Day 2332

Dot had another setback today. When we were returning from our physical therapy session, she started yelping like she was in pain. I pulled over to the side of the road and checked to see if she had twisted her leg somehow. Everything looked fine, but her abdomen seemed very tender and she didn't want me to touch it. I waited until she calmed down and then continued home. When we got home she seemed weak and just wanted to rest on her dog bed. She still didn't want me to touch her abdomen. I called Dot's vet and described the symptoms to her. She ruled out bloat or gastric torsion, which I was kind of worried about and suggested that Dot might be feeling referred or reflected pain from her liver tumor. Referred pain is where the pain is perceived at a location other than the site of the painful stimulus, which in this case would have been her liver. Who knows if this is what is actually going on. If her discomfort continues, I'll take her back to the cancer center and have them do another ultrasound scan. Since Dot has cancer, along with several serious neurological problems, there are any number of things that could be making her uncomfortable.

It's hard to deal with the unpredictable nature of a serious illness. I try my best to do what's right for Dot, but sometimes doing all the right things still doesn't produce the desired outcome. I saw this with my Dad toward the end of his life. He had the best care available, but after a certain point he just didn't get any better. One thing is pretty certain.  It doesn't matter if you are a human or a dog. Getting old sucks.

There's a leak in one of the bathroom sinks. The leak isn't bad now, but it appears to be getting worse. I tried to fix things myself this morning, but I couldn't even tell where the water was coming from. It looks like I'll have to add a plumber to the growing list of repair people I need to call. I've already called the roofer and the HVAC guy. Now I need to call the plumber and a tree trimmer as well. I try to schedule these service calls for a month were there aren't any really large vet bills, but that isn't easy to do. I think there will always be large vet bills. There might be a big one tomorrow if Dot doesn't get better.

I'm still perplexed by Dot's mysterious pain. She did really well in the underwater treadmill today and appeared completely normal when we left the vet clinic. She was resting calmly in the car when it happened. There were no sudden stops or sharp turns. The whole thing was kind of sudden. I hope she feels better tomorrow. Dot is resting calmly now. I can't say that I'm all that calm though. Two solid years of medical problems are wearing me out. I just hope that Dash stays healthy as he grows older. We've got to take these things one at a time.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day