Day 2516

It rained a lot last night. Dash slept through the storm, but Dot became frightened and I had to sleep on the floor with her for a while. This usually calms her down, but now I'm a little nervous that she'll poop on me while I'm asleep. Everything worked out fine and by morning life was back to normal.

When I went up on the roof to reconnect the sump pump and clear away the standing water, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the material the roofers applied last Friday had not self destructed. Everything still looked good. This doesn't mean much for the long term, but at least the elastomer didn't dissolve in the rain and wash away. That has happened before. Maybe I'm good for another year. I'm going to be cursed with this roof for as long as I own this house. There doesn't seem to be any way to automate the process of removing the standing water either. The house is old and has settled in spots. This makes lots of little puddles. I'd probably need ten pumps if I tried to keep the roof dry using pumps alone.

I finished the rest of yesterday's website updates, but this didn't keep me busy very long. It was a slow day that was mostly spent cleaning up after Dot. She peed on a rug while she was eating her lunch. I wasn't expecting that. Later, she pooped in her bed while I was up on the roof and then ate the evidence. Some days you just can't win.

I thought I'd look for an astronomy app for my new iPad and was amazed at how sophisticated this type of software has become. The better apps not only showed you the constellations and planets, they also made it possible to track the International Space Station, various other satellites, and even comets and asteroids. A couple of the high end apps could even control a telescope. If you tapped your finger on an object you were interested in on the screen, the telescope would automatically point to the corresponding object in the sky. All these bells and whistles made me wish I had a telescope and some really dark nights.

Today, when my watch urged me to take a deep breath, I touched the begin button instead of just dismissing the message. I guess this is some sort of meditation app. The interesting thing was that when I did the controlled breathing the way the app was telling me to, it seemed exactly the same as the way I normally breathe anyway. Maybe I'm calmer than I think I am.

I've already taken the trash to the curb and I'm looking forward to going out for breakfast tomorrow. Unless something unforeseen happens, I should actually get to go. It's weird that this simple outing is often the high point in my week. I'll go to sleep wondering whether to have cinnamon pancakes, biscuits and gravy, or something I've never tried before.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1887 - Valentines Day

After viewing Dot's MRI scans with the neurologist this morning, it became painfully clear why she is having problems. Several spinal discs were visibly deformed, but one in particular was pressing directly against the normally round spinal cord, squeezing it into a squashed oval shape. There was a tiny shard or fragment from this damaged disk that looked like it was poking into the spinal cord itself. I was going to show you the image this evening so you could see for yourself, but unfortunately the DVD the hospital burned for me was another damaged disc. When I got home, my computer said the DVD was blank.

I typed up a list of questions this morning before we drove up to the hospital to pick up Dot. The neurologist was very patient, answering every question and much more. The only thing that she wasn't able to do was promise me that Dot's problems could be resolved. Could the little shard that had broken off from the disc be successfully removed without damaging the spinal cord? It is very likely that it could. Could something go wrong during surgery, making her condition even worse? Yes that could happen too. Could steroids alone reduce the inflammation around the spinal cord enough to allow Dot to resume a reasonably normal life. Possibly. This appears to be one of those things that you just don't know until you try. One of the keys to non-surgical treatment is 100% bed rest for up to eight weeks. Nerves are very fragile, are easily damaged, and can take a very long time to regenerate.

I felt a little better about the possibility of surgery after talking to the neurologist today. I felt a little worse about the whole recovery process after I read a website that described in great detail the many ways that dogs can screw up their own recovery by just being dogs. Dogs don't understand the concept of 100% bed rest and will do everything they can to resume their old activities. You have to watch them like a hawk at all times to ensure that they don't injure themselves.

As bad as it is, there are small signs of hope. When we took Dot to the specialty hospital her rear legs were completely lifeless. This morning, I could see small signs that she was attempting to move them. As I used the Help 'Em Up Harness throughout the day to get her outside to pee, I would often notice that her legs were attempting to move. Dot is a long, long way from being to support her own weight without assistance, but the fact that there is still a little feedback between the nerves in her legs and her spinal cord was encouraging.

I had to be the legs for my first Dalmatian during the last year of his life and it just about killed me. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this is where all my current shoulder problems originated. Spot had a different problem than Dot has now, however. With Spot, a combination of hip dysplasia and a late in life cruciate ligament tear caused most of of the weakness in his rear legs. Spot was very weak but was never completely paralyzed. It was still possible to take him on walks using a supportive harness. Dot's condition is more serious.

Helping Dot recover will test the limits of my housebound lifestyle. Even I need to get out sometime. Janet and I will figure out a way to keep Dot under supervision at all times. It's not going to be easy though. Dot has already tried to get off her dog bed unassisted three times today. She is not a good candidate for being crated though, so I will always keep her nearby and be her legs when it looks like she needs to move. So far there have been no accidents. She is pretty good about letting me know when she needs to pee. She's even better about letting me know when she's hungry, which is almost all the time.

Tonight should be interesting. Dot has always slept in the bed, but the neurologist says that she absolutely must sleep on the floor and not get in the bed with us. There is just too much danger if she inadvertently tried to hop off the bed while we were asleep. I'm such a light sleeper that I almost always wake up whenever either dog moves during the night. I don't want to risk anything though, so maybe I'll sleep on the floor with her. Dot is today's Dalmatian of the day. I took this picture on Valentines Day several years ago when she was feeling much better.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1693

I got up even earlier than usual this morning so I could walk Dash before taking Dot to the cancer center for her first re-check since the surgery. The doctors were really pleased with Dot's progress, but offered no easy solution to our current problems with incontinence and muscle weakness. It's going to take time for Dot's kidneys to start concentrating urine normally again and we should expect the weakness in her rear legs to gradually improve when she resumes her physical therapy. The good news is that Dot is recovering remarkable well from the surgery itself. After leaving Dot at the cancer center for for the day to get some additional tests, we got a green light to resume water therapy and we don't need to return for another recheck until early October.

I'm delighted at how well Dot is doing, but sure wish we could resolve her incontinence problems a little faster. I'm beyond tired now. Last night was exhausting. We had another major accident in the bed. It wasn't Dot's fault. We didn't waterproof the bed properly and forgot to take up her water bowl after 10 PM. After changing all the sheets in the middle of the night, I just gave up and slept on the floor with the dogs for the rest of the night. I'm thinking that it might be easier to just continue sleeping on the floor until Dot's condition improves. Sleeping on two dog beds pushed together isn't great, but it sure beats pulling all the bedding off the bed in the middle of the night while I'm still half asleep. So far, the mattress hasn't gotten wet, but it's only a matter of time if we let Dot continue sleeping on the bed at night.

I'm so compulsive that I kept waking up and throwing another load of laundry in the washer every hour or so for the rest of the night. The dogs were surprisingly good through all this. Dash curled up on one of the dog beds with me, while Dot lay by my side on a pile of blankets. It was a lot easier to get her out to pee this way, since we were already halfway to the back door. By morning I had all the laundry done and there were no further bed wetting incidents. I'm still not sure where I'll sleep tonight, but the floor is looking better and better.

While Dot was at the cancer center getting tested this morning, I had a chance to get out of the house and run a few necessary errands. I'm going to try to make an appointment to resume some gentle water therapy later this week. When Dot gets a little stronger and can dependably get up and down again, I'll feel a lot better about leaving her alone with Dash for a few hours.

I took several short cat naps during the day, but I feel like I could easily sleep for 12 hours straight if I was given the opportunity. The house is a mess, but I'm still getting my work done and Dot continues to get better with each passing day. I didn't really realize that the baby steps we're taking included cleaning up pee every night, but I'm trying to take it all in stride. Here's hoping that everything is peaceful, calm and completely uneventful tomorrow.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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