA offers 24-hour vet services so we decided to give them a call. We made the decision to take him into the clinic because he REALLY didn’t seem like himself. We’re usually not ones to over-react when it comes to our dogs, so needless to say, we were pretty worried about the big guy.
Long story short… the vet ran some bloodwork on Beamer and found a few abnormalities. They felt it was best to keep him overnight and run more tests on him. We asked if we could see him before we left and they told us they would bring him out to see us. We waited for awhile in the waiting room… eventually, a vet tech came out to get us. Apparently, Beamer wasn’t feeling well enough to get up and make the trip so we went in the back to see him. Talk about a SAD sight… our big guy was just laying in the kennel with his head resting on his paws. He had just enough energy to lift his head when we opened the kennel gate… he didn’t even wag his tail for us.
We’re crossing our fingers that everything will turn out OK for Beamer… Irwin was very disturbed that Beamer didn’t come home with us. He was even more concerned when I locked them up in the kennel for bedtime… he kept looking towards the gate, trying to find his buddy.
We know that Logan is looking out for Beamer!
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
