Thank the gawds for pills

that fix my dog.

Marley is feeling much better now, thanks to two daily doses of 62.5 mg of bioclav, a broad spectrum antibiotic.

Our vet bill was a lot more reasonable than I expected: $200. (Just shy of, actually, but I don't feel like looking up the exact amount.)

It cost $51 for the visit, and additional $51 just because it was an emergency call on the long weekend, about $20 for the pills, and the rest was a charge for an x-ray. We still are supposed to bring in a urine sample for them to test for a few things, mostly, I am guessing, crystallization, to see if she might be a risk for stones.

Because that would be fun.

The only reason we haven't is that it needs to be brought to them within 20 minutes (still warm, yum!) and Marley doesn't have a regular bathroom schedule at all. In fact, a lot of the time, we end up going out right before bed, and then in the morning, not at all. Usually it will be once or twice in the afternoon, depending on her last drink/meal.

Also, we got a sample on Sunday night, brought it in on tuesday morning (had it in the fridge in the meantime), and were told the 20 minute news. So, now I am not sure if I should clean out the previously sterile cup to bring it in, or if I should just use the paper cup I collect it in.

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We've finally gotten our house mostly box-free. There is still a few to go through, and some stuff piled on the second bed, most of which I need to cram into the car to bring to Cold Lake.

We've got a lot of stuff to get rid of, and there is apparently going to be a garage sale here same weekend I'm heading to Cold Lake, so the 'idea' of making any money off of it is out.

I'm actually hoping that the landlord will agree to take the stuff to the garage sale for me, I told her there is a lot of stuff that still is in great condition, we just don't need it anymore. I also told her that I don't want any money for it, that if someone else will be sitting there all day, and they can get anything for it, by all means. Or even, if the landlord or whoever is going to be garage sale-ing wants it, take it.

There's nothing in there worth very much to me, a couple of cheap laundry baskets (one was $1, the other half that.) filled with little things, some kitchen stuff, some organizing things, some pictures, an old TELUS phone (bought 6 years ago - still works, just switched to Rogers) and a lot of other random crap.

Anything that I've decided to part with that I can think of someone who might want it, I plan to offer it to them; I am fully into the freecycling thing going on around here, I just wish more people knew about it, or were interested in it. I didn't get any answers when I posted a bunch of stuff back in Hinton, and I posted it on both Hinton and Edson's ones.

Oh well, a lot of unwanted furniture went to the not-for-profit church organization in Hinton that took it all off of our hands for free, to give to people who really needed it.

We've downsized our collection of crap at least by half since moving here, and damn it feels good.

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I am good at Tetris, but I don't know how I can cram THAT MUCH STUFF into that limited space. Mind you, the car I am bringing is pretty darn big (boat, much) but Marley takes up the whole back seat. I am not kidding. It's mostly from spoiling her, and we need to get away from that, but at the same time, she doesn't travel that well yet. Much better than before, but still needs her comfort or she tries everything to get into my lap and cause an accident. Realized that over a year ago, and tried to do the seatbelt thing, but she HATES the seatbelt, and ends up twisting herself up so bad in it that her leg has no blood in it. She hasn't been in it since, but I might give it another go.

So, the backseat is usually her ridiculously large kennel (used to be Patches/Pookie's, and Marley sure loved the lived-in smells) facing (open) sideways so she can get into it from the seat next to it, and her bed next to it. I think her previous family may have locked her in a kennel when she was 'bad' or something, because if I put the cage front on the kennel, she won't go in it. She was also scared of the metal doors' movements when she brushed against it, but even with something immobilizing it, she is too scared of the kennel with the door on.

Besides, it took us about 4 months to convince her that her kennel was a safer, more secure, protective place than under the bed, and it's been awhile since she's gone under the bed. (She'd hit her back/head on the frame while military-crawling under the bed, and I worried what that might do to her in the long run. Her hips crack a lot as it is, and I didn't need another thing to worry about.)

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Chris went to work today, we found out today that he is being recalled to his home terminal, so YAY! He won’t have to go stay in Hinton to try to work in Jasper!

Plus he’s on the spare board, which means trips instead of the yard work, so more $$$!

So thankful right now. It was really nice to spend more time with him, especially when Marley and I are about to leave for 4 nights. :)

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Last but definitely not least:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I love you more than you'll ever know, and hope that you have a great birthday! Can't wait to see you! :D

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Anyway, I have to go figure out how to cram all of my stuff into the car, and plan to do most of it today so I have less to do tomorrow before I leave.

Have a great weekend!

One pill, twice a day.

With cheese.

For three weeks. (Oh, yeah, this is for Marley).

Chris noticed yesterday afternoon that Marley was licking herself a lot more than usual, and her groin was a lot more red and puffy than normal. We also noticed that wherever she sat on the bed there was a small wet spot. (yuck. We still were trying to get through the last 2 boxes of clothing when this happened, so they got postponed.)

Including when she sat on my pillow.

So, we gave her a bath, and I took an old pair of underwear, put a pantiliner on it and put it on her. I bunched up the extra fabric with a hair tie on her back, so that they would stay on her.

She was having a bit more urine incontinence for a few hours, and after a third pantiliner change in the evening, the pantiliner was clean and dry, but there was an obvious sign of infection, a discharge. So, we phoned the emergency line to the vet, knowing that on a long weekend, the likelihood of waiting it out two more days is just unfair to Marley. He said it wasn't much of an emergency, but that if we wanted to come in, he would call when he had to go in to check on the animals that were there.

Of course we said yes.

We ended up being up until 7 a.m. last night with her, I was worried, and couldn't sleep, and then when I was tired enough to at about 5 a.m., she jumped up on the bed and was shaking and breathing a lot harder than we've ever seen her. She was very warm, and panting, and I was terrified she was going to have a heart attack or something if she didn't calm down. (I tend to panic a lot worse when I am overtired. My mind was racing, we'd looked up her symptoms online, and as best as we could figure, she had some sort of bladder infection, and my mind just took it from there and raced into the horrible possibilities*. Chris did a great job of calming me down!)

We checked her groin again, and it needed to be washed, so we gave her a quick (and least amount of wet fur as possible) bath, and then took the still unhappy looking Marley outside to try to pee.

Apparently at 6 a.m., 3 drops of pee is heaven. Her attitude immediately changed. She was a lot calmer, looked more aware, like she was more comfortable. I felt so bad for her, but she was feeling better, so we could sleep.

*The only reason I tend to overreact to any problems with Marley, is the sheer thought of anything abnormal brings thoughts of Pookie right back up to the front. I know she didn't have any health problems, but I wasn't able to deal with her death very well, and still haven't, I don't think. Chris mentioned that I won't be able to freak out like that with kids, but I told him that I think the difference will be clear. I won't have lost a child, so it won't be as scary as this seems right now. I won't be trying to push grim thoughts from previous experiences out of my head. I am guessing from popular opinion that it still scares the crap right out of you when your kid is sick or has unknown issues, but I think it is mostly instinct that takes over then, too?

We got a call at 11 a.m. saying the vet was going in and we could meet him there in 20 minutes. That might have been the quickest I have ever gotten ready, maybe not in my life, but in a long time. Marley was eager to get outside, but didn't do anything before we got in the car. (We walked around outside for about 5 minutes before leaving.)

The vet was concerned that it could be three things: Pyometra (uterine infection) - very serious, would require surgery; urinary tract infection - antibiotics; or another bad possibility: urinary calculi (stones) which depending on the size could result in the need for surgery. (Patches had this surgery a few years ago, so it was a familiar topic - the vet seemed a little put off by my limited reaction until I told him we'd been through it with another dog before.)

Luckily the increasingly visible spay scar on Marley's belly ruled out the first one that would definitely require surgery, because without the organs, they can't get infected! (Duh.) Yay! Most serious and life-threatening one was ruled out.

The vet that was on call was regularily the large animal (cows, horses) vet, and apologized for his supposed unfamiliarity with the patient. I thought he was amazing. He did know a lot, was very frank about all of the options, brought out a book with pictures to show what we would be looking for on the x-rays we did. I was impressed, and a little sad that he wouldn't be Marley's regular doctor. (I wish I could find one that nice, patient and thorough.)

Speaking of x-rays, he strongly recommended that we do two x-rays to check for the stones, which could cause serious problems if we left them unchecked. We weren't about to play around with Marley's health, so of course we did them.

The thing about that is, most people hand over their animals and the x-rays get taken by assistants or whoever. Because the vet was in on a day that they would normally be closed, there were no assistants to help him out. So, I got to put on a vest/apron thing that was strangely comforting, even though it weighed about 20 pounds, and some HUGE lead gloves that made gripping Marley almost impossible. I held her front legs while the vet held her back ones, and we got the two shots, and I have to say, if it weren't for those gloves, I would have had another issue. Marley was fighting so much that she ended up biting one of the gloves. It was a really hard bite, too, not a warning one in the least!

When we were done with the x-rays, she was glad to jump into Chris's arms, who was waiting around the corner while the x-rays were taken. I'm not fond of the look I got, but I can't say I blame her.

The x-rays were really good ones, and while we were discussing the lack of bladder/kidney/etc. stones, I was checking out the rest of her bones. Her hips have been cracking a lot lately, and I wanted to see if they looked normal. (I saw pics online while we were looking up her symptoms last night of healthy, not healthy and in need of replacing hip joints.) Glad to say hers look great!

We ended up getting 3 weeks worth of medication, and about 2 hours after we gave the first pill to her, she appears a lot closer to normal already. We are still supposed to try to get a urine sample whenever we can, to check for blood and crystalisation. So far, it hasn't worked. It was much easier with Patches, because he doesn't squat as close to the ground as he can possibly get. :)

Trying to get a 2 inch dixie cup under a dog that is about 1 to 1.5 inches off the ground isn't easy. But, I bet that paints a pretty picture for you, doesn't it?

Anyway, all in all, we're glad we didn't wait until Monday, because the symptom onset was pretty quick, as far as we could tell, and we didn't want to have to keep her in the makeshift diapers for longer than we had to. Even though it was really cute.

We still have no idea how much this will cost us. I am guessing the urine sample will add to the cost, but because there was no receptionist there, and the vet doesn't do billing, we have to go back in on tuesday to pay for it.

I am assuming it will be costly, though:
- emergency visit/exam including history*
- 2 x-rays
- 3 weeks of pills (42)
- urine test
*not sure if it qualifies as an emergency visit if you don't get to see the doctor right when you call. We waited about 18 hours.
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$$$$$

Cutest member of your family's health back on track: Priceless.

:) So totally worth it.

Dealing Daily

 
Lately I've been thinking about the wedding even more than usual.
 
(I KNOW!)
 
The thing is, I'm not stressed. I am getting very emotional though. (Considering how I reacted* in the Bridal House when I got my dress, I anticipate bawling the whole week before the wedding.) I have been listening to a lot of music lately, trying to figure out what to have on our "please play" list, and any preferences we might have for certain times throughout the night. When certain songs come on, not even love songs or slow songs, imagine "DJ Play My Song" by Jully Black, I picture the wedding and everyone having a good time, and dancing and then I start to tear up. I get shaky for a few minutes and have to calm myself down.
 
* Cried a few times. Like all out "mom-get-over-here" overwhelmed. The first dress did it. Then THE DRESS did it. Then later thinking about the dress did it.
 
Again, not stressed, just excited and CANNOT WAIT!!!!
 
The control freak in me is starting to come out, and fortunately so far I have been able to tame the feeling, and I sure hope that I will continue to be able to. I am getting the urge that I want to do it all myself (how ass-backwards is that?) and knwoing that I can't is really popping up in my head more and more.
 
I also want to do it all now, to be prepared as early as I possibly can, just so that it is done. I started to look at the floor plan for the reception and wanted to start planning some things, like seating arrangements, table arrangements, etc. but as Chris pointed out, it doesn't make sense to plan for any of that until the RSVP's are in... duh.
 
I think it's just that I've been dreaming about this for so long, and it seems like I've been planning it forever, so much so that I am TOO excited! I think I need to take a step back and start to meditate or something. The whole thing is getting to be a little too much for me to handle. (Getting overwhelmed easily again - see above re: dress.)
 
It's become a "several-times-daily" thing for me to think about the wedding, some aspect of it, the ceremony, the reception, the cake cutting... and get excited...
 
I can't wait. I can't even think of what to say, thinking about it has me so babbly. (See above.)
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In other news, our place is a little neater, a little cleaner, got the second bedroom setup and over half of the boxes that remained in it have been sorted, the other half are scattered in the living room awaiting sorting and putting away.
 
We also have 2 boxes (out of like 10) of clothes and towels to go through. We've gotten rid of SO MUCH stuff since we moved into this small tiny apartment, and couldn't be happier* about it. A lot of stuff has been donated to the thrift store in town, some stuff has been set aside for a garage sale thing that is hapenning the same weekend I am going to Cold Lake (23-27? ish) and some stuff I thought some people might like has been set aside into a "to-bring-to-Cold-Lake" pile, which is getting rather large.
 
*Another reason why I am hesitant to 'register' for stuff for the wedding. We literally DO NOT WANT OR NEED ANYTHING!!! We honestly and truly just want everyone to be able to make it, and have a great time while they are there. We only want to celebrate with the people we love, and don't want to end up with more stuff we don't need. I have gone back and forth on this a few times, because, obviously we could update our kitchen stuff a bit, Chris hates the plates and glasses we have, but I love them. We could use new towels that match better (light blue and burgandy so do not!) but we don't need them. I looked at some stuff at Stokes, and could totally register there for a LOT OF STUFF. I could completely restock my kitchen in that store. (And would have so much fun doing it, too.) 
 
I guess, since Chris has been cooking a lot more lately, any kitchen stuff we get would be for both of us, not just me, but still. We've made do with what we have for over 3 years and don't see the need to change it all. (He made me a really awesome fettucine alfredo, completely out of the blue, and tried to keep me out of the kitchen and the meal a total surprise, but I snuck in and kept peeking... I was so excited that Chris was cooking for me!)
 
I am torn on the issue of registering. If I did, it would end up being at like 3 different stores. Definitely Stokes. And I have no idea which two others. One with towels, I guess. Maybe one with picture frames- see below. Can you register at Michaels? (Just kidding! Sort of.) 
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If I can figure out how to post pictures from my cell phone onto my blog (not available in Canada yet) or even to flickr (same deal) I will be posting daily pics, and man, I wish I could. Also, woman, I wish I could.
 
I have probably about 16 Gigabytes of pictures to wade through to post, and the thought it almost enough to cause pain.
 
I take more than I could ever have enough time to sort, let alone printing my faves and getting them framed or anything. (I want so badly to be able to put framed pictures on my walls... Not just my own, there are some certain family members who have taken some awesome shots I would love to have framed, as well as this guy who has some of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. (He also has them posted under a creative commons license, and to clarify, I emailed him to ask if it would be okay with him if I was to print some of his pictures for my walls to hold. He is super nice and said yes, and I can't wait to have the $$$ to have this one printed. And this one, this one, and this one! I think I have about 50 of his pictures listed in my favorites on flickr, and man, if I had enough walls (and $$$), I would totally cover them all with pictures, not just from him.
 
I love pictures as much as I love music, and I LURVE MUSIC!!!! If I had to choose a sense to lose (of the 6 - cause I believe there are 6) I might have to make it taste. And I love food, too.
 
But I could live without tasting food again, but not so much without hearing music, or seeing. Definitely not those two. I know that taste and smell kind of go hand in hand, but if I could still smell but not taste, I could be okay with that. I couldn't live without touch, though. I live for hugs. :)
 
Lots and lots of hugs!
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BUT, I should go. I am trying to figure out a way to play a bunch of music that I have on my computer through Chris's speakers (he's at work - YAY! And it's a 'yay' only because he's been laid off for a few weeks. He's worked a few days here and there, but not regular by any means.)
 
I am going to sort a few boxes tonite before I go to bed. I am sure there is plenty here that is "my crap" to sort, stuff that Chris would just end up asking me what to do with it anyway, so I might as well do it!
 
:)   
 
 
 
 
 

Look up

Look up
Originally uploaded by theanykey

Huh.

Just trying out some new stuff online... I now have my flickr and blog linked so I can post my uploaded pictures directly from my flickr age. Kinda neat.

I already had it set up so that I can email posts (and then promptly forgot my login info!) and this will make picture poting easy too!

Ijust hope to be able to link my cell phone to my blo soon...