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

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Day 1676

Dot took a turn for the worse today. We were really optimistic this morning. When we picked her up at the emergency clinic at 7 AM, her fever had subsided and she was a lot more steady on her feet. Dot looked like she was getting better. We had to take her back to our regular vet for the day, because the emergency clinic is only open at night. Dot's regular nurse called around noon to say that she was eating solid food again. This was encouraging too. It was only at the end of the day when our vet did new blood work that we realized her condition had actually gotten worse.

Dot's white blood cell count has significantly increased during the day, while her liver enzyme levels have gotten worse. This is not good! What it means is that the inflammation within her body that is causing all the problems is not being effectively controlled by the antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medications she's currently taking. Janet and I really thought we'd be able to take her home with us this evening, but since her condition was deteriorating, we went straight back to the emergency clinic instead.

She is spending the night hooked up to IV tubes again. Tomorrow morning, Dot will see an internal medicine specialist at the same cancer center where Dash is being treated. We stayed with her tonight at the emergency clinic until she got sleepy and was comfortably settled in for the night. I wish I could have just pulled up a cot and spent the night with her, but that was not allowed. I hope she sleeps peacefully and shows just as much improvement tonight as she did last night. One of the vets we talked to today told us that the anti-inflammatory steroids she was given today can cause a temporary increase in white blood cell levels. I hope that is all that's going on. Dot's escalating white blood cell levels could mean something far more serious.

It has been a very long day. I got a lot of website work done, but I was really just sitting by the phone all day waiting for updates from the vet. It is frustrating that nobody has been able to pin down the source of the inflammation so far. I've talked to a lot of people too. If we knew what was causing the problem, it would be much easier to treat it. I'm really hoping that the internal medicine specialist we're seeing tomorrow can shed some light on this mystery before Dot's condition becomes even worse.

Dot's sudden illness is the last thing I expected. Sure, she's old, but she is the healthiest Dalmatian we have ever had. I guess in some small, unrealistic corner of my mind, I kept thinking she would live forever. I"m hoping for the best this weekend, but things don't look good now.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1312

Sometime I wonder how people with small children cope with all the uncertainties that come along with the inevitable childhood illnesses and injuries. Just dealing with one sick dog is more than enough for me. I had a lot of errands to run today and I was still worried that Dash might have another seizure. I found myself checking the nanny cam feed on my phone every five minutes or so. Dash was fine. The only thing I observed was that he is a very lazy dog. He didn't move an inch the entire time I was away. I wish I could say the same thing for Dot. There were scattered showers again today and Dot was a nervous nellie. Even though I was watching the camera to check on Dash, it was Dot who forced me to return home. At some point during the afternoon, I could tell she was going into her storm phobia mode. I looked at the weather radar app on my phone and sure enough, there was a storm directly over our house. I knew what to do. I curtailed a trip to the gym and came home. The dogs spent the rest of the afternoon huddled under my desk until the rain stopped.

It would have been nice to go to the gym, but I probably got enough exercise today anyway. I swept the water off the roof again this morning after another overnight rain. So far, the new roof is exactly like the old roof except that it doesn't leak. I'm surprised at how much rain we're getting in July. Most of my efforts to get the standing water off the roof have been an exercise in futility. Usually it is dry as a bone at this time of year. Since the roof doesn't leak anymore, I'm actually kind of happy to have the rain. It keeps the temperature lower, which means that Dot can still take her walks.

The garbage disposal quit working this morning. It didn't get stuck or jammed. It just won't turn on anymore. I can't find a circuit breaker on the disposal either. Do I call a plumber, an electrician, or an appliance repairman?  It could be a mechanical problem with the disposal itself. It could be an electrical problem. Or maybe there's some sort of internal fuse that burned out. The only thing I'm certain of is that I'm not going to try to fix the garbage disposal myself. Years ago, I tried to fix one of these things and ended up with such a bad leak under the sink that I had to call a plumber anyway.

I still haven't picked a recipe to send to the film festival recipe book. I think the deadline is tomorrow. My few original recipes are so simple and boring that a child could make them. I asked Janet what I should do and she told me to just pick something I liked out of one of our many recipe books and change it up a little. Wouldn't that be cheating I asked? She said that most recipes originate from other recipes anyway. This is probably true. There are literally thousands of recipes for lasagna, but they are all just different kinds of stuff layered between lasagna noodles and cooked in a baking dish. Omelets are all pretty much the same too. Beat some eggs, pour them into a skillet, and fold in whatever you want. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a cook. I'd still like to be featured in that cookbook though.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 823 - St. Patrick's Day

Dot is doing a lot better today. Since she doesn't have a limp or any lingering effects from yesterday's trauma, I'm inclined to think she really did have a seizure. We'll never know for sure though, since I wasn't there when it happened. The important thing is that Dot is more or less back to normal.

Health is so important, for people and animals. I got two e-mails today from the families of friends who are losing their battle with cancer. One friend was a college classmate and the other an animal rescue volunteer. It's sobering to realize how tenuous our hold on health can be. One minute you're fine and the next minute, you're facing the battle of your life. I saw both my parents lose their grip on good health, and I'm sure my day will come as well. We all need to learn not to waste the good years we are given.

I seldom edit this blog, but I realized this morning that today was actually St. Patrick's Day and not yesterday. I don't know what made me think that the holiday was yesterday. Probably I just saw some news anchors on TV wearing green ties and didn't think any further about the subject. At any rate, I moved the St. Patrick's Day header from yesterday's post to today's. I'd hate for people to think that I'm so out of touch that I don't even know when I am experiencing a holiday.

I was going to bag up the leaves in the back yard this afternoon, mostly because I've been seeing my neighbors bag up their leaves. This means that the trash people will probably be picking up leaves this week. It wouldn't have been good to bag up the leaves today though. It rained last night and each bag would have been twice as heavy as it should be. Maybe if the weather is nice tomorrow, I can still get everything bagged up in time. I think there is only one leaf pick-up day all year, so I'd better not miss this one.

I got another letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue today. I was shocked. They actually admitted that I was right and that I didn't owe any Missouri State Tax after all. They thanked me for my input and said they would close out all my tax files. I guess this is good news, but it still doesn't answer the question of why I had a Missouri tax file in the first place. Like I said earlier, I've never lived in Missouri.

Tomorrow looks like a good day to go to the dog park. It also looks like a good day to do yard work. We'll go to the dog park first, and hopefully there won't be much time left to do yard work when we return.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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