Feelin' like I need something to love on...
Alas, the need to love on something 4-legged and furry has set in. But. This time Michael and I really, really are not going to get a dog for a while (you'll remember that we said this the last time--we made it 6 weeks). We just can't do it right now for a variety of reason, not the least of which is that we aren't emotionally ready, but I feel like I need to love on something. Besides my husband.
So, we talked about bunnies or even a guinea pig or something but Michael doesn't get the warm fuzzies for those kinds of critters. I think that I could be pretty excited about a bunny. You can litter-train them and they are very warm and fuzzy. And they have 4 legs so that pretty much meets my list of requirements. Even if we decide to go this route it won't be for a while. So, people of the internets, I ask you: can you love a bunny as much as a dog?
9.23.2007
When it rains, it pours....
I swear I would have posted sooner if it weren't for the fact that the last month has been total ass. Seriously. First my dear, sweet baby had to be put to sleep. And then, the next day? I had to have my car towed to the mechanic b/c the spring on the strut broke and Michael and I had to shell out over $600 to have new struts put on. Have I mentioned lately that we are just hemorrhaging money? No? Well, we are.
Flash forward one week (we'll skip the part about how I was too sad to concentrate on studying) and I get a phone call from my aunt to let me know that my mom had been admitted to the hospital for a bowel obstruction. Blarg. So, Michael and I hop in the car and drive the 2.5 hours to Indy to go see her. The good news is that she's better and is back home. The bad news is that I have an exam tomorrow and I don't feel even close to prepared for it because, you see, it's hard to study when you have to drive 2.5 hours to Indy and then try to study at a hospital. Also, there's no sleeping at the hospital either.
But it isn't all bad. I have wonderfully supportive friends who surprise me with a gift card to my favorite upscale grocery store and an amazing husband who played the part of June Cleaver so that I could study. Oh, and I finally got a job. I figured it would just be easier to go back to waiting tables than to convince people at doctors' offfices that I really, really do want to be a receptionist for a piddly $10/hr. Now I'll make more money and no one asks me about why I left my last job or any of that other crap. And (this is the best part) I got my braces off. I'll post a picture soon...after I get thru these exams this week. I promise.
So, things are looking up. I'm still really sad a lot of the time but there are a lot of good people and good things going on in my life. Yep, things are looking up.
I swear I would have posted sooner if it weren't for the fact that the last month has been total ass. Seriously. First my dear, sweet baby had to be put to sleep. And then, the next day? I had to have my car towed to the mechanic b/c the spring on the strut broke and Michael and I had to shell out over $600 to have new struts put on. Have I mentioned lately that we are just hemorrhaging money? No? Well, we are.
Flash forward one week (we'll skip the part about how I was too sad to concentrate on studying) and I get a phone call from my aunt to let me know that my mom had been admitted to the hospital for a bowel obstruction. Blarg. So, Michael and I hop in the car and drive the 2.5 hours to Indy to go see her. The good news is that she's better and is back home. The bad news is that I have an exam tomorrow and I don't feel even close to prepared for it because, you see, it's hard to study when you have to drive 2.5 hours to Indy and then try to study at a hospital. Also, there's no sleeping at the hospital either.
But it isn't all bad. I have wonderfully supportive friends who surprise me with a gift card to my favorite upscale grocery store and an amazing husband who played the part of June Cleaver so that I could study. Oh, and I finally got a job. I figured it would just be easier to go back to waiting tables than to convince people at doctors' offfices that I really, really do want to be a receptionist for a piddly $10/hr. Now I'll make more money and no one asks me about why I left my last job or any of that other crap. And (this is the best part) I got my braces off. I'll post a picture soon...after I get thru these exams this week. I promise.
So, things are looking up. I'm still really sad a lot of the time but there are a lot of good people and good things going on in my life. Yep, things are looking up.
9.08.2007
So hard to say goodbye...
Asia didn't make it. Around midnight this morning she had developed another case of bloat and her condition was so poor that we had to put her to sleep. She was such a great dog and we loved her so much. She was funny and sweet and a really, really good girl. And I just can't believe that Michael and I are here again so soon after Shana. We really thought Asia was out of the woods but I guess she wasn't. It's the nature of bloat and there isn't anything to be done for it. But that doesn't make it any easier.
It's 4:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. How can I sleep now that our baby is gone?
Asia didn't make it. Around midnight this morning she had developed another case of bloat and her condition was so poor that we had to put her to sleep. She was such a great dog and we loved her so much. She was funny and sweet and a really, really good girl. And I just can't believe that Michael and I are here again so soon after Shana. We really thought Asia was out of the woods but I guess she wasn't. It's the nature of bloat and there isn't anything to be done for it. But that doesn't make it any easier.
It's 4:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. How can I sleep now that our baby is gone?
9.06.2007
Since you asked...Here are a couple of photos of Asia. Sorry, Manda, I wasn't able to get one of her wearing the e-collar (that was a disaster).
This is day 2 post op.
This is from Tuesday. She's wearing a UW t-shirt (and getting pus on it - bwah ha ha ha).
This is from yesterday. Just look at that sweet, sweet face.
And this is the get well card that our nephews made for Asia. The little stick man is a self portrait of Lucas. Max's contributions are on the inside of the card. The two of them came up with the idea all by themselves. It was very sweet.
And this is Michael showing the get well card to Asia. I think she was thinking "Go make my food, bitch. I'm starving." That's how I know she's on the mend. That dog has such a potty mouth.
9.04.2007
Day 8
Well, folks, here we are at day 8 post-op. Asia is doing really well except for the open hole in the side of her belly where the catheter used to be. Oh, and the weird pouch of fluid that has collected back near her pee pee (that's my technical term for it) that makes it look like some weirdly stretched out testicle.
In all seriousness, she is doing great. We've had many a sleepless night and we've had to fuss at her because she won't leave the bandage alone and every night at midnight I wake up and she's done something to that damned bandage. Like Saturday night. She chewed, nee, destroyed the bandage and it was hanging around her middle by a piece of medical tape. And then there was the whimpering. So we went to the emergency vet to make sure she didn't cause any permanent damage (there wasn't) and an hour and $83 later walked out with a newly bandaged dog and some pain pills for the inflammation. Did I mention that the inflammation was caused by her chewing off the bandage? Stinker.
Actually, on Saturday we went to the vet twice. As soon as she got home from her first appointment Michael took her outside for a walk and she had a BM causing her bandages to bunch up entirely around her little doggy hips. So....we went right back to have her re-bandaged. And Sunday went well, too except that the lovely folks at the emergency vet used some sort of super duper sticky tape that NASA probably uses to hold bits of the space shuttle together to keep her bandages on and forced me to cut it out of her fur. Now she is sporting a really bad haircut.
Then on Monday she developed a pocket of fluid around the catheter so we called our vet at home and, bless his heart, he had us bring her to his office on Labor Day for a check up. He took out the catheter and cleaned her up and sent us home with a happier dog. Wouldn't you be happy if someone removed a nasty looking catheter from your body? Unfortunately the hole left by the catheter was abscessed so we have to leave it open to drain. We've been managing the seepage (and the licking....you know, dogs really are grody little creatures) by making her wear Michael's t-shirts with a little D@isy Duke tie in the back. I'll post pictures as soon as I can find the cable.
And we went back on Tuesday for another scheduled check up. She's been doing really well....she's eating and she's able to go for a longer walk during the day. And, this is the best part, last night she slept all night without messing with her hole or her weird pocket of fluid. There was much rejoicing. Except for the fact that we were up at 3:30 because Michael had a plane to catch. That lucky bastard gets to go to Vegas for 3 days for a conference and I have to stay at home and hold down the fort. (Love you, honey!) We had a minor setback of retching this morning but luckily she's holding down her food and antibiotics and seems okay. Thankfully my MIL was kind enough to stay with her today while I went to class. What I need now is a vacation. Except that this particular medical emergency cost a few thousand dollars so the only vacations we'll be taking are trips to Lankytown where we can stay with my dad and eat PB&J on the trip out and back.
But she's worth every penny of it. And no doubt the vet can continue to make payments on his snazzy Lexus SUV for many months to come.
Well, folks, here we are at day 8 post-op. Asia is doing really well except for the open hole in the side of her belly where the catheter used to be. Oh, and the weird pouch of fluid that has collected back near her pee pee (that's my technical term for it) that makes it look like some weirdly stretched out testicle.
In all seriousness, she is doing great. We've had many a sleepless night and we've had to fuss at her because she won't leave the bandage alone and every night at midnight I wake up and she's done something to that damned bandage. Like Saturday night. She chewed, nee, destroyed the bandage and it was hanging around her middle by a piece of medical tape. And then there was the whimpering. So we went to the emergency vet to make sure she didn't cause any permanent damage (there wasn't) and an hour and $83 later walked out with a newly bandaged dog and some pain pills for the inflammation. Did I mention that the inflammation was caused by her chewing off the bandage? Stinker.
Actually, on Saturday we went to the vet twice. As soon as she got home from her first appointment Michael took her outside for a walk and she had a BM causing her bandages to bunch up entirely around her little doggy hips. So....we went right back to have her re-bandaged. And Sunday went well, too except that the lovely folks at the emergency vet used some sort of super duper sticky tape that NASA probably uses to hold bits of the space shuttle together to keep her bandages on and forced me to cut it out of her fur. Now she is sporting a really bad haircut.
Then on Monday she developed a pocket of fluid around the catheter so we called our vet at home and, bless his heart, he had us bring her to his office on Labor Day for a check up. He took out the catheter and cleaned her up and sent us home with a happier dog. Wouldn't you be happy if someone removed a nasty looking catheter from your body? Unfortunately the hole left by the catheter was abscessed so we have to leave it open to drain. We've been managing the seepage (and the licking....you know, dogs really are grody little creatures) by making her wear Michael's t-shirts with a little D@isy Duke tie in the back. I'll post pictures as soon as I can find the cable.
And we went back on Tuesday for another scheduled check up. She's been doing really well....she's eating and she's able to go for a longer walk during the day. And, this is the best part, last night she slept all night without messing with her hole or her weird pocket of fluid. There was much rejoicing. Except for the fact that we were up at 3:30 because Michael had a plane to catch. That lucky bastard gets to go to Vegas for 3 days for a conference and I have to stay at home and hold down the fort. (Love you, honey!) We had a minor setback of retching this morning but luckily she's holding down her food and antibiotics and seems okay. Thankfully my MIL was kind enough to stay with her today while I went to class. What I need now is a vacation. Except that this particular medical emergency cost a few thousand dollars so the only vacations we'll be taking are trips to Lankytown where we can stay with my dad and eat PB&J on the trip out and back.
But she's worth every penny of it. And no doubt the vet can continue to make payments on his snazzy Lexus SUV for many months to come.
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