Day 4011

My swallow test was inconclusive. I thought this might happen. I ate or drank a variety of substances, all mixed with barium so they would show up on the x-ray video. It doesn't appear that I have any problems with pulmonary aspiration or dysphagia. The doctor said that my swallowing actually appeared fairly normal. She suspected that the coughing was associated with my ongoing heartburn problems. I used to take Protonix, a proton pump inhibitor that effectively eliminated the heartburn. As I grew older doctors said I should quit using this because it has been known to cause bone density to decrease. The older you get, the more your doctor tends to worry about weak, brittle bones. Gradually the acid reflux returned and now I just take a Pepsid AC whern I have a problem. "Why don't you just start taking these every day," my doctor suggested. Famotidine seems to work and there are few known side effects. We'll try this. It sure seems a lot easier than more aggressive treatments. While I was getting my tests done in the Baylor radiology department, I was afraid that I was just going to be referred to another specialist. Perhaps I would need to see a gastroenterologist or an esophageal specialist. Nope. We're just going to try the Pepsid for a while. Sounds good to me.

My medical exam ate up a lot of time today, so there wasn't much else on the agenda. Just finding a parking place in a hospital parking garage can take forever. By the time I returned home, there was time for an afternoon walk and not much else. Janet walked Dawn while I was gone. They went further than we did yesterday, but Janet said that Dawn still seemed uncomfortable. I still think she is just sore from the injections she got at the vet. My arm often feels sore for several days after an injection myself. Hopefully Dawn will be back to normal by this weekend.

I used to be so good at bookkeeping when I was working full-time. Now, I hate to even open Quickbooks. I finally got around to entering October credit card charges today but I'm still way behind. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just quit keeping track of things, but I'm way too disciplined to go that far. I guess I'll continue methodically keeping track of everything while gradually getting further and further behind.

My editor at Sky & Telescope gave me the go ahead to start on a new article. He wants an outline this time before I submit a finished draft. That's OK, even though I'm not much of an outline guy. When advertising clients wanted an outline, I often complete the assignment first and then write an outline afterwards based on what I'd already written. I've got a good relationship with SpaceFlight Magazine now. I hope I can build one with Sky and Telescope as well.

I went out after dinner and looked at Jupiter and Saturn again. The two planets are getting closer and closer together every day. I hope it stays clear for the conjunction next Monday. I'm going to try to photograph the two planets together, but since Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, getting the right exposure might be challenging. The fact that I'm even thinking about photographing the conjunction here in Dallas is a good sign that my interest in astronomy is real. I seldom even leave the house after dark in Dallas.

Tomorrow I'll go looking for the shoes that the foot surgeon recommended. I doubt that new shoes will eliminate the foot pain, but maybe it will help. I can live with the aches and pains I have now. I just don't want them to get worse.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3100

Every time I think we've turned the corner with Dash, something happens to remind me that he's still a sick dog. He must have had another vestibular episode last night. When I took him outside to pee around 1 AM, he was drooling a lot and wanted to eat grass. I thought he was going to throw up, but he didn't. We went back to sleep, but he had no appetite the next morning. It was really hard to get him to take his morning meds. He wasn't interested in anything. Eventually we were able to wrap the pills in small pieces of a leftover quesadilla. He still seemed eager to walk, but when we got home he wanted to throw up again. It was way too soon to throw up because his phenobarbital hadn't gotten into his system yet. I wouldn't let him eat grass in the yard, gave him a Pepsid AC, and went back in the bedroom with him until he eventually fell asleep on the bed. This was a little risky, since I didn't want to clean vomit off the bedspread. The plan worked though. When Dash woke up three hours later, he seemed fine.

When we went out to dinner yesterday I put on a shirt that Janet said was fifteen years out of style. It probably was. I have trouble throwing stuff away, so I told her she could go through my closet and get rid of anything she'd be embarrassed to see me wear in public. Janet loves to get rid of clutter, so I wasn't surprised that she took me up on my offer. This afternoon, there were three large trash bags filled with an odd selection of old polo shirts that looked like they belonged to a guy thirty pounds heavier than me. Jeez. Did I ever wear those shirts? I guess I must have. There were also a ton of old t-shirts I must have picked up at trade shows. Janet seemed delighted to pare down my collection of ugly sweaters. I must have been fond of loud, colorful sweaters at some point. I could never throw away this stuff myself, but I won't miss anything. Truthfully, I'm glad the stuff is gone.

When I went to the bank this morning, I stood in line behind a man who'd brought a shopping cart into the lobby with him. He looked like a homeless guy, but he must have had a business of some sort. I watched as the teller handed him bag after bag of coins. When he had filled the grocery cart with coins, he left the bank and started pushing the cart down the sidewalk. I have no idea where he was going. It's a strange world we live in. You never would have seen this at a bank twenty years ago.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow, but I forgot to check the weather forecast first. It looks like there are supposed to be thunderstorms. I hope the forecast changes overnight. Weather forecasts change every few hours here in Texas, so it might be clear tomorrow. If there are storms, I'll have to cancel my appointment. Dash's storm phobia has gotten worse and I can't risk leaving him alone in a storm anymore.

Dash ate his dinner tonight, so hopefully he is feeling better. We still don't know what triggers these vestibular episodes. They seem to occur when you least expect them and they are always alarming. The vet says he will experience these periodic sensations of vertigo and nausea for the rest of his life. Luckily, they don't seem to happen too often. Lets hope he has a normal day tomorrow.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2697

It's dog roulette at our house. Last night it was Dash who threw up. He seemed fine when we all went to bed, but around 3 AM I woke up to the unmistakable sound of a dog vomiting next to me on the bed. Please, not on the bed. I hastily got up and moved him. Even the carpet seemed like a better alternative at this point. We gave Dash a Pepsid, took him outside, and cleaned up the mess. Dot never even woke up during the entire episode.

Nausea and vomiting are unfortunate side effects of Dash's Idiopathic Vestibular Disease. It doesn't happen all that often, but we will probably have to deal with this for the rest of his life. Of course with Dash, there is always the possibility that he just ate some crap in the yard when we weren't looking. When dogs vomit, you have the option of doing nothing, giving them a Pepsid AC, or giving them a Cerenia pill or injection. It all depends on how severe the situation is. Dash seemed fine this morning. Tonight it may be Dot who throws up.

Dot was surprisingly strong today. She slept well and was eager to take a walk this morning. Walking Dot is starting to seem more like carrying a fifty pound bowling ball down the street, but she is still moving her legs and seems to enjoy the experience. In many ways it would be easier to walk Dot using the wheelchair than the Help 'Em Up Harness, but the wheels have their limitations. It takes two people to effectively get Dot in and out of the chair. Since one of us is usually walking Dash while the other walks Dot, this can be a problem. Also, it's hard getting the wheelchair down the gravel alley behind our house before we get to a smooth street. I wish the wheelchair was easier to use. As it stands, it is only practical a few days a week.

There was lots of laundry today, since the protective pads weren't positioned correctly when Dot decided to poop this morning. Dot doesn't give you much warning, so you have to be ready for an accident at any time. Luckily, our washer has a super hot "sanitize" setting. We use that setting a lot.

It would be nice if dog pee were a bug deterrent. Dot rarely makes it past the back door when I take her out to pee. I hose down the back porch several times a day. Maybe I'm imagining things, but there do seem to be fewer spiders on the porch this Spring. The spiders probably just arrive later in the Summer, but I'm still hoping that there are some beneficial effects from the dog pee.

For someone who depends on predictability, I think I'm doing pretty well dealing with a steady diet of surprises. Every day is different. Some days are scary. Today was kind of hopeful. Dot actually ate more than her two cup goal today. She's eating fewer of the exotic, rich foods we had to depend on last week and is gradually returning to her old diet. You wouldn't think a dog would rather eat kibble than sliced turkey and cheese, but that's our Dot. She really just wants to get back to the familiar routines she has known for her entire life.

When I filled the car up with gas this afternoon, I was surprised so see that I'd only used three gallons of gas all last week. It appears that I'm not getting out much these days. I'll try to go to the gym tomorrow. I still need to get out a little bit. I debated whether to give Dash another Pepsid tonight. He seems fine though, so we'll take a chance. I hate to over medicate just to make life more convenient.

Today was a good day. Dot seemed stronger and was in good spirits for most of the day. Dash seems to have made a full recovery. It would be nice if tomorrow was just like today.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2088

I know some of you think that when work is slow I do absolutely nothing. Au contraire. I'm usually quite busy tilting windmills. Lately, I've been doing a lot of research on Google, trying to see if it is possible to adapt some of my old equipment so I could still use it in today's digital world. It would be nice if I could speed up my old computers so they could run today's complex software. It would be even nicer if I could use some of my old analog camera lenses on the latest digital bodies.

So far my efforts have been fruitless. I have some really nice Canon ENG broadcast lenses that I'd love to use on my current digital video cameras. So far, it seems impossible. These lenses were made to work with the 2/3 sensors found in Beta SP cameras. The image these lenses produce isn't large enough to cover the much larger 4/3 sensor found in my cinema camera. When I gave up on the Canon broadcast lenses, I thought my Bronica lenses might work. These medium format film lenses would certainly completely cover the 4/3 sensor, but nobody makes an adapter to attach the lens to the video camera. There are plenty of adapters for old Nikon and Canon lenses, but Bronica went out of business a long time ago and nobody cares about it anymore. There isn't a large enough market for anybody to make a profit manufacturing Bronica adapters. I even have some old Sinar view camera lenses that would cover any size sensor, but apparently nobody has even thought about adapting view camera lenses to modern video cameras. I found absolutely nothing on Google about using these lenses with video cameras.

It's frustrating to have fully functioning professional equipment that was good enough to shoot network TV commercials in the 1980's, but is now shunned even by beginning wedding photographers. I haven't adapted well. I love the old Macintosh towers I used to use in the early 1990's. My old Nikon F-2 still seems like the most useful and versatile camera I've ever owned. I even like reel-to-reel tape. Maybe this is why I enjoy watching old Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock shows on late night TV.

Dot had a good day. Now, she seems strong enough again to enjoy her early morning exercise walk and still have enough energy to do her afternoon physical therapy session. Today, she did a full seventeen minutes in the underwater treadmill. She's gained weight though. I don't know what that's all about. Nothing has changed since last week. I asked Dot's vet about Dash's strange new eating habits and she seemed baffled. She said she'd never heard of a dog who refused to eat from his bowl, yet ate everything normally when the food was transferred to a dinner plate. He doesn't seem sick. He just seems weird. We'll give him a Pepsid AC tonight before he goes to bed, just to see if he might have heartburn or a reflux problem.

I started a new book today. This one's been sitting on a shelf in the office for months. It is a memoir written by a co-worker of mine when I was starting out in the ad business in Seattle. I've been reluctant to read the book, since this guy ended up being hugely successful, building an award winning multi-million dollar ad agency while I was sitting in a small room writing with two dogs under my desk. I shouldn't be envious though. The first few chapters of this book were hilariously funny and remarkably accurate about what it's like to work in the ad biz.

It's hard to believe that this week is almost over. I've already taken this week's trash to the curb and gotten Dot's bed prepared for the night. I've still got to brush my teeth and run my daily test print on the large format printer. Then it's time for Perry Mason and sweet dreams about tomorrow's breakfast.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1734

Dot ended an impressive five day accident-free streak by throwing up shortly after she woke up this morning and then frantically trying to eat leaves and grass in the yard. I don't think the vomiting had anything to do with her cancer, but it was still a bit unsettling. When a healthy dog vomits, you immediately suspect that the upset stomach was caused by eating something dead and disgusting in the yard. When a dog that has had cancer vomits, you always suspect the worst. I think Dot is fine though. We gave her a Pepsid AC and she went back to sleep for another hour and was completely normal for the rest of the day.

I don't usually work on Sunday, but since I always like to start the week with a clean slate, I finished my remaining writing assignments and made a few website revisions before going to the gym for a long overdue workout.

I had the usual aches and pains associated with my infrequent visits to the gym, but at least I'm still going. A lot of the runners and cyclists the dogs and I see in the park everyday seem to genuinely enjoy their exertion and activity. To me it's just a necessary evil. While I don't enjoy exercise, I would like to avoid diabetes, heart attacks, and further deterioration of my aging body. I'll have to admit that I do enjoy the fact that I can still wear the same size 32 jeans I wore in college.

I picked up some food for the week on my way home, but I may have to rethink my plan of stocking the refrigerator every Sunday afternoon. For some reason, Central Market always seems twice as crowded on Sunday, but that's not the real problem. I am discovering that fresh food won't stay fresh all week. I had to throw out some of the groceries I got last Sunday toward the end of the week, because they had spoiled already. No wonder people eat so much crap. Eating healthy is time consuming. It's so much easier to just grab a frozen pizza from the freezer and warm it up.

Dot is going to have a busy week. She has her long delayed annual exam on Tuesday and then returns for another physical therapy session and acupuncture on Thursday. We postponed the exam while she recovered from surgery because she is due for another three year rabies booster shot. I think she also needs the DAPPV combo shot this year, as well as her annual Leptospirosis vaccination. Dash will be glad that he can just stay home and take a nap.

It's hard to believe that September is already almost half over. Wasn't it August just a few days ago?

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day