Day 2933

It's not a good sign when your vet keeps saying "I'm so sorry" as he explains your dog's test results. The blood clot inside Dash's heart has grown larger. This means the treatment he has been receiving is not working. We added a second medication today to help dissolve the clot, but I'm not optimistic. We've known from the beginning that blood thinners are only effective in helping the body reabsorb blood clots about 50% of the time. Dash's blood just seems to clot unusually easily.

It's kind of scary knowing that your best friend is a ticking time bomb. As long as the large clot stays together, Dash will be fine. If the clot breaks apart and travels to other parts of his body, he could die in a matter of minutes. Dash could have two weeks or two years. We just don't know. The sad thing is there is absolutely nothing we can do. Surgery isn't an option and we're already giving him the only medications that even has a chance of working. We have been told to avoid stressful situations and not to let Dash run off leash. The running isn't a problem, but everything is a stressful situation for Dash. He has never been a calm dog.

When we returned from the cancer center, Janet and I resumed our regular lives. What else can you do? I finished my breakfast and did some chores around the house. Later, I paid some more January bills and wrote a letter to my sister. On my way back from the post office, I though I'd take my old down booties to the neighborhood tailor and see if she could repair the worn waterproof cloth on the bottom. Although the booties were made of nylon and oilcloth and appeared to be easy to sew, the tailor said she didn't work on shoes and told me to see the shoe repairman next door. The shoe repairman told me that the booties weren't really a shoe and to take them back to the tailor. Nobody wanted to fix these things. Oh, well. I tried. I have a new pair anyway. I'm just a Gemini who likes to have a spare for everything.

Maybe I should have made a few New Year's resolutions. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do in the year ahead. My life has been centered around caring for sick dogs for so long now that it's hard for me to conceive of anything else. I really enjoyed going to Vandenberg Air Force Base several years ago and watching a satellite launch. Maybe someday I'll become a space groupie again. Following launches gets expensive though. I'd need a new source of money. Money is always the problem. Once you start to relax, the money starts to disappear fairly quickly.

For now I'm going to enjoy my remaining time with Dash. He can be stubborn and ornery at times, but he has an amazing personality and always makes me laugh. Dash has been my friend and companion for a long time now. He and Dot made it possible for me to work alone in a little office for all these years. They were really the heart and soul of my company and of this blog. It's very hard to be lonely when there is a Dalmatian nearby.

I'm glad that Dash didn't really understand what happened at the vet today. He's still a happy dog who takes things one day at a time. I'm going to try to do the same.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2931

I think I'm becoming a wimp. We have had much colder winters, but this one seems to be getting the best of me. I just can't seem to get warm. I wear sweaters and down booties around the house. I even bought a spare pair of down booties because they looked so warm in the catalog. I've got the little ceramic heater running in the office now in an attempt to warm up this perpetually cold room. So far the furnace is running great, although our gas bill is going to be pretty high next month. I'm sure it will warm up eventually, but until it does I am very reluctant to get out of bed in the morning.

I worry about Dash getting cold, but so far he seems to enjoy his chilly walks. For the most part we have the park to ourselves. Very few of the other neighbors are out walking their dogs. I do make an effort to keep Dash warm. He wears a snug fleece sweater under his Ruffwear Webmaster harness. Since the service dog harness covers most of his back, it is kind of like a second coat. Add socks, rubber boots and the knee brace and you've got a well protected dog. I've gotten much better at putting on this gear by myself. It used to take forever to get Dash suited up, but now I can get him ready in less than five minutes. I think he understands that all this paraphernalia keeps him comfortable on cold days. He used to run away when he saw the sweater, but now he waits patiently for me to put everything on.

Janet and I must be tired. Neither of us heard Dash last night when he woke up and wanted to go outside. Eventually, I heard him scratching at the door, but it was too late. He had already pooped next to the door. I felt bad because Dash almost never makes a mess in the house. He tried to wake us and he obviously really had to go bad.

2018 certainly isn't getting off to a roaring start. I was slow fixing breakfast. Dash was slow taking his morning walk. And then things slowed down even further from there. I blame it all on the weather. It's hard for me to focus on anything other than staying warm when the temperatures are well below freezing. I did eventually make it to the bank and the post office. It seemed a sign of things to come that the first thing I did in 2018 was pay bills.

I'm curious how things are looking up on the roof, but I'm not going up there until the temperature gets about freezing. Been there, done that. The roof is really treacherous when it is covered with ice. There are no leaks or damp spots inside, so I'm going to assume that all is well.

I've got to get my website project finished this week. I've let this thing drag on way too long. I'm afraid that the new site is just going to be the existing site rearranged differently. I've come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with the way things are. The current site is fine. I really hate to fix something that isn't broken. Other people don't always adhere to this rule. The most common reason that people update their websites is that they have become bored with it.

I am very familiar with boredom and have learned to respect it. Boring isn't always bad. Boredom provides me with a sense of stability. Unfortunately, if my clients shared this view, I probably wouldn't have any work at all. They want something different that isn't really that different. Hey, I can do that. If it would warm up a bit, I'd be done already.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2925

Not a great day. I had a feeling that Dash was getting sick again when I had to take him outside repeatedly last night. He was a little shaky this morning, but he ate his breakfast and took a morning walk. Around midmorning he began drooling excessively and proceeded to throw up all over the living room floor. I'd like to think Dash just had a few too many Christmas treats, but this sure looks like another vestibular disease episode. We still don't know how to prevent these episodes or predict when they will happen next. The only good thing is that Dash always seems to recover. Dash seemed very tired after he threw up so I got some blankets and made a safe space in the hallway for him to sleep. It's much easier to throw a blanket in the washing machine than it is to clean vomit off the bed.

After a few hours, Dash was back to normal again. Hopefully, he took his morning meds early enough so that they were in his system before he vomited. I wish Dash didn't have these periodic episodes of vertigo and nausea, but I'm afraid they will become the new normal for the rest of his life.

We saw a coyote on our morning walk. Another couple walking their dog warned us about it and sure enough, the coyote appeared ahead of us on the path a few minutes later. It is not uncommon to see coyotes on very cold mornings. Although this one was very close, it didn't appear to be interested in us. I also saw what appeared to be a stray dog down by the lake, but it was much further away than the coyote. I worry about dogs out in the cold like this. It was below freezing when we woke up this morning and the forecast says it will remain cold for the rest of the week.

It was so cold today that I ordered another pair of down booties online. I've been wearing these things to bed lately and they do a great job of keeping your feet warm. The down booties I have now are so old that the feathers are starting to fall out. I figured it was time for a new pair. All the winter coats in my closet were purchased on very cold days. I think the only things on my mind in the winter are eating and staying warm.

I know there is water on the roof, but I'm resisting the urge to remove it. I've learned over the years that the elastomer coating gets very brittle in cold weather and several times I've managed to tear it while sweeping the water away with a push broom. I'm going to need to have faith that the coating will keep the water out as intended and just wait until the weather gets warmer. This is Texas, so I'm sure there will be a warm day within the next several weeks. For now, I'm not even going to look at the roof. I'm sure I'd be alarmed at how much water is actually up there.

I hope Dash is feeling better tomorrow. I had some errands I needed to run today, but didn't feel comfortable leaving the house while Dash was having a vestibular episode. The cold days give me cabin fever, so maybe I'll get out tomorrow. If the weather is bad, I'll watch Bladerunner 2049. I finally downloaded the film today, but didn't watch it. I thought the movie would be more enjoyable if I wasn't distracted by dog vomit.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day