Day 3204

My memory is shot. I was slowly plodding through my regular morning routine when I got a reminder notice on my phone saying that I had a dental appointment in one hour. Damn. I completely forgot, even though the appointment had been on my calendar for weeks. I hadn't finished breakfast, hadn't taken a shower, and still had to take Dash outside to pee, but I knew I'd better leave immediately. I've had doctors and veterinarians for clients and I know how much they hate for someone to cancel an appointment at the last minute.

I almost never make an appointment before 11 AM, but apparently that is still too early. It's amazing how long it takes to do nothing when you've got a sick dog. I made it to the dentist's office with a few minutes to spare. Luckily, traffic was light today. My teeth looked good, and after a routine cleaning, I made another appointment for six months from now. I bet I'll forget that one too.

I didn't think Facebook could get worse, but it has. Now, it you like something or use one of those other emojis, you can't see who else liked the same thing. I wonder what this is all about. You can still see who liked a paid business post by hovering your mouse over the little blue hand, but friends likes are hidden. You can't even see who liked your own posts. This probably has something to do with privacy. Facebook is paranoid about privacy after all the problems they've had. It's too bad they keep making their platform worse.

Dash gave us a scare last night. He had another vestibular seizure and appeared brain dead for a while. He just wandered around aimlessly for almost an hour. He would go out the back door and just stand on the porch, staring vacantly at the sky. Then he would come in and go to the kitchen, where he would stand by his food bowl. He wouldn't eat anything though. I tried everything. He wouldn't pee when he went outside and he wouldn't eat when he went to the kitchen. He refused to go back to the bedroom and for the most part, just appeared dazed and confused. When he was standing in place, he would shake and drool a lot. Usually vertigo causes this. If Dash stood in one place too long, his rear legs would start to sink. Eventually eventually we convinced him to come back to the bedroom, where he immediately went to sleep.

This morning, Dash was fine. That's the way vestibular disease operates. Something periodically triggers these episodes and after hours of worrying that your dog might die, the symptoms subside and everything is fine. Vestibular seizures aren't nearly as violent as epileptic seizures, but they last a lot longer. So far, we've been lucky that episodes like last night don't happen all that often.

I got a call from the audio repair shop with an estimate for fixing my synthesizers. The estimate seemed high, but there were three synthesizers, so I told them to go ahead. I wanted the guy to assure me that the synthesizers would be good as new once the repairs were made. Nope. This was stage one. When the power supplies and certain capacitors had been repaired, they would move on to stage two. By the time these things are fixed, I won't make a dime by selling them. It's pretty much the same story with the large lithograph I had restored. I'll have to add "don't ever keep your stuff in a storage warehouse" to my long-time admonition to never buy a house with a flat roof.

Oh, well. Tomorrow's a new day. It will probably be full of surprises. Most days are.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2910

I think I'm finished with my website project. I haven't shown it to anyone yet, so maybe being finished is just wishful thinking. Let's just say it looks nice, it works, and if the universe was fair, I'd definitely be finished. I have mixed feelings about work these days. I enjoy what I do and still like to stay busy, but I'm so close to retirement that it's getting harder to stay engaged. Does this stuff even matter anymore? I'm not sure.

Dash had me worried today. He was fine until right after lunch and then he abruptly became disoriented and started drooling. For a while I thought he was going to throw up, but he didn't. This was definitely a vestibular event, but it wasn't a severe one. I convinced Dash to take a nap with me and pretty soon he went to sleep. When he woke up a few hours later, he was fine. I wish I knew what triggered these vestibular events. He can go for several months without having any problems at all and then there will be periods where he gets disoriented almost every day. Luckily, his recent episodes don't seem to last more than an hour or two.

I was reluctant to leave Dash today, but there were prescription that needed to be filled. I picked up my own meds first and then went to the vet to get pills for Dash. I'm always worried that Dash is going to throw up right after I give him his pills. Timing is everything now. We've learned that he's more likely to throw up at night, so we've started give him his evening meds earlier. In the morning, we observe him for a while before feeding him anything to make sure he is stable. It's all a bit complicated, but Janet and I are getting better at anticipating when the next vestibular event will occur.

It's still too cold to go back up on the roof, but I managed to get quite a bit done today anyway. Breakfast was a failure again. My morning smoothie still has a weird, thick jello-like consistency. Is this week's fruit not juicy enough? Are the bananas too hard? Have the programmed settings on the Vitamix quit working? I can't figure this out at all. Maybe I'll just fix myself an omelet tomorrow.

Does anybody really know what a bitcoin is? The insane increase in value of these things recently has got me wondering. Is it a scam, or is it the future of money and banking? I still can't understand what a blockchain is and why it is so important. They say it takes a tremendous amount of computing power to make a bitcoin transaction. The whole process apparently uses up so much energy that bitcoin is supposed to be bad for the environment. If this is true, why are people in California fascinated by these things? Are bitcoins even real? Nothing tangible even exists. My own investments seem boring by comparison, but I don't think I'm ready to buy a bitcoin. I'm still getting used to Paypal.

I'll probably start on my next website project tomorrow. I don't have the job yet, but I'll have to put together a proposal. It would be tempting to utilize some of the things I've learned on my current website project before I forget them again. Then there's Christmas.  I haven't even started Christmas shopping. It's hard to shop for people my age and older. We don't really need anything.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2627

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I've mentioned that Dash was becoming a finicky eater. Well, last night he threw up his dinner and this morning he refused to eat at all. We walked the dogs to see if this would settle Dash's stomach and then tried to feed him again. He still wasn't interested. We got him to eat a small amount of canned dog food so he could take his morning meds and then an hour later, he threw this up as well. This was not good. I called his oncologist as well as his regular vet and arranged to take him in so they could give him an injection of Cerenia to stop the vomiting. After waiting an hour, I had to give him a second phenobarbital pill, because he threw up the first one we gave him this morning. The other pills can wait, but the phenobarbital is essential.

Dash's vet thought that he was still experiencing symptoms from vestibular disease and when the oncologist contacted me later in the morning, he agreed. They both said that it could take from two weeks to three months to fully recover from a bout of old dog vestibular disease. So, here we are. I've got two sick dogs with very different needs. Both need a lot of attention and it's hard to deal with one without something happening to the other.

Dash seemed out of it for most of the day, but when I eventually fed him some bland food the vet gave me for a sensitive stomach, he held it down. Since Dash is still feeling some vertigo or motion sickness as a result of his vestibular seizures, we may have to put him back on an anti-nausea drug. Hopefully the Cerenia will stabilize him, since it is pretty mild and has few side effects.

I took Dash on a short walk later in the afternoon. Although he walked slowly and seemed a bit tentative, he showed no signs of another vestibular event. This was good. I walked very slowly and let him relax. When we returned to the house, I immediately noticed that Dot had knocked over her protective fence and was sitting in a pile of poop. Like I said, I've got two sick dogs with very different needs.

I hope we can get Dash stabilized quickly. While I was cleaning up vomit on the carpet last night, Dot decided to poop in her bed. It was hard to decide which mess needed my attention first. Needless to say, it was a hectic day. A continual barrage of poop, pee, and vomit can generate a lot of laundry and even more worry.

To cap off the day, I heard a giant thud on the roof as I was preparing dinner this evening. I went out to investigate and discovered that one of the dead limbs I've been waiting for the tree trimmers to remove had fallen. The wood was rotten and the tree limb broke apart when it fell, so there was no damage to the roof. I'm really glad the limb fell on the roof instead of in the back yard. It was large enough that it would have injured me or the dogs if we were underneath when it fell. Now, there is an added urgency to get the trees trimmed quickly, but getting anyone's attention lately has been difficult.

Stress eats away at you slowly. I wonder if I'll even recognize when I'm completely burned out. Maybe I'm there already. The past two years have definitely been a challenge. I know I complain too much and that there are many people with far more serious problems than I have. Nevertheless, it would sure be nice to have two healthy dogs and a little peace and tranquility.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2604

Dash had another seizure last night. This episode was much milder than the one he experienced on Sunday, but clearly something is wrong. This looks more like vestibular disease than a typical epileptic seizure. Instead of falling to the ground and having convulsions, Dash appeared dizzy and unsteady on his feet, moving his head from side to side during the episode. Dot had very similar symptoms when she was diagnosed with vestibular seizures four or five years ago. We ran a bunch of expensive tests and took her to a neurologist, but we never did determine the cause. After three seizures, she quit having them and was completely normal until she developed cancer a few years later. I made an appointment to take Dash to the vet tomorrow, but I'm not terribly optimistic about finding a solution to this problem. Neurological problems can be hard to diagnose and even harder to cure. If Dash does have geriatric vestibular syndrome, there isn't a cure anyway.

Now, I'm wondering if Dash's odd behavior on his afternoon walks might be connected to these recent seizures. Sometimes Dash will just stop for no apparent reason and look confused. Often, he'll appear nervous or refuse to move forward and then we'll have to re-trace our steps to return home. Other times he is even reluctant to leave the yard. If Dash has been experiencing vertigo or dizziness, which is common during vestibular events, this would explain a lot. We'll have to be real careful about the diagnosis, since Dash already has a history of epilepsy. You don't treat epilepsy and vestibular disease the same way. If it turns out that Dash is having vestibular seizures, we definitely don't want to increase the amount of phenobarbital he is taking. 

I miss the days when both dogs were healthy. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but really it's just been about three years. I often forget that dogs age much quicker than we do. Measured in human years, Dot would be well over 100 now. Dash is younger, but he would still be over 70. No wonder they are falling apart. Dog years are a bitch. I really wish that our pets lived as long as we do. Janet and I have had quite a few dogs, and sometimes it feels like I've spent the better part of my life dealing with dying animals.

It definitely felt like a Monday. Things got off to a slow start and remained slow for the rest of the day. Luckily Dot didn't have any major problems today. We took the dogs on a shorter walk this morning. Janet was already late for work when we got started and we were both worried about Dash. A seizure at home is bad enough. A seizure out in the park would be even worse. I'm caught up on work, so I spent the day doing some much needed bookkeeping and marking a few things off my to-do list. I even called a tree service to come out and give me an estimate for trimming the trees in the back yard. I skipped pruning last year and there are a few dead branches on the big oak trees that need attention. I have a healthy respect for falling tree limbs. Once, a large limb fell next to me and I quickly realized that if I had been standing fifteen feet to my left, I would have been dead.

I hope we can discover what's going on with Dash tomorrow. Seizures can be frightening and I want him to be able to lead a normal life. I want us all to be able to lead a normal life. It's just getting a little harder.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1342

Now Dot is having problems. She stumbled getting out of the car at the dog park this morning. At first I thought her slight limp was the result of landing too hard as she jumped off the car seat. After a few minutes, she seemed just fine at the park. Later in the day though, she had periods where she seemed unsteady and confused. Occasionally she would have trouble getting up. Once, when she was standing, she almost toppled over and I had to rush to catch her. For the most part however, she seemed absolutely normal, with no limp or side effects whatsoever. I started to wonder if her neurological problems had returned and shortly after dinner, my fears were confirmed. After taking a nap, she couldn't get up at all.  I helped her stand and she tilted to one side like she had vertigo. I'm almost certain that she's had another seizure.

It's stressful knowing that either dog could have a seizure at any time. Dot's seizures are completely different than the ones Dash has too. His are quite violent and hers seem like someone just temporarily switched off her brain. When Dot has episodes like this, she has a vacant, non-responsive look and appears totally confused.  The vet says she may be experiencing vertigo during these episodes and loses her sense of balance. I'm going to try to get her to see a vet tomorrow and find out if the problem is in her legs, or in her brain.

If it weren't for all the dog problems, it would have been a nice, relaxing day. The weather was unusually cool for this time of year and I'm more or less caught up with work projects. Since Janet has a birthday coming up, I did some shopping and package wrapping while Janet kept an eye on the dogs. Janet had to go to a meeting later in the day and I stuck to doing things where I could keep Dot at my side. She's resting peacefully now, but I think she might have problems when she tries to go out to pee just before bedtime. The last time she tried to get up, she was really shaky.

I hope things return to normal tomorrow. It was going to be a busy day already, but if Dot's condition doesn't improve with rest overnight, it's going to get a lot busier. Hopefully, I can get her in to see the vet in the morning, although I'm not certain if there's anything that can be done at this point. I wish the dogs were younger, since many of the problems that come with old age simply can't be reversed. I wish I was younger for exactly the same reasons.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1210

I liked the roofing people that came over to look at the house today. These roofers work almost exclusively with architects on new construction jobs, as opposed to all the other roofers who seem to spend most of their time dealing with insurance claims adjustors on hail damage jobs. I was genuinely impressed with these guys. They were knowledgeable and were able to come up with creative solutions to my own peculiar roofing problems. Unless their bid comes in prohibitively high, I think I've found the company that's going to put on my new roof.

It looks like Dot is going to be seeing a neurologist in the neat future. When I described Dot's symptoms to the vet this afternoon, she said that Dot was most likely experiencing either a mild petite-mal seizure, or showing very early signs of a possible brain tumor. I made a short movie of Dot last night and when my vet saw it, she pointed out some telltale signs of abnormal vestibulo-ocular movement that indicated Dot was probably feeling a severe case of vertigo and was having difficulty maintaining an upright orientation. This all made a lot of sense, and seemed to describe Dot's two other incidents perfectly. Evidently, this type of balance disorder can be an early sign of inner ear problems, low blood pressure, brain tumors, and stroke. Dot will probably have to get either a CAT scan or an MRI later this month. One way or another, we'll find out what's going on.

One of my clients wants me to take over their social media efforts. I'm trying to decide what to charge for this kind of service, and a bit reluctant to even get involved in a project like this at all. In my experience, social media is a bottomless pit. Anyone can be a spammer, but if you really want to have a continuous stream of new and interesting content, you'd better be prepared to spend an enormous amount of time and effort. I think that's why a lot of companies give up on social media. They usually start out with good intentions, posting new and interesting stuff for several weeks, or even several months. Eventually, they discover that they've either run out of things to say, or run out of time to say it. Since I can write about anything almost indefinitely, people often want me to do their social media for them. This takes a lot of time though. More time than I typically have. I don't think my client will be willing to pay for what it would take to do this right.

I ran out of time today before I got around to going over to the battery store to get a new battery for my lawn mower. Maybe tomorrow. I didn't really feel like mowing the grass today anyway. The best news of the day was when my accountant called late in the day to tell me I'd be getting a tax refund this year. Yay! That's the kind of news I like to hear.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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