Sunday, September 19, 2010

My World

Ok, so we have had to make some modifications. First, the outside is pretty much the same. The backyard had turned into a total disaster, so we've been outside a lot. I weeded the snot out the garden areas. I added my outdoor art (finally) and I finally put my fountain up.
The living room is now covered in tarp, and I have plastic on half the furniture because Sabrina now likes to "shake" when she gets up. I decided it would be a good idea to protect what I could.
The laundry room has been a disaster. It has n't mattered too much because I do laundry about once every 3 weeks. Since I'm now doing laundry about twice a day, I decided things needed to be cleaned up.
I cleaned the kitchen up. And I'm trying to be organized as I keep up with feeding everybody, pills galore and cleaning. I went to the grocery store and actually bought healthy food. My plan is to cook ahead and have meals ready to go...we'll see how that works out.
Please note card from BFF. She sent grocery bags (since I go through a LOT of them now that I am cleaning up after a lot of poopy animals.), money (for the Sabrina's bills may actually kill me fund - so sweet and loving to know how worried and scared I am about them all) and a card that is titled "The SChitt family tree" and it lists the shits. Since my new world is full of it, she thought it appropriate. I laughed till I cried. Cause really the card/package was full of love, and it made me feel less scared and alone.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

It's important to be able to laugh, right? right?

Tuesday was my first day back at my house with both dogs and Cat. It was a bit chaotic. First, Cat may not be visible often, but I tell you what the boy shows up for breakfast.

Sadly, breakfast for Cat must start with his anti-acid medicine. He hates that. And he is shitty about it. As in, it is a big ole fight to get him to take the meds. And then he gets his new and improved, special wet smelly food for old cats food.

Sabrina then gets her many pills mixed up with peanut butter before being fed her super yummy wet dog food mixed with pumpkin.

I turn to Buddy and fill his dish with the 2 cups of dry food that he's always gotten.

If I could have filmed the expression on his face as he looked at me like, "Seriously, are you kidding me? This is what I get? I stay healthy, do what you ask? Always a good dog, and I get this crap?!?!?!?!

Poor thing.

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Background: the kitchen has been set up as Sabrina's new hang out. I have an area rug cut to fit, then a tarp laid out, then blankets on top. Then there is a tarp over most of the living area so that it is covered on the way out the door.

This morning Sabrina was in a very sassy mood. She was standing in the living room barking in a fierce manner to let me know she was not pleased with her present circumstances. As she barked, she bounced with ears flapping in the wind.

I finally got Sabrina and Buddy outside. I turned around to see that with each bounce she made, she pooped. I have a picture. I'll upload it soon. It was big poop. So, as I cleaned up, both Sabrina and Buddy began to let me know they didn't want to be outside anymore.

I let them in, and sure enough, she pooped outside too.

So, when I came back home at 10 to let her out and "express" her bladder (Yeah, I have to help her pee every time) I tried to use the sprayer on the house. The water wasn't coming out, and then it started to spray out the sides, and I swear I turned it off and then turned it towards me so that the water spraying out the side wouldn't hit me...you see where this is going don't you? Yup, I finally got the sprayer loose, and it popped off and all the water that had built up pressure sprayed me. Everything was soaked; dress, shoes, skivvy's. All of it.






I love Sabrina's vet

I rushed Sabrina to the Katy Trail Vet's office on August 19th. She actually saw Dr. Lamping. He sends us on to the Referral Surgery Center. They tell me that it is either a herniated disc or a stroke (embolism in the spine) and that up front I need to be prepared to spend X number of dollars, and, oh, by the way, we're gonna need your credit card right now.

As it turns out, I was busy getting sick as a dog that night, and I continued to be deathly ill for another week. Couldn't actually afford a doctor because I was busy racking up the bills for Sabrina.

They released her the following Wednesday. Some Vet I had never met before or spoken with did the check out. She in no way prepared me to take home a totally incontinent dog.

After a couple of weeks of nothing getting better, in fact, Sabrina got a UTI and had to take antibiotics which, some of you may know, causes diarreah. Yeah, that was no fun.

So, Dr. Murray, who is the main Vet at Katy Trail has called me almost EVERY SINGLE DAY to check on her. She is the one that suggested canned pumpkin to help with the diarreah.

By the way, never heard from the referral surgery center again.

Three weeks after the stroke, Dr. Murray tells me that she has contacted a neurologist about Sabrina and that she's worried if we don't get her bladder emptied and shrunk, she'll always be incontinent even if she gets her nerve cells back. That if we put a catheter in for the weekend, we can keep her bladder totally empty and shrink it up. And yes, it will cost X and where is your credit card.

So, the next day I get Sabrina to the Specialty Vet place that has the neurologist that is even farther away than the last place. I introduce her to one of the vets, go through the history etc. I don't speak with a vet Saturday (even though I spent 2 hours with Sabrina), the vet that calls Sunday says yes, she has a catheter in. Monday, I get a call from a receptionist telling to show up between 4 and 4:14pm to check her out.

I show up. Stand around and wait for 30 minutes before some semi goth tech guy with huge holes in his ears and a stupid little gotee. He has never dealt with Sabrina before, so he can't answer any of my questions. I asked him if she still had a bladder infection and his answer was "She had a catheter in all weekend." I'm sorry, I don't even know what that answer means.

Yes, I was totally annoyed. In fact, at one point he tells me, "Really, you just gave her bladder a break for the weekend." If I didn't feel like a knew better I would have absolutely had a tizzy. I just paid HOW much???? To just give her bladder a break for the weekend??? Then they had me schedule a check-up in six weeks.

Dr. Murray called the next day, because she is the BEST VET EVER. She said she wanted to see Sabrina that afternoon if possible. How awesome is she? So, after seeing her she prescribed something to help with the diarreah. She also told me she had called the last place to talk to an actual vet.

Today she called to let me know that Sabrina does still have the bladder infection. So we have upped the antibiotics, upped the pumpkin, I'm now on a search for Cranberries to feed her twice a day and she has one medicine from the specialty vet.

So, for another six weeks we have the waiting game to see if there is any improvement.


Bailey's may save my life

Ok, I will step back.

The day that I "moved" into Mom and Dad's, if you recall, I was sick as a dog. So, I get all of the blankets etc that I could find, plus my clothes, plus Sabrina's kennel and Buddy and drive to their house.

I lay down with great dramatics, and say, "I must rest before picking up Sabrina."

Dad, who happened to be home, said, "Well I need to go to Sprouts before you leave."

He gets home. Does he have fruit? vegetables? meat? fish? No. He had 14 bottles of wine and a bottle of Baileys. Yes, sir. I like the way you think. This is exactly how we will get through this.

So, I head off to pick up Sabrina. As a side note, although you might imagine that when you pay THOUSANDS of dollars for pet care that you would get a higher level of service and interest... you would be wrong. Indeed the vet that "checked Sabrina out" actually didn't know anything. And, gave me even less information. Just sent me on my way.

Each evening, after dinner, Dad would get up get the Bailey's and bring us glasses. We went through the first bottle within 3 days. I looked at Dad with horror. "But, look how well we've been getting along I said. It has to be the Bailey's."

"Good point," Dad said. So, each time we got close to running out, he'd go buy more. Yeah, we went through a good bit.

As it turns out, I have Bailey's at home. That, as they say, is a very good thing.


Thursday, September 9, 2010

Memory Lane

Wow. So, open house was Monday night. I thought I would go through my last 5 years of posts and read about past open houses. Do you know what I found? Practically nothing I tell you. Practically nothing. Do you want to know why? Because open house is boring. I'm not boring. I am sweetly eccentric and charmingly odd, but open house itself? boring. Same crap that I say every year. Parents staring at me. Me getting slightly nervous about talking.

At any rate, Open house was Tuesday after Memorial Day. Whoop.

In the meantime, after 3 weeks at my parents house I have gotten really, shockingly used to having a Bailey's every night.

Sabrina goes to the neurologist tomorrow, and she's either going to stay for a week as they work to get her bladder issues under control or we are going to have to give up. She can't live the rest of her life in the kitchen. It's just not ok.

Buddy, Cat and I will move home Saturday. I'm still praying that she is ok. She can walk again. She knows when she has to go to the bathroom and she lets me know, so I know she is getting better. We just have to get over the final hump!!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

It's a 5 loads of laundry day

Sabrina is now able to get up and down without help. It's not always pretty, but she can do it. We've taken walks a couple of times (around the block mostly, and she starts out pretty fast, but she usually slows down to a normal human rate (which she has never walked before) by the end of the walk.)

We went back to her regular vet on Tuesday. That was a total comedy of errors. I was looking cute with a skirt and jacket. Mom got in the car first (because taking her to the vet is now a two man job) to block off the front of the car so she would be forced to stay on the plastic tarp in case of accidents. Little did I know that as I was getting her in the car accidents had already begun. So, I hollar out to mom to get some tissues.

She runs back in the house, grabs tissues. Comes back out I clean up Sabrina and realize that I have poop down my skirt. I send mom back in with the poop and a request for jeans.

We finally got on the road with my sweet poopy girl. We could smell things getting worse in the back as we got farther down the road. Yeah, we found where she dropped it when we got to the vet's. It was a really good time.

The vet put her on Xanax to help her relax and not be all freaked out all the time (which is helping) and something for the urinary infection (which explains why she cried every time I tried to help her pee and lurched to snap at me.)

Things have actually been rolling along. Today, not so much rolling as just totally and complete day of constant pooping. If the last 3 hours are anything to go by, I don't know how Mom and Dad survived the day. I am so tired. I have done two loads of laundry since I got home and there is another load waiting to be started.

Poor Sabrina. I have washed her backside down several times. Oh, the smells are quite horrible too.

I recently made a comparison that Sabrina has become like a two year old child without a diaper on. You are trying to keep your eye out in case of pooping and peeing and God forbid if she starts playing in it, stepping in it, etc. Well, today it smells like the home of a two year old with a lot of poopy diapers laying around, if you know what I mean.

One more day of the week to survive, and then it is a three day weekend. I might relish it more if I didn't know my future holds a lot of cleaning, and pooping and peeing. sigh.

The vet has made me hopeful that we can get everything under control. I am praying with everything inside of me that we can get it worked out to the point that she can go 8 hours a day alone. Cause as grateful as I am that Mom and Dad are helping and letting me sleep on the couch, I am seriously missing my own bed, and home and stuff.