la_belle_laide | Entries tagged with dogs

Haku just had a seizure at around 7:30. It's 30 says since his last one. But he also had a vet visit today, and he was so scared I thought he was going to shake himself into a seizure while we were there. He also had his rabies vaccine and heartworm pill. He's had a bad reaction to vax before, but he's also just about right on schedule for a seizure. :/

Sano's platelets were back at 220 last week (a week ago today actually,) so yay! Went down to one pred pill a day. He had two vet visits in a row. This week alone both dogs cost $880. That's just in one week.

In non-dog-related news, there's a ton of cars over at my elderly neighbors' house and all their lights are on. I'm concerned, but what can you do? Just knock on the door and be like, "What ya doing? I'm asking because you guys are old and I've never seen you all do anything before."

Oh, speaking of neighbors. So, this is a pretty smokey neighborhood. If it's not the people behind me lighting crap on fire in their yard outside of a random white van they have parked in the back, (I swear, Hesher lives back there, I'm not even kidding, except this guy doesn't clean up to be Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He actually doesn't clean up at all,) then it's the people two doors down who are always burning some ridiculously noxious stuff in their fireplace. Well, the other night it got so bad—both houses were burning crap, indoors and out--that everyone was coughing and hacking. I couldn't breathe the whole night and my throat was killing me. Finally, I called the fire department to see if there was any code about burning stuff that smelled toxic. The lady asked me if I could see flames and I told her Yeah, the folks in back were burning something in their yard, but I was pretty sure it was actually from someone's chimney. She was like, "But you can see flames, right?" Well, yeah, they have a fire pit or something. I also wanted to make sure that even though I gave my name and number, my call would be anonymous. These are the people who are always out there with guns and stuff, usually shooting birds or pointing them at each other or the little kids they have running around there. (I swear it's not like I go around watching them all the time. It's just that they're so noisy, and sometimes I hear them all screaming, fighting, shooting, etc. One time I heard the creepiest noise and I looked out the window to see the oldest boy having sex with his trampoline. Right about now I'd love to tell you that I'm kidding, but I am not. He had his pants down around his thighs and he was humping the trampoline.)

Anyway, OMG. So this turned into a five-alarm deal. Fire trucks and cops and everything going up and down both streets. I was like, O_O REALLY?

But, the people down the street are still burning disgusting smelling stuff in their fireplace, so I ended up contacting the EPA who told me to call the DEC. Which, yeah, I'll probably end up doing.

Oh, my life is so exciting.

Back to working on this thing I'm doing for Hitrecord!

Hmm, let's see. I don't really have too much to update. Work has been sort of on and sort of off. When it's good, it's really good. But when it's slow, I lose a ton of hours. That's no one's fault; it's just the market. It's how things are.

I went out to dinner with Lady Chrysanthemum a few nights ago. We went to this teensy tiny little place on the river, that's been there for years but I've never seen before, even though I drive past it at least once a week. It is, in fact, next to my favorite pizza place and across from the ice cream shop that is totally aces. Anyway, we met up there and had a really nice dinner, where we discussed many things (which I'll talk about in a locked post.) It was super mellow and the food was great. It's someplace I'd really like to go back to in the summer, or even the spring when it's awesomely warm and bright, and I can look at the river and watch all the boats go by.

Come to think of that, I'd really like to kayak down that river. Kayaking seems to be some kind of theme lately: everyone's talking to me about it, trying to lend me their kayaks (which would never fit into my car) and telling me how much I'd love it, how beautiful the island is when you're seeing it from the water. I'd really like to do it, but I think I'd have to rent a kayak. Maybe this year I'll do that, finally. If I can save up enough dough.

We haven't had a winter this year. That's really weird, because the last, what, four? Have been insane. This year we had about five inches of snow and that was it. I wouldn't mind at least one deep freeze, just to kill all the damn bugs. There are already mosquitoes everywhere.

Sano goes back for another blood recheck tomorrow (which is Thursday.) If his platelets are holding up, we're going to drop the pred even more. That's really rushing it, but he's having such bad side effects this time, I have to try. Last year it took about six weeks before he lost all his muscle. This time it took about four weeks. He's just a bag of bones and he can't make it into the car, and has trouble with the stairs. Fingers crossed that we can lower it again and maybe find some more Chinese meds to stave off having to go back on pred.

I'm bored. I go to work and Kung Fu (when I can) and sometimes to get groceries and that's it. One of my friends from school (you know, That Guy, only now he's seeing someone,) wants to get together to train, to spar and stuff like that. Which I would love to do, except my left arm is still really effed up. I went to my chiropractor yesterday and he thinks it's either a torn delt, bicipital tendonitis, or maybe some neurological entrapment starting in my neck. We were both frustrated because we couldn't pinpoint exactly what the problem was; the symptoms are kind of diffuse. But my left arm has gotten really weak in the meantime, and that bums me out.

Also I'm going to get pregnant next year. Just throwing that out there.

I finished watching all the Dr. Who episodes available, as well as all the Torchwood ones (BOOO! HISS! Who ends a show like that?! >_< ) and Sherlock. Now I'm watching Downton Abbey. All of a sudden I'm in a British phase again. My cousins and my Mom and I are all on Tumblr, always reblogging all these Dr. Who gifs and such lik ea bunch of fangirls. Too funny.

The other day I had to look for a video of birds for this thing I want to do for HitRECord, and I got to looking through my summer photos and videos. Don't I just do this to myself every winter? I start looking at those pictures, and then I'm just aching for summer. It seems like Spring will never get here.

Blah de-blah. These are my ramblings for today, a plain old Wednesday with nothing to do except take the dogs to the park. That's not actually a complaint, just that in the summer, Wednesdays are for teaching Hula.

Well! Who knows what the future will bring, eh? Good things, please. Nice things! Yeah, let's go with that.

And then today, I talked to Sano's main vet, and she told me that his blood had clotted during shipment (which always happens,) so there was a note attached to the reading that said "probably normal anyway."

So we're dropping the pred, yay!

Sano's platelets dropped again. They're back down to 90, when two weeks ago they were up to 115. Normal is about 150. I know it can bounce around for a while, but this is pretty disappointing, because I really wanted to start getting him off the pred. :/ Haven't spoken to his main vet yet about what to do next, but she'll be in tomorrow. Bleh.

Also, my arm is totally effed up. I'm not sure exactly when it started. I did fall down the stairs back in November or something, and caught myself on the railing with that arm. Maybe it started then. But it just keeps getting worse. The pain is right around the biciptital tendon or so. Or maybe I did something to the delt, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's making the simplest things really difficult. I suppose I should see a Dr. about it. I just don't know when I fan get the time to do this. And then if they want me to rest it, how am I supposed to take off work for this? Ridiculous.

Meh, I'm just in a bad mood over all of this.

It was June last year when Sano was totally off prednisone. he started in March. But I didn't document last year if the platelets rose and then fell like this. I think they did because that sounds familiar.

With any luck (oh please oh please!) he can be off pred by May this time at the latest. Please, universe?

Sano has platelets again! YAY! He's up to 115K which is a huge improvement. Normal starts at 165K. Sano had about 10K last week - if even that, because that's an estimate; they couldn't even find one on the slide. BUT, he still has to stay on the prednisone for another few months. You can't just yank him off of it otherwise he could get adrenal problems. Pred is such a double edged sword. So - good news! But still crummy that he's got to be on pred, because it destroys his liver/muscles/bones.

Sano went for his second blood test today to confirm, and they found NO PLATELETS WHATSOEVER. Which means that there are probably some, but few enough that he's in danger of bleeding out. Again, the vet is flummoxed as to why he isn't clinical for this (e.g. bleeding out. No petechiae either.) She also pointed out that it wasn't last March when this happened, but actually Feb. 27th last year. I posited my "steady decline" and she wasn't so sure, but says that we should check over next winter anyway to see if it's a possibility.

So, back on mega-doses of pred, and here we go again with the muscle and bone loss, insane appetite, hair loss, and constant drinking and peeing. He can't walk at the park or the beach, isn't allowed off his leash, isn't allowed any toys or carrots or anything that might make any kind of internal abrasions. Re-check is saturday, but he has to stay in this bubble-wrap for two weeks.

Also, both dogs cost $500 in the last two days. I was going to go and learn to hang from big silk things tomorrow night, but I have no cash, so that's going to have to wait!

Jo-chan is still here with her little Havanese Midna, which is fun. Jo-chan is visiting her Mom at the hospital and Midna is currently on the bed in Gran's room, which is where Jo-chan is sleeping.

More in a locked post.

Just got Sano's blood test results back, and of course, his platelets are almost gone again. Last year it was March 17th so I had a feeling it was going to be sooner rather than later. Remember just earlier the vet was saying to me that she'd seen 4 ITP cases this week. I mentioned it was last March when this happened, and she said she was wondering if it was going to be sooner, if it had something to do with the weather somehow because it had been so warm.

But what I think is that he goes on a round of pred which lasts through most of the damn summer. His platelets go back up (while he loses his hair, his muscle mass, and his liver values skyrocket,) and then they stay good for a while, and then start to decline. My own theory is that this is just the time of year when they get checked, and by the time this comes around, they're already low. Maybe they're actually declining slowly through winter.

So we have to go back tomorrow morning so they can count them in-house (another blood test) and also his thyroid was low, so they're going to run a thyroid test too (another few hundred dollars.)

JFC. I knew this was coming, but it all comes at once!

Just picked Haku up from his 8 week recheck (except I think it's actually 9 weeks.) The surgery looks good, the plates and bones are all in place, and he's where he should be. I mentioned that he still had a hard time sitting down and getting up, and she said that was normal; it's only at 3 months minimum that you start to see kind of regular movement again. But the leg itself is about 85% healed. It's really his other leg, the one from last year, that's got all this arthritis and is going to keep giving him trouble. They gave me an estimate for these glucosamine injections twice a week that they would have to do there and it was like $450. Jesus.

Then Sano got his blood test and check-up so he could get his prescription refill for his ITP and I'm still waiting on those results; should get them tomorrow. I'm nervous though because it seems to be around March that he gets the ITP back, for whatever reason. I mentioned that to the vet (the awesome one, who caught the ITP in the first place,) and she said that in the last week alone she saw four dogs with ITP and she was wondering if it actually did have a seasonal trigger, and it was starting earlier because we haven't really had a winter.

So I'll find out tomorrow.

Meantime, I have work today, from 2:15 till around 8 PM. Also, Jo-chan is over here for a few days with her cute little Havanese rescue. Sano doesn't mind (except that everything is different and I'm not supposed to play with the other dog, apparently, even though he can,) but Haku does nothing but growl, because he's a dirtbag like that.

So that's the update!

Tonight I got Belle's ashes back. That's always strange, you know. It's kind of a relief, but it also kind of puts you right back to where you were when it happened. I still keep going to check on her, reaching for her bowl, etc. I put her urn next to Gran's, with her collar hanging off of it and her tag on top. As I was doing that I was thinking, geez, there are so many ashes in my house, it's ridiculous. Five urns. That's excessive, right? Well, maybe not. Other people probably visit five or more graves each year.

I used to collect, sort of, funeral cards. Well, not that I would purposely collect them, just that I never throw them away, because that seems wrong, you know? Most of those cards were sort of distant: aunts, uncles, cousins I rarely saw. A set of grandparents I barely knew, and great grandparents I only saw on the holidays. Then in the last two years, those cards have gotten closer to home, and now I just don't look at them anymore. Because you see names on them you never thought you'd see.

Then of course, it makes you wonder, will someone "collect" you someday? Will your card be in a tidy pile in a drawer under some unburned incense? And then, you just become a chapter in someone else's story, right? You're a co-star of their drama, which continues without you. Weird, to think of it like that, isn't it?

But let's not think about things like that right now, or ever. Let's think about Dr. Who and Torchwood, and the new Zelda game. Yeah, the new Zelda game! I can't get enough of it, yet at the same time, I'm trying to stretch it out so that it lasts for a few months. Don't know how likely that is, but I'm hoping. Can't say I like it better than Ocarina, but I think I do like it better than Twilight Princess so far. And better than Majora's Mask and Windwaker, too.

Haku is still hobbling around on three legs, but he does toe-touch and he's getting four feet down some of the time, on and off. He stands on it, and has started trying to walk on it a little, with the sling. He has another checkup on Monday (today is Saturday.)

Oh, work today was slow (as it has been,) but I got a $41 tip. Forty-one, what's with the extra dollar? Should I play MegaMillions with it, maybe? That was awesome, but then my next client didn't tip me at all so it balanced out, I suppose. My Monday client gave me a huge basket of gourmet cheese and crackers, like unbelievably good stuff. I ate most of it today with Jo-chan while we watched Torchwood after work.

I think I've got most of my holiday gift shopping done. It's pretty crummy this year, can't even lie. People are getting, like, bits of string and dustbunnies from me. Actually, I did get most of the stuff on Etsy, because you can find super cheap, oddball stuff for people with particular tastes. And that's pretty cool.

Welp, it's more than halfway through December. Let's do some year end memes. Two of them gacked from

spatterdash , as usual.

This one's easy. The first line I posted to LJ every month.

January: The new year starts in February when it's the year of the rabbit. This "January 1st" thing is some arbitrary western milestone. So there.

February: Last night I finished Dean Koontz's book What The Night Knows.

March: I just got off the phone with the vet.

April: Lady Chrysanthemum and I got our purple sashes together last night. JOY! ^_^

May: Haku had a seizure at 10 this morning, which is a really weird time for him.

June: Just saw Pirates with bestie Glassworker friend tonight (actually, last night.)

July: OMFG where have I been?

August: I have a long history with Harry Potter.

September: I need to document that the stiff, barbed, dead body of my catfish Dexter just stabbed me in the hand.

October: Right, so eventually I want to get on here and write about the movie 50/50 which I saw and really liked, and about Dr. Who, and Halloween, and taking my plants inside, and this and that and the other usual thing. Except, ffs, I can't get past the Occupy Wall Street thing.

November: HitRECord Halloween MASSIVE recap!

December: Today we had to say goodbye to Belle, my Gran's beloved mastiff.

( And the questions meme: )

And here's another that I like! ( More questions! )

And that's it then, I guess, for the year-end memes and updates.

Work has been suuuuuperrrrr sllloooooowwwww. I only had five appointments last week, and this week so far only five again. It better start picking up!

While most of my time has been wiled away on the new Zelda. I'm not even very far along into it, either. Like with most things I like, I try to slow down and make it last. (Which is why I'm still not caught up with Dr. Who even though I started watching it over the summer, and am taking it really slow with Torchwood. How often do I watch a tv show? Not often, so when I do, I need to make it last.)

I've been writing, reading (the new King actually,) and yeah that's about it. Haku got his staples out today. It's two weeks since his surgery. He won't be able to walk for another six so I'm still carrying his ass around everywhere. Good exercise I guess, but so not good for my back. I need a massage in the worst way. I'm due for one, too, as part of a trade.

I also don't want anyone to think that I've been cocooned all in my house here, unaware of what's going on in the world. For most of my political/sociological/feminist stuff, I'm using my Tumblr now. Although it's not just for that stuff; it's also for fun.

You should know I'm super tired right now and not making any kind of sense at all.

It's been pretty cold out. I've been listening to Seth MacFarlane's CD. It's too quiet without Belle. My goldfish, The Doctor, it getting big. I accidentally texted The Gold Dragon that we would definitely get together after the holocaust, and if he's studying, I wish him good lick. Today is my best friend's birthday and I can't wait to see her and give her prezzies. I watched The Christmas Invasion (Dr. Who) while writing out my first cards in 3 years. I want a Zelda tattoo, because it's about time. I feel like I'm close to getting an agent. I know I said that last year, too, but this year it feels closer. My Mom asked me if I could see my cousins' holiday lights from my yard; I told her I could see them from space. I did most of my Xmas shopping on Etsy. I read a novel about Torchwood and it was SO BAD. I love the Kindle because you can write notes in it when you find typos. I spent the last two days watching the ridiculous movie for King's Bag Of Bones. Why the hell are the mini-series' (or whatever they are called, not sure when it's only 2 episodes) usually so damn bad? I miss the Tenth Doctor. The world is changing and I'm changing with it. We live in interesting times.

Etc.

Today we had to say goodbye to Belle, my Gran's beloved mastiff. Bell outlived Gran by over two years. She was a huge, gentle girl, who never asked for anything more than food, pettings and walks in the yard. Aside from a blown cruciate years ago, she never had a sick day until recently. About two weeks ago she lost her ability to walk and had to be carried in a sling everywhere. She lost her housetraining and briefly stopped eating, and started throwing up. She got her appetite back but never regained her ability to sit, stand or walk. She started doing this constant barking, either of confusion or frustration. Aside from the last two weeks, she never had any illnesses. Thirteen is ancient for a mastiff.

Last night I sat with her for about a half an hour, sobbing my face off and telling her she was a good girl. She just kept licking my hand and I was hoping she would understand what was going on. This morning the vet made a house call (none of my usual vets; this one a friend of my uncle's.)

Now, the house is so quiet without her, and her room is dark. (Her room was Gran's small apartment, which was next to mine. Not sure what I'm going to do with that, but it is studio-apartment sized, with a full bathroom and kitchenette space – I took down all the kitchen stuff after Gran passed.)

The good news is that Haku came home today. The heart murmur went away—thankfully!--and the vets were still insisting that it would be a good idea to have the nearly-thousand-dollar sonogram/echo done anyway. Even though his ($200 per session) EKGs were all coming back normal and the murmur had peaced out. I said no. I just couldn't see why it would be necessary. Of course I'll spend weeks and maybe months agonizing over whether it was the right decision or not, but I mean come on, here's an asymptomatic dog who had an event under anesthesia; doesn't it make sense that that's what caused it? I seemed to get conflicting reports over what exactly was up, also. One vet was telling me the murmur was a 2-3 (the scale is 1-6,) but the others were like, "Dude no way, it was just a 1." One vet assured me that the murmur was not related to any electrical problem and his troubles under anesthesia were some Saluki mystery, and the sono/echo would only be necessary if the murmur continued. To check for structural damage to the heart. In fact, I made him be totally clear that he didn't think there were any electrical problems because A) epilepsy and B) Haku has had e-stim in the past and I wanted to mention it to any future rehabbers, should he require that. NOTE TO SELF: HE ASSURED ME IT WASN'T ELECTRICAL.

But then when I said "no" to the echo/sonogram after the murmur disappeared, all of a sudden there was talk about how it could be an arrhythmia. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, someone, but an arrhythmia wouldn't show up as a structural anomaly, right? All his EKGs were clean and the murmur was gone. What, exactly, was a sono going to show?

Of course I went home with advice to check his heart rhythm once in a while, because sudden arrhythmias are asymptomatic until it's too late etc. That'll keep me on my toes, you know. I don't know, I just felt ever so slightly jerked around over the sonogram thing. But I'm going to keep on questioning my decision no matter what.

THEY ARE GOOD VETS. They're actually the best ones on the island, at least one of them is, I mean. I just wish for a bit more clarity.

ANYway. Haku is at home, thankfully, and though his leg is bruised and swollen to hell and back, he is actually touching his foot to the ground already. Which, with the last (three) surgery(-ies) on his other leg, it took him about two months IIRC to do that. So I'm pleased with his leg and hopeful that by springtime he'll be tearing up the yard and being a Saluki again. In fact I'm going to go back and check my LJ to see how his progress was last year after the TPLO.

So I'm happy that Haku is home but I'm missing Belle hardcore. I had only two clients today and one was my usual wealthy, always-late, never-tipping guy and the other was a woman with so many joint problems and autoimmune dysfunctions that here legs and fingers were twisted in the wrong directions. Like seriously, her one leg was rotated so medial that I couldn't imagine how she was keeping her balance. Some reciprocal inhibition stretching actually straightened her foot, like visibly, immediately, about 20 degrees or so. I was really happy.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I am off. Dear Universe: I want to play Zelda, eat, play Zelda, eat, play Zelda, eat, watch Torchwood, read, and go to bed (with breaks between to take the dogs outside a few times.) PLEASE DO NOT ASK ANYTHING MORE OF ME.

Haku had a seizure today, but other than that he's doing about the same. Here's the weird thing. While I was at work today, at around 2:30, I had just started my appointment and I thought, "I wonder if Haku has a seizure today, will they check his ekg afterwards, to see if it affects his heart?" When I was visiting him tonight and they told me he'd had "a small seizure, just like you said he would last night," I said, "Was it some time between like 2:30 and 3?" And his primary vet, Awesome Lady Doctor was like, "OMG, it was 2:30. How in the world?!" But they gave him IV valium and it stopped the seizure before it even really got started.

No further heart complications (*touch wood!*) and his leg seems to be getting along at the normal pace.

I asked a crapton of questions. Like, are future seizures something to worry about with this new heart thing? (No, because saluki hearts are built for endurance and this isn't an electrical problem,) what else can cause a sudden heart murmur (the sudden drop in heart rate during surgery – it doesn't always have to be valvular, which I didn't know,) and other stuff that I can hardly remember asking right now. I do remember that I liked all his answers, though. They're still going to do the echo on Saturday and then I can take him home that afternoon. One thing the vet assured me of is that he's not anticipating finding something terrible. He said that anything they find on Saturday is probably doable. That was a big relief!

What wasn't a big relief was the new estimate for the bill. But let's not even talk about that.

Today, five minutes after being told that my car was going to cost me $2000, I got a call from the animal hospital. The vet told me, "Well, I have some good news, and some other stuff." But in actuality, there was no "good news" at all, and it was all "other stuff."

Haku woke with a fever and a heart murmur. Her immediate thought was bacterial endocarditis, so they started him on wide spectrum antibiotics right away. She ordered a blood culture (which can take three days or more) and for him to see a cardiologist and get an EKG, which they couldn't do until Saturday. Depending on which valve is leaking (can't tell without the cardiologist) it could be about as bad as you can imagine. As far as how they were thinking the bacteria got in there in the first place, no one knows. From his liver, his intestine, or whatever. Anything but the surgery, apparently.

Then I had to go go work, which was a miserable experience. Every time my clients would flip over and lie prone, I'd start crying again. Haku is only six. I don't know what I'd do without him.

Right after work I picked up my car with Mom, and we went to the vets to visit. There's a new vet there, an internist who I've never even seen before. While we were sitting with Haku, he told us his thoughts.

He doesn't think it's endocarditis. He thinks the heart murmur is left over from the incident he had while under sedation. I asked him how the fever tied in with that, and he said that Haku has a history of running a temperature after all of his surgeries, and anyway his fever wasn't all that high. So he canceled the blood culture. They have Haku on mega-antibiotics because that's how they would treat endocarditis anyway, and doing a blood culture isn't going to tell anything that they won't know in 36 hours anyway. If the heart murmur is sequela to the anesthesia, it could just disappear.

I asked all these clinical questions (where does the fever fit in, where would bacteria come from, which valve would you suspect if it was actually endocarditis [no way to tell without the ekg/ultrasound] etc.) Finally my Mom asked him, "But what is your gut feeling?" He said his gut feeling was that it wasn't endocarditis because—even though he doesn't know Haku—he's not acting like an endocarditis dog.

Of course, this all made me feel a lot better (until they showed me the bill, FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS,) but still: I know better than to feel relieved after a vet tells me that it's probably okay. I learned that the hard way from Dr. Dickwhistle, with Trisky. He kept telling me she was okay, he kept sending her home on buffered aspirin, he kept telling me I was "bein gsuch a girl" and "getting hysterical" and "haha maybe it's anaplasma and she caught it from Sano!" (The untreated anaplasma was what caused Sano's ITP, incidentally, because Dr. Dickwhistle said that was no big deal and could be ignored.) And Trisky, as you might remember, ended up having bone cancer and was gone three weeks later.

Trisky had a heart murmur too. I was thinking about this today, because the vet who found Haku's murmur is the same one who found Trisky's. I remember sitting in his office while he listened to it, and him saying, "Wow, that's a 6, it doesn't get much louder than that. It's one of the worst ones I've ever heard." That's why I had to wait to x ray her leg; because they wouldn't anesthetize her without an ultrasound/ekg. However, when that came back, they said it wasn't that bad after all.

So when the tech tonight was describing to me about when the vet found it, how he was describing the sounds and saying how pronounced it was, all I could think of was that. When he said Trisky's was really bad, that ended up being not so terrible. But then of course, I lost her anyway.

I guess it comes down to me not knowing what to think. I learned from years of experience that when a vet tells you "Well, it's probably not that bad," it actually is that bad. Dr. Dickwhistle had that way of brushing off every concern until it was too late.

With this guy, he's treating it anyway, so that's a good thing. Even if it ended up that that's what he has, it's still being treated.

I have this feeling that the heart murmur isn't going to go away, though. Just because this is Haku and he doesn't have that kind of luck. I feel like his temp will go down, but he'll still need the ekg and ultrasound (which by the way is $700.) I remember when he first started having seizures and all that stuff went on, they were finding liver issues and an ovary and a kidney floating around in there (I asked around about that kidney, too: general veterinary consensus is that Dr. Dickwhistle actually cut the ureter during Haku's cryptorchid surgery, though no one would say so on record and strangely, the files from that surgery are gone...) and all of this. When they found the infected kidney and removed it, they said, "This could have been the source of the seizures! With any luck, he won't have another one."

Well, there isn't any luck. So I'm still expecting the worst.

So with that said, here's what else is going on. Thanksgiving, Mom and I had to take turns going to visit Boychild's Parents' house because Haku couldn't be left alone. I went over first. It was nice to see my aunt again, finally (Boychild's Grandma.) She lost her leg in a car accident in April and I hadn't seen her since then. Of course, neither had my Mom (her sister.) This was the first time she was allowed out of the rehab facility she's been in.

Tons and tons of kids were there, playing video games. But they all seemed way more excited over the Dr. Who app on my phone, and my Sonic Screwdriver. Which is hilarious, since it does nothing but light up and make a noise. But they were just enchanted by it, and they each had to have a turn carrying it around. Boychild has taken to saying "Ex-taaaaahhh-minate!" and "Don't blink! Blink and you're dead! Good luck!" When he likes something, he gets stuck on it and he asks everyone else if they remember it. "'Member EXTAAAAAHHMINATE? Member that? Member blink and you're DEAD? Member? The Daleks are the Doctor's bad-guy friends." Because to him, Bad Guys are always your friends. Sometimes you have to fight your Bad Guy friends, but then after that, everything's cool. He loves Star Wars and Advent Children. Darth Vader is his favorite Bad Guy friend, and of course, Sephiroth is Cloud's Bad Guy friend. (Which is pretty close to canon, actually.)

The day after Thanksgiving, we had another TG at Mom's house. SB and Jo-chan showed up around 3:30, then Boychild and his Mama came at around 4, then my Uncle showed up as well. We all kind of hung around playing Soul Calibur (actually, watching Boychild own every Bad Guy friend in the game,) and then Boychild and his Mama had to leave.

SO! We fired up Skyward Sword! Historic Fangirl/Boy moment. Both of my cousins and my uncle are hardcore Zelda gamers and always have been. My uncle and I have been gamers since gaming was invented. So this was kind of a big deal. We played Skyward Sword till around 5 and then I started heating up TG dinner.

My Mom came home and we sat down to eat. Then, BBBBZZZZTT all the power went out. We had to eat by the old fashioned way: by candlelight. Oh, and of course light from the various cell phones too. While the lights were out, Jo-chan played "Still Alive" from Portal. Some of you know that song: "This was a triumph!" etc. SB, Jo-chan and I all sang along.

About an hour later, the electricity came back on. We all went in the living room to play Zelda, but no one could actually move for a while so we all sat on the couch making cow noises for about fifteen minutes first. Then, we fired up Zelda and played some more. (Oh, apparently I have to buy a new Wiimote. The one we were using last night was on loan from Boychild's Mama. Seriously, a new Wiimote? And they couldn't tell me this when I made the order? >_< )

So that was Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, I have to get a bunch of things done. It's my last chance to get out there and buy a tree and put it up. Haku's coming home soon and I won't be able to leave him alone long enough to get one, and I don't want to freak him out by putting it up when he's trying to sleep. (Things like that really worry him.) Then I'm going to decorate a bit, then go pick up the Wiimote. Hit up the hospital to visit with Haku for a while, and then go to my Mom's office party because her work friends want to meet me. :)

I have work on Monday, but it's later in the day and first I have to drop my car off because the effing "check engine" light is on. Also, the brakes are going and the timing belt, whatever the eff that might be. When they told me that at the shop I was like, "Timing belt, what's that about?" and he was like, "It's about seven hundred dollars."

So uhh, yeah, I am doing the holidays this year? But that doesn't mean I'm going to be buying mad gifts for everyone. Haku's surgery was $3500, and that's not counting if he has to stay an extra day, and it's definitely not counting his rehab. My car is going to be about $1500 and my work hours have been cut drastically.

At this point I'm just like, screw it. Just pile on the bills.

The other not-so-good thing is Belle. Belle is the mastiff that my Gran left when she passed. She's almost 13 now, which is unheard of for a mastiff, right? She started losing her ability to get around last spring, but then over the summer she rallied and did really well for a while. Last week, it rained for an entire day, like full-on pouring down. Since that day, it's like Belle is paralyzed from the waist down. Not entirely – she can wag her tail and she can sort of move her right hind leg a bit. But she can't walk at all and has to be carried to her food dish and outside. She can't control where she goes to the bathroom anymore either. I've always thought that once a dog stops eating, then it's time to put them to sleep. But the thing is, Belle still loves eating her food. It's the only thing she can still do. When she's not eating, she's lying on the floor barking hysterically. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of dementia. Actually she's doing it right now and has been at it for about an hour and a half. It's like a constant noise anymore, and it's not a happy bark. It's a confused, scared bark. I just don't think she's happy anymore, aside from those two times a day when she's eating.

So, it looks like that's something that's going to happen soon. I keep going back and forth. Is she really not happy, or am I projecting my "OMG I can't keep carrying her around and cleaning the rug three times a day" thing onto her? Then I think, well my god, if all I could do was lie on the floor and yell all day, I wouldn't be happy either. Neither option seems any good to me.

Well, that's where everything is right now.

Haku's surgery is done, but it wasn't without incident. Just like the last time, under anesthesia his heartrate dropped suddenly. Last time, when she was doing the other leg, this happened before she got to make the incision. She woke him up and tried again the next morning and he was fine. This time, it happened as she was screwing the metal plate into his leg. She had to wake him up immediately, give him an epidural to finish the last screw and staple his leg closed super fast.

She says she never wants to operate on him again. I am totally with her on that, I never want him to have another operation. But I can't help thinking, what if he needs one? This is Haku, here, nothing seems to ever go right with him. This means he won't be able to get his teeth cleaned or anything like that.

I asked if maybe this was because of the phenobarb, or because he's a saluki or a combination of both. She says she followed all the sight-hound anesthesia protocols, and they anesthetize epileptics all the time and never have this problem. It's just "a Haku thing" apparently.

I went to visit him tonight and he was still wonky and in the ICU cage because they had to monitor him. He was mellow when I got there, but as soon as I sat with him he started acting up, crying at me, howling, trying to push his way out of the cage. Hopefully he can come home in a few days. I can't say I'm not kind of a wreck after this.

Oh, and yeah, this all happened when I was at work today. I got a voicemail from the surgeon just saying "call me," and when I called back, she was in another surgery and couldn't talk to me. And of course reception couldn't tell me anything aside from "He's okay now but the Dr. needs to talk to you." Eventually I had to get back to work, and I did my last appointment with a pounding headache and it was the longest hour ever. I called again when I was on my way from work, driving to go visit him. They had me on hold for 15 minutes while I drove (I know, I know. I never drive while on the phone but this counted as an emergency.) The new guy at the desk kept putting me on hold and finally I lost my patience and said "Someone has to tell me he's all right! Or if he's not all right, then tell me that but don't put me on hold again!" Why is it you have to lose your patience in order to get an answer? Jesus.

I just can't wait until he is at home and mended again.

Today, five days after Haku blew out his other cruciate, I dropped him off at the vet's first thing in the AM. He's been hobbling around in a sling for the entire time since it happened, bones crackling and popping every time he tries to move. So gross and upsetting. He's on tramadol, which seems to really work for dulling the pain. That first night at the hospital they gave him hydrocodone, which just made him cry and wobble around all night.

So I dropped him off and his surgeon did an evaluation and gave me a call. She said she's really happy with how his other leg looks from last year, in other words, strong enough to hold him up while this one is out of commission. If this had happened six months ago, it would have been more of a challenge. Basically he's got the same exact injury on this side now (busted cruciate, with meniscus involvement and a lot of arthritis already,) but instead of trying the prosthetic and failing twice and then having to wait months and months for him to get some muscle in his leg before doing the TPLO (bone re-sectioning surgery,) they're just going straight to the TPLO. He did really well with that one last year once it was done.

The TPLO is super painful for the first few days (you're basically walking on a broken bone,) but then once it heals, it's sturdy. He was 4 feet down only weeks after that last surgery, and running on the beach again by summer. Of course, we're looking at another few months of super costly physical therapy every week. They're' giving me a discount on the surgery again (frequent client, you know.)

So that's Haku's story as of today. I hate that it happened again, but I knew it was going to. So I'm prepared for it mentally, if not financially. (Seriously, I am never going to be able to go to Japan with all these bills constantly piling up – and let's be honest here, getting to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip is the least of my worries. I don't want to lose my house.)

Oh, my car is busted too. The "check engine" light came on. Aside from that, they found that my brakes are going, and I need the "timing belt" or something replaced, which alone is like $700, apparently.

Should I even mention that all our hours at work cut cut to by, like, half? Because no one is coming in for appointments this time of year.

Well, anyway. I've just been spending my time writing, reading, and watching Torchwood. Torchwood is my new comfort show. :)

That aside, I've decided to do the holidays again this year. Last year I tried, a little, and failed at snark-decorating. Snarkorating? This year, I'm going to do like I used to. With all the stupid lights and tree, and junk like that. Because honestly, I really like the holidays, with the stupid songs and bells and all that nonsense. This is my third Christmas without Dad. Again I have to point out how strange it feels to say that, because it still feels like the first. That's something I can't explain to anyone who hasn't lost someone. I say "third holidays without Dad" and it still shocks me because it still feels like yesterday. For as much as I say that or try to explain it, I'm still not being totally clear, because you can't know until you feel it yourself. Very strange. BUT, I am still going to holiday it this year. Christmas is going to be my bitch.

Though I'm kinda pissed off because I ordered Skyward Sword for, well, for me and also for my cousins, for Xmas. Boychild can wait till Xmas because he's not, you know, clear on the release date, which was Monday. SB and Jo-chan however, are waiting to play it, and they're coming over tonight (along with my uncle for a belated TG dinner,) and I STILL DON'T HAVE SKYWARD SWORD. WTF, when you pre-order something you're supposed to get it the day it comes out, and now it's almost a goddamn week. I could have gone to mothereffing Gamestop and picked that bitch up myself.

Right, so anyway, today, Friday, is our belated TG, so that promises to be fun, at least.

And I'll update on Haku when I know more.

So there I was, having a hang-out / catching up meeting with one of my friends from college (second time around college, we're both therapists now,) when Haku starts wandering around like he's got to go outside. So I let him out, and I go out with him, and he's not even to the front of the yard when his leg goes out from under him and he starts screaming. His other leg, the one that hasn't had surgery (yet.)

Brought my friend to the train station with Haku in the back ("Thanks for coming, nice seeing you, bye," I mean really, that's how quick it was,) then drove Haku to the emergency clinic where I sat for about three hours with him. They gave him hydrocodone and didn't even have to x ray him to see that the other cruciate (and probably meniscus) is in shreds.

They can't operate until Saturday (it's Sunday now,) so he's going to have to hobble around for a whole week like this. Meanwhile, the painkiller they gave him is making him really ill and he's just lying there on his bed crying and howling.

Also, I only just paid off the last surgery from last year.

Eff you, universe, you tosser.

So, here is the rest of the story with Haku's blood test results.

His T4 is 6; normal is 8-40. So that is very low! This could eithe rbe caused by phenobarb, and/or it coul dbe causing his seizure threshold to lower, as well. Either way, it looks like more phenobarb might not be the answer. At any rate, I'm not rushing into it. He's going on thyrotabs, a low dose, which doesn't have side effects. And he's got a thyroid panel next time in 4 weeks. Let's see if this works!

In other news, my Hula class is finished up until after Labor Day. That's it, then; summer is nearly over. Less than a month left. Only one dancer from this class is able to return. She's bringing a few friends for the next session, too.

So, here are some stills from videos of our last (so far) class:

( pics and such )

In that last one, one of the girls had brought some friends and family, and so we did an impromptu "recital" for them. Then the two dancers high-fived and said, "YAY, WE DID IT!" It was really cool. ^_^ I had such a blast teaching, and I'm already planning what the next hulas / lessons are going to be.

Now we're bracing for this hurricane, which had really better not hit on Sunday, because that's the day of the Bai Shi ceremony, ffs. Tuesday in Kung Fu we did sparring, mad, crazy, intense sparring, 27 rounds. I didn't sit a single one out. I love sparring. :D We're doing more of it Sunday before the ceremony, too. So I've got to remember to bring a change of clothes for the restaurant afterwards. Gonna be a box of frogs, this one. Well, if the storm holds off. Expect tons and tons of pics, of course!

I just got off the phone with Haku's other vet and we were talking about Synthroid possibly, or Chinese medicine instead of more phenobarb.

Then something sort of hit me in the head and I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

Last time Haku started having lots of seizures in a row, it was August. We raised the pheno level last year. And then here it is, August again and I'm thinking, "Well, I'm probably going to have to raise it once a year from now on."

But why twelve months? Haku doesn't know from months, and epilepsy isn't going, "Oh, right, it's month twelve, time to increase frequency." Why not ten months, or fourteen? When you take the human element of time-keeping out of it, it seems a rather arbitrary time to start kicking in again, right?

So maybe it's not a yearly thing. Maybe it's just something about August. The air pressure maybe, the temperature, or perhaps something's in bloom that he's allergic to. Or maybe it's stress that he can feel from everyone else? After all, it was August when Dad died. In fact, when he had his really bad cluster last year, it was August second, which is the exact day.

So I'm just like, Hmmm. Maybe I'll wait until the weather cools off a bit before making any decisions about raising the phenobarb. I mean I was going to do that anyway – to try the Synthroid if his free T4 and TSH come back low. (Also found out that phenobarb can in fact lower T4 levels. But I seem to remember that he was hypothyroid before he was even on phenobarb in the first place.)

Hmm, I dunno. This is just me dumping my thoughts out and keeping track of them. But of course I'll take any input from people who know more than I do about stuff.

*Title is a line from Stone Temple Pilots' "Vasoline", wtf.

So these are the notes I took on Haku's bloodwork:

Liver elevated, only slightly. 131 is normal he is 197. We'll wait on that. T4 can affect liver too.

Kidneys are okay

Thyroid low .3 - going to add free T4. Probably tuesday.

PB is a bit low 15-45 is normal and he's 24. So room to grow.

I'm so pleased that his kidneys and everything else (aside from liver) are within range. I'm concerned about his liver values because he's only 6, and that's a young age for it to start spiking already. This could be from the phenobarb (which is why I'm hesitant to raise it once a year) but a little research showed me that liver values can also be raised due to low thyroid. His vet is sending out the rest of the blood for a free T4, so that will tell a bit more.

Last year when he had three seizures in a day, I panicked and rushed to raise the phenobarb without checking everything else. So now I'm trying to chill a bit and look for more options. Actually I'm waiting for his other vet to call me back, so I can throw some ideas around with her because she is amazing.

In other news, on Wednesday (today is Monday) I released three birds: Reid, Penelope and Emily. I've seen Emily flying around the house, just today I saw Penelope, and every single day I see Reid. He comes back to the aviary a few times a day looking for food. So I've taken to putting worms and seed in a dish for him in front of the aviary door. He flies gorgeously and he won't let me catch him to put him back in. He's weathered a few thunderstorms and heavy rains already, so I know he's doing all right. He just wants the food I was feeding and doesn't want anything else. A few years ago, I had a few starlings that kept coming back for about a month after release, but aside from them, I think this is the first time that a bird has so aggressively hung onto his aviary. Literally. Like, right now, he is clinging to the aviary door.

( Here's a pic of him as a baby in my hand, and then from the other day, free and plucking around for food outside the aviary. )

Anyway, I held back Hotch and Morgan, because Hotch's wing still doesn't look good enough for release, and Morgan had some crappy tail feathers. They're in the aviary still, with Car.

Inside I still have JJ and Rossi, as well as Rose, all sparrows.

You know what I forgot to mention? I started watching Dr. Who. I guess it was only a matter of time before I got into it, right? And now I really like it. Which I guess is also to be expected.

So let's see. Today I was off from work (just didn't have any appointments,) but I went in to get a treatment myself. How nice! Paycheck won't be as awesome next week and I'll just have to make do. But it's a nice day off, at any rate. And Wednesday is my last Hula class until part two starts. Two women are staying, two already dropped out, and I have two more who are definitely interested in the next group of classes. Those will start after Labor Day. It's a really nice little setup I've got there. I'm happy with it.

Also there is a nice guy who wants to hang around with me, which is always fun, isn't it? We'll code name him Kiros, because that's who he always reminded me of, Kiros Seagill from FF8 (he had the same hair when we met, like ages ago.) yesterday we went to the beach and then decided we were going to make a Kung Fu movie one of these days. So that was pretty cool.

I have work tomorrow, one 60 minute and 2 90 minutes (that adds up to like, four treatments the way I look at it.) Then Kung Fu. Last Hula class of this session on Wednesday. Off Thursday and Friday, work Saturday, and then on Sunday is the Bai Shi ceremony, and I'm not even gonna lie, I am so nervous about that. I've been to one, but I still feel like I don't know wtf to do and I'm going to mess it up and do something ridiculous. And we have to give a speech, too. *flutter*

Also recently, the Empress has been involved in this project. Basically she's auditioning for a movie and the prospects keep getting narrowed down, and she remains in the top five out of thousands. OMG. ( SHE WAS HAPPY. )

What else what else what else? The new pool is up. It's been up for about two weeks, but we can't seem to get the guys to come and finish the job. All that remains is to put in the skimmer (lots of cutting into the liner for that) and hook up the filter. So the pool is half-filled and the water is already all green and junk. Also, today is the first chilly day. It's nearly the end of summer already. *Mourn* You'll note that above I said the words "Labor Day" as if it wasn't too far off. It's really not.

And it's not just the temperature either, that's closing in. It's the light. Today is the first day that I noticed that "end of August" slant of light, you know. It's hard to ignore, once you see it.

*Sigh* The turn of the wheel, isn't it?

Profile

la_belle_laide

January 2023

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Crisped by timeasmymeasure
Theme: Pastel Flowers on Plum by forests_of_fire
Resources: ColourLovers pattern by amethystfirefly and thirdbreakfast

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 11:11 am

Blather, rinse, repeat

Baby got backstory

Entries tagged with dogs

(no subject)

A bit of seasonal whining (and dog updates)

sano update

Bleh...

Update on Sano!

Sano update

Another update

Update on dogs :)

this year's ashes

Blather, and things that are happening

A goodbye and a Welcome Home

Updates yet again

more updates

And other stuff

Surgery update

Updates on Haku, and some minor bitching

Here we go again... again.

The end of classes (so far,) Haku's blood tests, and some Kung Fu stuff

One time a thing occurred to me...*

Turn of the wheel (and some dogs and birds)