Day 2998

Thirty minutes after I finished bragging about how good Dash was doing last night, he threw up. It's hard to predict these things. I didn't see any of the usual signs of a vestibular event, so I have a feeling that Dash may have just eaten too much. He certainly seemed unusually hungry yesterday. At any rate, I got dressed, cleaned up the mess on the carpet, took Dash outside to make sure he wasn't going to throw up again, and then we all went back to bed.

That wasn't the only strange thing that happened last night. I woke up twice with cold sweats again. Maybe I overdid things yesterday as well. I thought my cold was completely gone. I hate to look up symptoms on Google because the results are so alarming. Evidently, night sweats can signal low blood sugar, cancer, heat attacks, and severe anxiety. Luckily, night sweats are also common when you have a cold or flue. I don't think it's a big deal, but it is irritating to have to change the sheets so often. If things don't return to normal soon, I can always call my doctor next week.

The weather was so warm today that the air conditioner came on. I wasn't expecting that. The good news is that the air conditioner still works. The bad news is that if this warm weather continues, our electric bill will start going through the roof again. I'm not a big fan of Winter, but it is nice to get a break from high electric bills for a while.

Since Dash seemed back to normal this morning, I didn't bother to give him a Cerenia pill. I think I need to save the anti-nausea medication for when there are clear signs of a vestibular event. It looks like periodic vomiting is going to be part of our life for the foreseeable future. At least it doesn't happen very often. A large portion of our house has brick floors. Why does Dash always vomit on the carpets? The mess would be so easy to clean up if he would just learn to throw up on the bricks. Jeez. Last night he would have only had to move ten feet to reach a safe, easy to clean area. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

I washed the car today because it was much easier than fixing Dash's rubber shoes. The protective shoes are getting pretty worn and it's time to reinforce them again with more tire patch material. I bought more Shoe Goo and a tire patch kit to make the repairs, but it's a messy job and I keep postponing it. Maybe tomorrow.

I've had this cold for a week now. That seems long enough. I do feel like I'm getting better, but I'm impatient to put this all behind me. I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow no matter how I feel. I'm not contagious and I definitely need the exercise.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2776

Dash threw up again late last night. We don't know what is causing this. It seems to happen about once every two or three weeks. He almost always throws up in the middle of the night after spending a very normal day. There is usually no advance warning. He just wakes up after sleeping normally, wants to go outside and eat grass, and then throws up. Sometimes he seems a bit unsteady on his feet and we think he must be having another vestibular episode. Other times it just seems like he has an upset stomach. This has been going on for a long time and he has been examined from tip to tail. Sometimes the vets think vestibular disease nausea is causing the vomiting. Other times they think he is eating the wrong food and that we should change his diet. Dash almost always feels better after he has vomited and goes right back to sleep. By the time we are able to get him to a vet, he usually seems quite normal. It's frustrating because something is clearly wrong and nobody seems to know what it is. Last's night's episode didn't seem like vestibular disease at all, but I still couldn't come up with a better explanation.

Dash was fine today. It was almost as if last night never even happened. I know he was sick because I cleaned up the vomit. We also took him on a short walk around midnight down our very dark street in hopes that it might settle his stomach. I remember looking up at the stars as we walked down the street and feeling a bit sad that it wasn't really safe to have an interest in astronomy in some parts of this city. I never would have said this when I was younger, but when I hear sirens and helicopters late at night, I feel much more comfortable just staying indoors.

I had to renew a prescription at my primary care physician this afternoon. This was a bit awkward, because this was the doctor that fired me as his web designer last week. I talked to the practice manager for a few minutes and told him that there were no hard feelings on my part. I even told him to call me again if the younger son screwed up the website as much as the doctor's older son had a few years earlier. Yes, this was the second time this doctor has fired me to turn over the marketing to one of his children. They had to hire me back to repair the damage the first son did. If this happens again, I'm definitely going to raise my rates.

I finished watching season one of The Expanse today. I thought I might be able to watch season two on Netflix, but Google was wrong. The series wasn't available on Netflix after all. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to go back to the overpriced iTunes Store after all. No wonder Apple is so rich. They overcharge for everything. Apple's high prices have always frustrated me, but I keep coming back. I like their phones and computers better, and they always seem to have more of the shows I like on iTunes.

I hope Dash sleeps well tonight. It always worries me when something goes wrong in the middle of the night. With any luck, we'll all wake up early and take another sunrise walk. I'll drink my fruit smoothie, water the grass, and check the mail. Dash will take a long nap, but I'll still need something to do. I'll probably end up downloading season two of The Expanse even if it is too expensive.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2765

We had to take Dash to an emergency vet last night. He had thrown up earlier in the evening and we'd hoped that giving him a Cerenia pill would settle his stomach so he could sleep. Unfortunately, things got worse. About 1 AM he woke up up drooling heavily while walking anxiously around the house. It seemed like he wanted to throw up again, but when we took him outside, he just froze in the back yard and couldn't seem to move. Something seemed very wrong. We thought he might be having another vestibular seizure, even though there were no rapid eye movements or head tilting. After about twenty minutes, he calmed down and tried to sleep on the bedroom floor. We were relieved that the episode seemed to be over, but then about an hour later it started all over again. This time the heavy drooling was even worse. We began to worry that he might have been poisoned and rushed him to the nearest emergency vet. His vital signs were good and the veterinarian who treated him said that there weren't any obvious signs of poisoning. We were at the vet for about an hour and around 4 AM, Dash began to stabilize. The vet agreed that this looked a lot like vestibular disease, but said the symptoms could also be caused by a half a dozen other things.

We took Dash home and tried to get a little sleep before Janet had to get up and go to the eye doctor. Poor Dash. We've been hoping that his vestibular seizures were over, but apparently not. There isn't a lot you can do about idiopathic vestibular disease. If you can determine the cause, you can sometimes eliminate the problem, but not always. We've already done an MRI of his brain and eliminated the possibility of a brain tumor. He doesn't seem to have an inner ear infection either. I'll have to check his thyroid levels again. Sometimes low thyroid levels can cause symptoms of vertigo and nausea very similar to vestibular disease. There really isn't a cure, so we may be dealing with these periodic episodes for the rest of his life.

Dash seemed fine today. We didn't walk him and fed him a very bland diet. So far, so good. I've started taking Niacin before bedtime again. My doctor say it helps with cholesterol problems, but the flushing it causes is uncomfortable, so I try to be asleep when all the little capillaries start to dilate. Last night when Dash woke us up, the Niacin flushing had begun and my skin was bright red. When we went to the emergency vet, I looked like I had a severe sunburn all over my body. The vet probably though I'd gotten confused and gone to the wrong hospital. I certainly looked worse than Dash.

By the time Dash's heavy drooling stopped, my skin had returned to it's normal color. The only good thing about the worrisome night was that on the way home from the vet, I got a chance to see a beautiful thin crescent moon in conjunction with Venus in the early morning sky. Today, we were all pretty tired and Dash and I spent a considerable amount of time napping.

I got a few things done today, but not much. I picked up some meds for Dash, bought a new sprinkler for the yard at Home Depot, and filled the car with gas. I received a new writing job this afternoon, so I'll probably be busy tomorrow. For some reason, I thought it was Wednesday for most of the day. Janet had to remind me to take out the trash this evening. I was going to wait until tomorrow evening. I hope that Dash sleeps well tonight. I hope we all sleep well.

Lady Jane is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2701

I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with dog problems. Dash threw up again today. Good grief. The dog had a complete physical exam yesterday and passed with flying colors. I don't know why he's throwing up. I don't think the vets do either. He doesn't seem nauseous. His appetite is still good. He wasn't even eating grass this morning. He just walked to the back door like he needed to pee and threw up instead. Since he's still acting normal, I'm not going to give him a Cerenia pill tonight. We'll see what happens.

Dot's new routine now includes a trip outside at 2 AM. After she pees or wanders around for a while in the dark, she seems fine for the rest of the night. I'm not wild about this nocturnal schedule, but it beats peeing in her bed like she used to. I wish Dot would eat in the morning. It would make it a lot easier to take her morning pills. Again, although this situation isn't ideal, it's OK. Dot seems to regain her appetite late in the afternoon and by the time we all go to bed, she has usually eaten a reasonable amount.

I paid some bills and took them to the post office this afternoon. On the way home I picked up prescriptions for Dot and Dash at two different locations. Our kitchen looks like a pharmacy now. There is a big box of pills for Dot, another box for Dash, and a third box for me. Janet is the lucky one. She only has to take a single prescription. It's hard to keep track of all these pills. It seems like I'm renewing something almost every day.

I spent about an hour trying to remove the scratch on my car with polishing compound. It looks much better now, but I can still see the scratch. Door dings and small scratches are inevitable when you live in a large city, but they still irritate me. I want the car to be perfect. I feel the same way about guitars, cameras, and electronic equipment. Sometimes I think I spend more time cleaning things than actually using them.

One thing that isn't clean is the house. It rained again last night and every time I take Dot outside, she tracks mud in the living room. I need a third hand. I used to wipe the dog's paws before they came in the house on rainy days, but now I'm using both hands to hold Dot's special harness. I guess it doesn't really matter. The rugs get cleaned often enough anyway when Dot pees on them. We really need the landscape guy to hurry up and put the new grass in the back yard. Grass would cut down on the mud tracked in the house considerably.

Dot is still very weak and can't stand without assistance, but she appears stable now. She's eating. She's barking. She's pooping. I don't know how long she has left, but for now she's a happy dog.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2680

It's time to begin saying goodbye. Dot may have a day or she may have a week, but she doesn't have long. It's so sad. The new pain pills we started giving Dot really do work. She woke up with more energy than I've seen in weeks. She actually got up by herself several times today and began walking around the house on her own. The problem is that she can't swallow. The paralysis that has been affecting her legs for months seems to have spread to her neck. If Dot can't swallow, she can't eat. The swallowing difficulty didn't happen overnight, but within the past several days it has become quite alarming.

I spent most of the day trying to get Dot to eat. I was able to hand feed her a small amount of boiled chicken breast this morning, but she wasn't interested in her kibble and can no longer swallow cheese or peanut butter. Dot is still hungry. She definitely hasn't lost her appetite. She will chew things but they just fall out of her mouth. Getting her to take her meds is almost impossible. She doesn't want you anywhere near her mouth and tries to bite you if you attempt to open the mouth and put a pill down her throat. Even the vet wasn't able to pill her yesterday.

This leaves us with very few options. After spending over an hour trying to get her to eat a tiny amount of boiled chicken breast, I gave up and let her sleep. Less than two hours later she threw up everything she had eaten in the past twelve hours. I couldn't figure out how she had thrown up so much, because she is still having normal bowel movements. Food is still passing through her digestive system. After several calls to her oncologist and her regular vet, we decided to give her an injection of Cerenia in an attempt to stabilize her and stop the vomiting.

Everyone agreed that if Dot continued to reject food and vomited up what she did eat, she wouldn't last very long. She couldn't take the Cerenia in pill form, so we drove her to the vet for a shot. The nurse was very nice. She came out to the car when we arrived and gave her the shot. We didn't even have to take Dot out of the car.

As the day progressed, Dot got a little better. She hasn't thrown up anymore and although I wasn't able to get her to take her afternoon meds, we did have a little success at dinner. The thing that saved the day was a leftover cheeseburger that Janet brought home from an office lunch. We had more success hiding her pills in the juicy cheese burger than anything else we've tried so far. After dinner tonight I went to the store and bought some ground beef to make hamburgers with and some American cheese slices in an attempt to duplicate the burger that Janet brought home from work.

Dot was able to take her evening meds with our hastily made cheeseburgers, but this is not a long term solution. Despite spending most of the day trying to feed her, she only held down less than half of what she usually eats. Dot has some of the best vets on the planet and none of them could offer me a solution. We may have run out of options. If Dot's throat is becoming paralyzed, we will need to make a decision quickly.

Dot is calm and resting peacefully now. She made it through the day. We'll see how she does in the morning.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2674

Good grief. Now Dash is throwing up. When I walked into the office early this morning and noticed last night's dinner on the floor, my first response was "which dog did this." It became obvious very quickly who the culprit was. As soon as we took Dash outside to pee, he threw up again on the porch. Unfortunately one of the symptoms associated with Old Dog Vestibular Disease is nausea or vomiting. When Dash had his Vestibular seizures back in February, I had hoped that he would make a full recovery. He still may, but his doctor warned me that sometimes symptoms could last for months.

I called Dash's oncologist to see what to do next and he prescribed an anti nausea medication. We're not supposed to use the medication unless he throws up again. At least we have a plan now. I feel better knowing what caused the vomiting and what to do when it happens again. Hopefully, we can keep this controlled. We have dozens of easily washable rugs throughout the house, but Dash inevitably heads straight for the carpet when he has an upset stomach. The pills are expensive too. Basically, every time Dash vomits it costs $20.

Dealing with two sick dogs at the same time can be nerve racking. If one dog is pooping in the bedroom while the other is vomiting in the kitchen, who do you deal with first? I usually have to stay with Dot, since she can't walk on her own, but I've got to keep an eye on Dash as well. I have to leave the back door open when I take Dot outside to pee, and often Dash will follow behind if he has an upset stomach and start eating grass. Eating grass is a sure fire way to start vomiting again. I waited until both dogs were sleeping soundly before I drove up to the cancer center to pick up Dash's meds. If the dogs are awake, all bets are off.

I didn't feed Dash much today and made sure he had a very bland diet. So far, he has held everything down. It's a bigger deal when Dash vomits than it is with most dogs. He takes phenobarbital to control epileptic seizures and it is important that he gets the proper dose every single day. If he throws up one of his pills, you have to skip a day and risk a seizure, because you definitely don't want to overdose a dog with phenobarbital. I probably know enough about pills now to pass a pharmacy exam. I never dreamed that keeping your dog healthy could become so complicated.

I doubt that I'll be able to go out for breakfast tomorrow. Dot's schedule seems to have changed. She is very restless early in the morning now. It frustrates her that she can't walk on her own. On most days she doesn't settle down and go back to sleep until almost 11 AM. I guess I could go out to lunch, but I never eat lunch anymore. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If the day is anything like today, it will be a three ring circus.

If burnout starts to seem completely normal, have you transcended burnout, or have you just entered your own private Twilight Zone? I really don't know. I haven't traveled down this road before.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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