Counting our Blessings

February has been a troubling time for Tony, Butters, and I.  Earlier this month, Tony and I noticed that Butters was having an increasingly difficult time eating and drinking.  Through a trip to the vet, we discovered he had severe deterioration of his jaw muscles, making it virtually impossible to open his mouth.  There were several possible causes, most of which held terrible prognoses.  After a thorough work-up, he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, Masticatory Muscle Myositis (MMM). 

Thankfully, MMM holds one of the better outlooks.  With steroid treatment, he will likely be able to live a pretty normal life.  Our vet believes we discovered the disease early enough, before the antibodies in his blood had destroyed all of the jaw muscle.  He has a good chance of at least partial recovery.  Over the last 2 weeks, he has been on high doses of prednisone.  He has been making steady improvement.  Now, he is ably to eat and drink comfortably.  His jaws have regained partial strength.  Each day, he is able to open his jaws a bit more.

This weekend, Tony and I took some time to count our blessings.  It is the simple things… cuddling up with him on the couch, watching him collect his toys in bed, his head-tilt to funny sounds on the TV, the kisses that he gives to visitors, exploring the backyard together… that we love the most about Butters.  He will always be our first little man… our first baby that convinced us we were ready to be parents.  Watching him recover, we are hopeful that our son will be able to know and love him the way that Tony and I do.  We now have hope that he will be here for many years to come.  For that, we know we have a lot to be thankful for.