Day 1903

Dot is home again. The hospital released her late this afternoon along with a lengthy list of post-operative instructions and a big bag of meds. Dot was eager to return home, as you might expect. She was a little too eager in my opinion. Dot still can't walk on her own, but apparently she thinks she can. She's going to be a handful in the weeks ahead. Considering the complexity of her surgery and the fact that she's still on a lot of meds, I was absolutely amazed at how much more mobile she appears today. After just a few days of recovery, she is already moving her feet much more confidently than she did before the operation.

The Center for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care is an amazing place, but I sure wish it were closer to Dallas. I wouldn't recommend trying to transport a sick dog back and forth to this place during rush hour traffic. All is well though. We arrived home safely and Dot is now resting comfortably on one of many dog beds strewn around the house. Since Dot can still injure herself by trying to walk on her own, we're going to have to crate her whenever we leave the house. Dot never enjoyed going into a crate even when she was healthy, so this ought to be interesting. As soon as we got home, Janet went to a nearby pet store and bought a new crate that had two doors, one on the back, and an additional door on the side. Hopefully this additional door will make it easier to get Dot in and out of the crate when necessary. At least Dot likes to sleep a lot. When she's sleeping, life can continue like it normally does.

When I had the accident in California, the rental car company assured me that the minor incident was absolutely routine and that their insurance would take care of everything. Apparently this was wishful thinking. Over a month later, the other driver's insurance company still doesn't seem to know that the rental car company is handling the claim. I have received repeated calls from a subrogation specialist asking me to pay damages. The accident wasn't my fault either. Now it appears that I'll have to track down the information about the claim myself and put the two parties together. I'm convinced that absolutely nothing is easy anymore. Sooner or later, just about everything in life turns into a complicated mess.

At least the weather is improving. It was still a grey, rainy day, but there was no ice. It was actually quite a bit warmer today. It will be even warmer tomorrow, but unfortunately there are thunderstorms in the forecast. Then later in the week, another cold wave arrives and the temperatures dip below freezing again. The plants and trees are already totally confused. I saw some early blooming daffodils in the park the other day and when I saw them again today, they were wilted and frozen. By early April, nature will have sorted everything out, but March is usualy pretty crazy in Texas.

Last night, a European friend left a blog comment making fun of all the attention I was paying to Dot. She was "just a pet" he said, implying that I should be spending my energies saving the whales or helping Palestinians or something. I was genuinely offended and deleted the commend even though I rarely delete anything. For the rest of the evening I felt irritated that there are people out there who still don't realize that a good dog makes a far better companion than most people. "Just a dog," my ass. I think I've got my priorities straight. It's people who suck.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1684

Dot passed another milestone today. We took her back to the cancer center this morning, where they removed her surgical bandages and examined her incision to make sure it was healing properly. There was no leakage or infection at the incision site and the doctors were pleased with her progress. Now all we've got to do is get her to poop. We've already passed the initial deadline when her gut was supposed to start working again, but the doctors still tell us not to worry. They say that some dogs take five or six days after surgery before the intestines start working normally again. Hmm. Unless I'm doing the math wrong, it's already been five days. Dot did lose a lot of weight during her week on IV fluids. Probably a lot of the special low fiber food she's eating now is just being absorbed to help rebuild her body.

Dot's appetite is pretty good now, but we don't want to feed her too much until she starts eliminating what she's eating. After all we've been through so far, we definitely don't need a blockage. A week without eating can change a lot of things. Dot's rear legs have been weak for quite a while. That's why she's been using the underwater treadmill for physical therapy. Since she lost five pounds during hospitalization, her muscle tone isn't as good as it should be, and her legs are shaky again. She definitely can't take the long walks in the park that usually inspire her to poop. I know she'd like to eat more now, but until food starts passing through her system, it could be dangerous.

To complicate things further, the Tramadol she has to take for pain often causes constipation. We've got a dog that isn't pooping, but pees when she sleeps, since some of the many drugs she's taking impair bladder control. I'm convinced that all this is temporary and am still hopeful. Dot appears to be a little stronger with each passing day. We did go out and buy some waterproof crib pads at a baby store for her to sleep on though. She still likes to sleep on the bed and I'd hate to ruin the mattress. Needless to say, we're doing a lot of laundry.

Our cooler than normal Summer appears to be over. It got up to 103 today. The brutal heat is hard on Dot. She likes spending time outdoors, but not in this kind of weather. None of us like this kind of weather. When it got a bit cooler after dinner, we tried taking Dot and Dash on a very short walk in the park, thinking the familiar smells might put Dot in the mood. It didn't work. Dot was too tired and we returned home after a walk of only 50 feet.

Despite my disdain for Walmart, I got a prescription filled there today. My doctor told me that the drug, which is not typically covered by insurance, would be cheaper at Walmart. I didn't expect that it would be twice as cheap. It really makes you wonder what is going on in the world of medicine when the cost of a drug can vary by 100%, just depending on where you buy it.

Against my better judgement, I made a short social media comment supporting a good friend's position on Israel. Almost immediately, I was chastised by another friend all the way over in Norway for not supporting the Palestinians. I usually don't talk about politics on social media and this is why. The world has become so polarized that it is almost impossible to talk about anything without starting a flame war. I still prefer to talk about dogs. Everybody loves dogs.

Smokey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 940

I had lunch with a friend who used to be my boss today. My friend has always been good at landing on his feet and, unlike a lot of other ad folks I know, is still the creative director at a well respected ad agency. We had fun talking about how the business has changed and who among our friends have survived.  The lunch wasn't just a trip down memory lane though. The agency happens to have some high profile jewelry accounts and I just happen to have some experience writing about luxury goods. I was hoping to get a little work from my old buddy. I think I have reason to be optimistic. My prospects of getting jewelry account projects are probably a bit better than getting that trip to Singapore from my other client. I'm a dreamer though. I'm still hoping that both things will come through.

I ought to have lunch with ad friends more often, because this is still the most dependable way to get business. I don't know if I have the capacity to actually eat lunch anymore though. I quit eating lunch about five years ago and now whenever I have a noontime meal, I feel full and bloated for the rest of the day. I still feed the dogs a rice cake at lunch, because they've grown to expect something to eat. I don't eat anything though. Mostly because I don't like rice cakes. It's hard to believe that I used to eat three large meals every day, washed down with various alcoholic beverages. I just can't do it anymore. I still eat a big breakfast, but there's nothing for lunch and usually a light supper. '

I read an article today that said it was very important for bloggers to answer all their comments and establish a dialog with their readers. Is this what you guys really want?  I hope not. I'm terrible about answering comments. I usually just post things like a guy on a deserted island, throwing notes out to sea in a bottle. Occasionally, some of those bottles wash up on a distant shore and are discovered by beachcombers. At least that's how I think it goes.

I can tell it's been a long week. I'm ready for it to be over. I'm already thinking about what to order for breakfast on tomorrow's Friday restaurant outing. Pancakes sound good to me.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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