Dear Supporters of Colleen,

I’m happy to report that our girl still loves the sunshine.

Yes, I’d been worried for awhile. When Colleen was hanging out in the lobby, you would often find her hunkered down on the rug near the front door, catching the warm rays of the sun. To me she was Miss California Girl, and I always imagined that if she were a real girl, she would have been hanging out at the beach or surfing in the ocean.

Then she changed locations. In the past few weeks, when I’ve come to visit Colleen in the Community Room, she’s usually lounging around on a very comfortable cat bed or chowing down on some delectable morsel because it’s lunch time or taking a leisurely stroll, stopping to chat with some of her friends. And I began to wonder if there was something wrong.

She used to love the sun and sunbathing. Why wasn’t she stalking the sun? Well, I’m happy to report that I stopped in to visit Colleen the other day and there she was–on her back–splayed out in the sunshine and loving every minute of it.

I couldn’t actually believe my eyes at first.

Was that actually Colleen–laying there with such abandon?

In fact, as soon as I called her name, she seemed to get hold of herself. She rolled back over and assumed a slightly more sophisticated position. I felt sorry then that I had disturbed her in her one moment of complete self absorption.

But she didn’t leave her sunny spot.

There is nothing more beautiful than shining green eyes in a sweet Irish face with the sun beaming down. She has that look of beauty and contentment, that sweet blending of both. And it did my heart good to see her there.

Oh, Colleen. This month was a bit rough for our dear girl, and I do wish for better days on the horizon. First she had an upper respiratory infection which only exacerbated her facial pawing. The usual antibiotics cleared up the infection, but she didn’t seem quite herself.

Some testing showed that her anemia came back and her renal values were down, which probably meant that there was a slight decline in her kidney function. Colleen’s blood glucose levels were also slightly elevated, likely due to the steroid she’s on, and this might indicate she’s going diabetic again. So we’ve cut back on her steroid dose hoping to bring her blood glucose back to normal.

And then the poor kid started sneezing, and she had some nasal discharge, so Colleen’s been put on a dietary supplement to help alleviate that issue.

So keep our lovely girl in your thoughts.

Enjoy the fantastic fall we’re having.

Thank you, as always, for your continued generosity.