Hello again! Guess who?

That’s right, the cutest service dog on earth…or as mommy calls me, an angel. Not trying to stroke my ego or anything, though. Anyway!

Mommy’s great – she was actually a little more active throughout the day after having now been fully dosed for over two full days of the Ketamine treatment. In order for it to have the fullest effect, though, it’s important that my mommy stays as sleepy and inactive as possible. Slight side effects have grown marginally more consistent, such as spells of anxiety, but all is within the realm of expected behavior of the protocol. The nurses have been prudent in administering additional medications as needed to counteract these side effects. She has a great team here.

Speaking of her team, Francie was accompanied by her mom for the night yesterday, and throughout today had her mom, dad, Teddy, and now Mark keeping her company for the rest of tonight. The true highlight of the day for my mommy, however, has been the incredible support pouring into her room in the ICU in the form of flowers, photos, messages of support, donations to the fundraiser for Dr. Heiman-Patterson’s ALS research, and the continued thoughts and prayers of all those who know and love my mommy. Francie and I both thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of this support!

Quick break from the serious stuff. Check out this wonderful memory of me and mommy in Avalon!

Wait, where’s the water? ….

Ah, there it is! Swimming on Cape Cod with mommy and her siblings is the absolute best. My life jacket definitely makes me the coolest.

Okay, back to an important note: unfortunately,  my mommy will be in the hospital longer than we originally understood going into the treatment. Because it’s a five-day process, Francie will actually need five 24-hour periods of IV Ketamine and will then be weaned off of it gradually. This will mean that she’ll likely be dosing down Saturday evening and heading home for good on Sunday morning. We will keep everyone updated on this, though!

As I mentioned earlier, the theme of today has been support — from family and friends to the strangers inspired by her blog and commitment to fighting her chronic illness, it has been truly touching. Francie’s attitude has been nothing short of inspiring for me. And she calls me the angel…

As mommy sleeps tonight, I’m sure she would like me to also update everyone on our fundraiser! We are very nearly at our goal of $10,000 with $9,475 raised up to this point. If you have not already done so, please consider supporting Francie’s doctor, Dr. Heiman-Patterson, and her ALS research using this link: https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Ext4hg

Francie is currently fast asleep (…hopefully dreaming of me), so I’m going to do the same. I look forward to updating you all again tomorrow evening!

Thank you all for your continued support of my hero and best friend.

With a hopeful heart,

Paddy