The Toughest Dog I Know

Well, Bella came home today! The difference from Monday evening to today is phenomenal. We thought she might not make it, but now we are very hopeful. Her creatinine levels continued to fall from 3.8 yesterday to 2.5 today (1.6 is normal) and her BUN levels (I think they measure dehydration) had fallen from 60 yesterday to 23 today (25 is normal). Things definitely seem to be headed in the right direction.

Of course, keep in mind that today is the first day off her iv fluids too, so we have to keep a sharp (read: paranoid) eye on her over the next several days to make sure that she is still producing plenty of urine. So far, she is a champ at that. She is having trouble holding it, in fact. That will certainly be an unpleasant challenge, but hopefully it will be temporary. We just don't know yet.

We left the vet's office with two medications for her stomach (she has been bleeding some) and we still need to pick up one other medication for her kidneys which had to be ordered. We have special prescription diet food and more tests to be done on Monday to recheck kidney functions. All in all, she's home and we're happy and very paranoid.

Bella has definitely earned the title of "Toughest Dog I Know". She could have given up and we could have given up on her. The numbers certainly were not at all in her favor, especially the longer we went, but we all kept fighting and praying and loving her, and with the help and care of the vet and her staff, we still have our Bella girl.

And now, the pictures. The first one was taken on my cell phone on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after she ate the Ibuprofen. She was laying on the floor of the emergency clinic because she couldn't stand for more than a minute or two. She couldn't even hold her head up or keep her tongue in her mouth. She was basically heavily intoxicated and nearly dead.

The picture below is from tonight. She is calmer than usual and pretty worn out. She definitely doesn't have the same energy level she used to, but we are seeing sparks of that old dog every so often. She even sparred with Puma the cat this evening.

Bella seems very hungry. She doesn't really like her new diet, but she's going to have to learn. She's been searching for other food all night, which worries me, since that's how she got into this predicament in the first place!

Here are the shaved spots on her two front legs from where the iv catheter was placed. Her paws are no longer swollen at all, but it's going to take a while for all the hair to grow back. This, oddly enough, is what concerned Emily the most, I suppose because she could actually see the damage.

Loving on my Bella girl...she's enjoying lots of attention, a new bed, many kisses and even a few gentle belly rubs (she still wants them, apparently!)

Bella, saying...."Enough with the camera, mom!"

Welcome home, sweet girl!

Update on Bella

Tonight's update will have to be quick because it's late and I'm tired.

We visited Bella twice today, once just Em and me and then again with Andrew. I was struck by how much more energetic she seemed today and she was full of kisses. She just seemed better. The swelling in her paw has gone down dramatically as well.

We also got some very encouraging news. Her creatinine (sp?) levels had gone down from a high of 4.2 to 3.8 this morning. The normal is around 1.6 I think. There's still a lot with which to be concerned, but this is the first drop we've seen. Her dehydration levels (I'm sure I'm not using the correct terms here) had dropped from around 100 down to 60 today, with 25 being in the normal range. She is still peeing and pooping, with some blood in her stool, indicating bleeding in her tummy. The vet is going to almost double her stomach protectant dose, start her on a new medicine which will create good bacteria to eat the bad bacteria produced by the kidneys. Hopefully it will all help. She is eating a little, but she doesn't really like her special diet. They have to bribe her with better food. (That's my girl!)

Bella is still on iv fluids, but the vet might try to use a smaller amount and see how she does tomorrow. There is the possibility that she will be able to come home tomorrow evening, but I just want to be sure that she is stable enough to be safe.

I pray that she is turning the corner towards recovery now. Last night was a really low point and a hard night for me. Today has been much better...may the good days continue.

Oh and on a sidenote...I went to the eye doctor today. I do indeed have a couple of infected glands on my eyelid, plus a definite allergic reaction, mostly in the same eye, to something. What, I don't know. So now I have new prescription eye drops to use 4 times a day, I'm stuck in my glasses for the next week until I return to the eye doc and I have some REALLY stylish paper sunglasses to sport since I had my pupils dilated.

Yes, I was a freak show today! I took a picture of myself with the nice sunglasses on my cell phone, but I couldn't see it to know how good/bad it was. I'll have to check before I can post that one!

Good night and keep praying.

Hope and Fear

Today we went to see Bella again. The vet has been great about communicating with us and encouraging us to come in and spend a little time with Bella. They think it helps her, and so do I. We got to actually spend about 10 minutes in a private room with her today, which was nicer. Her poor paws are so swollen from the iv catheters, but that's minor damage compared to what is still raging inside.

After bloodwork today, her red blood count is in the normal range, but her kidney values are still rising. It's possible that we are reaching the peak, but it's also possible that this is a worsening of her condition. Her temperature is low and her gums are pale (don't know if that's good or bad). She was still giving plenty of kisses and wagging her tail and she obviously wanted to come home with Emily and me. She is still on fluids and stilling urinating a lot, but the question now is, if we take her off the forced fluids, will her kidneys still work at all. The vet wanted to keep her again overnight and then run more bloodwork tomorrow morning. She said that the half-life of ibuprofen was about 5 days, which is basically where we are right now. This may be the worst or it may be the beginning of something more. We just don't know at this point and my heart is heavy. I'm not ready to give up on her and I don't think she's ready to give up either. She's fighting so very hard. I can't believe she's made it through this far.

So, if you are the praying type....pray hard for her kidneys to heal. The vet said that she will likely have permanent kidney problems, but we'll deal with that later. Besides, miracles still happen...I just pray that Bella is one of them.

Still Waiting and Hoping

Well, what to write? It's been a very, very long and worry-filled weekend. Lot's of ups and downs with Bella, lot's of running from one vet to another and filling out paperwork and transferring meds and lifting Bella in and out of the van. Add to the melee that Emily is really struggling with the idea that if she doesn't poop on the potty every single time she goes, she will be sick. She walks around with her hand covering her mouth (just in case) and is literally obsessed with the idea that she might be sick. She's also now worried that her food or drink might be "yucky" (because I told her that her hours -old chocolate milk would be yucky to drink) so she is becoming afraid to eat.

And just to add insult to injury, my right eyelid started swelling up this afternoon for no apparent reason. It isn't too bad, just annoying on top of everything else. Just what I need. Now I need to wear my glasses (which drive me nuts for long periods of time) and they don't like to stay up well.

Now for a Bella update....I picked her up at the weekend emergency clinic at 7:20 this morning. She definitely looked better. Her tongue is back where it belongs, which is to say, she was licking me a little bit. She seemed more steady on her feet, though one paw is very swollen, probably from the iv catheter. After getting her settled back at our vet, they ran bloodwork and said that her liver numbers were getting close to normal, which in and of itself is an absolute miracle. Her kidney numbers are still high/rising?. We thought before the bloodwork that she might be home tonight, but after seeing the kidney results, the vet decided to keep her another night and continue to give her more fluids. Hopefully they will do more bloodwork tomorrow morning and she will be given the all-clear to come home. We did get a chance to visit with her this afternoon for a few minutes. Andrew couldn't go because of work, but I took Em to kind of prepare her for how Bella might look. I think it did Bella some good because her tail started wagging pretty hard and she gave Em and me lots more kisses this morning. I guess she really does love the kid too, even though she's "my" dog.

So, we wait a little more.

UPDATE: My VERY Expensive Value Ibuprofen

So, I bought a value-pack of 200 mg. ibuprofen, where if I bought one 100-count bottle, I got a second one absolutely free. I probably paid around $3.00 for 200 pills. I pretty good deal, right?

Wrong.

A couple of days ago, I had a bad headache, much like a migraine. I had taken Excedrin first thing in the morning, but by noon, relief had not come, so I opened one of the bottles of ibuprofen and took two. No problem.

Fast forward to today...Em and I were celebrating her latest feat....she has finally done #2 on the potty!!!! So as a reward, I made today about her. She wanted to go to Burger King for lunch (and mostly to play in the play area). Then we visited a couple other stores.

Since it was 91 degrees and humid, I left Bella inside, knowing that she is usually fine on her own for a couple hours. We got home a few hours later and she had torn into a new package of diapers (that are now destroyed). They were old in that they were the wrong size, but I was planning on keeping them in case we ever get brave enough to try for a sibling for Em. Then I noticed a couple of bright orange stains on the carpet of animal origin....and then I found the two value bottles of ibuprofen in the middle of the living room.

Despite picking them up off the floor before we left and their childproof caps, one bottle (the one I'd already used) was ripped open and full of tooth marks...and only 3 pills remaining. By my calculation, that means that Bella must have eaten 95 pills or 19,000 mg of ibuprofen, thus explaining the orange stains.

So, one hour, one vet trip and nearly a whole bottle of cleaning solution later, my value-pack of ibuprofen has now cost me an estimated $750 (assuming that all goes well, which is still not certain). Bella will be staying at the animal hospital until at least Monday, maybe longer. She will be catheterized, iv'ed, charcoaled, tested, etc...and hopefully not much worse for the wear.

Calgon....take me away!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE

Well, it's now 5:45 pm on Saturday and I spent the morning grocery shopping and transporting Bella to a different emergency clinic. She does not look good. When I dropped her off yesterday, she seemed fine other than the vomiting. Today is patently obvious that she is very, very sick. Her liver and kidneys are definitely being affected right now, leading us to believe that she must have just eaten the pills shortly before I got home yesterday. Maybe we got to her in time, but either way, she is extremely ill and the vet says it's just too soon to tell. She can barely walk more than a few feet at a time, her breathing is very labored, her tongue just hangs out of her mouth and she is peeing on herself all the time (this is a good thing though). Please pray if you think of it. Losing her would be terrible for all of us, but it would devestate Emily, not to mention probably terrify her.

Oh and did I mention that the earlier bill for the first vet was just the "intro to veterinary emergency medical costs"? You (and I) don't even want to know!

Why My Life is Better than Malott's

Yesterday, the staff over at Malott's Blog wrote a post entitled, "Why My Life is Better Than Yours". While Malott was busy bragging about his life, I was busy with this:

Yes folks, that is homemade vanilla ice cream...an entire gallon!

Above is the finished product of my very first attempt at making ice cream. I must say, with all due respect to Malott, if I have to choose between tomatoes and homemade ice cream...well, is there really even a choice there? Next to try....chocolate!

And finally, here is a creature whose life is quite possibly better than mine or Malott's. Lazy beast!

The New Back Garden: A month later

My cherry tree in the corner seems to be thriving. The two new plantings are the tall spider flowers against the back wall. I hope they are perennials, but no one seems to know!

Closer views of the spider flowers. They look better now, after a couple of days of heavy watering.

My daylillies, bucket geraniums and one of the new hostas. Also note the new mulch and edging!

The long view...a better looks at the edging.

The Garden in Front

The growing hostas and the new white/pink rosebush

A close up of the beautiful new roses

The other end of the front garden. My huge hosta, the hydrangea behind the rock, and my lilies in front, which are almost ready to bloom.

Now this is one gorgeous hydrangea bloom if I do say so myself!

The new dark brown mulch and one of my massive clumps of daylillies.

Gardening Update

Well, it's been quite a while since I updated my faithful readers on my gardening projects, so here goes. We have done quite a bit of work on the two main flower gardens, including the all-new garden in the backyard and more revamping of the huge monstrosity in the front of the house.

I am proud to say that after more than a month, my new garden in the back looks great. Everything seems to be thriving, though some plants are done blooming, and it now has mulch and edging, with a few new plantings and geraniums in the metal buckets along the wall.

The front garden got some pruning, two old stumps removed (man, that's hard work!) and a new white/pink rose bush. I have another rose bush that will have yellow roses edged with pink, but I haven't planted it yet. It is just getting ready to bloom any day now. My hostas that I planted 3 years ago finally look healthy and larger, my hydrangea bush is still small, but it has gorgeous pink blooms all over it. I still have 6 hostas to plant in various areas, one rose bush, two spider plants (nasty named things, but very lovely), two more stumps to pull and more mulch to spread, but all in all, things are shaping up very nicely!

And now the pictures, which will probably take up two posts above this....

Must See Tv?

Very quickly, may I just say that someone finally took my suggestion.

There is a show that debuted this even on NBC called "Baby Borrowers". It is all about teens who think they are ready to be parents who get that exact opportunity.

It was brilliant. Watch it an judge for yourself next week.

Their logo is something like "it's not t.v - it's birth control!"

Very interesting and so far, well done.

Potty Training...Number 2

Okay, so I have to admit our dirty little secret. We have what appears to be the oldest child we know who is still not fully potty trained.

Yes, it stinks!

I am tired of changing diapers. I am tired of buying diapers or pull-ups or "nighttime undies" as we've taken to calling them. You see, Emily is now three and three-quarters years old. She is our "little" Amazon woman which also provides an interesting challenge...diapers are not made for almost-4 year olds who are built more like 5 year olds. So we have resorted to the only thing left which fits, only at night and naptime...diapers for older children who have bedwetting issues. If possible, they might even be more expensive than regular diapers because they cannot be bought in bulk.

Our problem is with number 2. Yep...poop. Em has been peeing in the potty for at least 6 months now with almost no problem. She can even stay dry during her nap. But she absolutely stubbornly refuses to poop on the potty. She waits until I put her diaper on at night to poop.

So this week, I determined that enough was enough. It was time to get down to business. I took away the diapers. I wasn't too worried about naptime, because from time to time, Em would take a suprise nap with her big girl undies on and keep them dry. She was okay with naptime being in regular undies, but nighttime is a different story. She really wants her diaper. She wants it to poop. And I'm not giving in...and neither is she. I have a feeling she will have a little trouble with bedwetting, so I'm not opposed to giving her a diaper to sleep in at night only, but if all she wants it for is to poop in, then all bets are off. The time has come to take a stand.

Except, how do you make a kid poop if they are destermined not to?

We're now going on day 3 and still nothing. I have told her that if she doesn't go, it will make her tummy hurt. I've explained how the whole thing works. I've bribed. I've taken away her precious princess dresses (nightgowns that she would wear all day and night) until she gives in. So far, nothing is moving.

So now what? I don't want to scare her. I don't want to make it a terrible experience, but at the same time, when is enough enough? She is supposed to be fully potty trained before preschool. I know she will be fine and I really haven't pressured up until this point, but at almost four years old, this is ridiculous.

Any suggestions, help, advice, tips or encouragement is completely begged, solicited and welcome at this point!

(And all puns, fully intended...hey you gotta laugh, right?)

The Butterfly Garden

Our local zoo has a new butterfly pavillion exhibit this year, so we had to check it out. Some of the butterflies were still hatching from their cocoons, but there were still many flying all around. They were all from South America and most were rather large.

The butterfly below was my favorite. I loved the colors. This one stayed resting on a rock the entire time we visited.

The picture below is of a huge butterfly that hitched a ride on my mom's back for about 10 minutes.

Another very colorful butterfly checking out the plants.

I just thought this little guy was very photogenic.

"Lion" Around

So I mentioned before that the lions were my favorite animals at the zoo. First, they are cats, and everyone here knows I am a fan of cats. I mean, how can anyone not admire these beautiful creatures? Sure, they are imensely lazy for the most part, but would you tangle with one? I think not?

The picture below is a bit blurry because this big fella was on the prowl with a lot to say. Until a couple years ago, I had never heard a real lion roar. It's an awesome sound, very different from the way I imagined it. There is a resonance that fills the air. It is fierce, in charge and awe-inspiring. It cannot be ignored. I have no doubt that this is part of why one of the names of God is "the Lion of Judah".

This lion has such a wise and understanding face. (Not so understanding that I would put my hand near it, however!)

Basking in the sun....what a life.

All that roaring and sleeping really wears a lion out, I guess.

To Tide You Over....

It's been a very busy few weeks around here. My family came for a visit last week and, since gas prices stayed above $4.00/gal., we tried to find local things to do.

We went to the local zoo on Tuesday. It was a cool sunny day and ideal for viewing the animals. I have more pictures to post, but that will have to wait until another day when Blogger is cooperating better. Until then, these will have to suffice. Here are just a few of the more photogenic animals we saw:

This white tiger was close enough to touch (if the glass weren't there!) He was beautiful and his paws were enormous. I thought this was a nice picture.

I think this crazy camel had an itch. He kept rubbing his belly and "boohind" (as Em calls it) on this tree stump. The best part is that I have a picture almost identical to this one from a visit a couple of years ago.

This peacock was all over the place. He even came within a foot of our picnic table.

This wallaby was munching on some grass and weeds. Cute little rodent, isn't he?

I have more pictures of these lions that I will post later, but they are my favorite animals at the zoo. So majestic and beautiful...and cats!

Oh the Humidity!

Ugh!

That's probably the best word for this week thus far. It's very hot and humid all of the sudden, after a rather short, cool spring. A couple of weeks ago, we were still under the threat of frost at night, now it is 90 degrees, windy, hot and humid for the forseeable future. What happened to spring?

Then, to make matters worse, Emily is sick. Tuesday afternoon, she fell while jumping on the bed and hit her head on her rocking chair...hard. She was fine the rest of the day and night, but woke up at 6:00 am Wednesday morning complaining of a headache and neckpain...and then her tummy hurt. We hurried downstairs into the usual "sick day" headquarters (the couch in the living room), popped in a video and grabbed a trashcan....just in time for the vomitting to begin. That lasted every 10-20 minutes until around 11:00, then I thought we were in the clear.

Thursday morning rolled around and after a quiet night, I thought all would be well, but it wasn't to be. Em was pretty lethargic and feverish, and then there was diarrhea and then more vomitting. Fun, fun stuff. So I started wondering if all this could possibly be the result of her hitting her head. The nurse at the doctor's office didn't think so, but she wanted to play it safe as did the doctor. So we went to the doctor's office, where they ordered a CT scan of Em's head. Let's just say that it was quite the experience. She was fine with the idea of the doctor taking a picture of the inside of her head...until she saw the scanning machine. Then she said, very quickly, "I think I'm feeling gooder now. I don't think I'm sick anymore!"

Three people later (myself included) we had wrangled Emily to a reclining position on the special "ride" (the table that moves up and down). She was not amused. But she was fine, so that's all that really mattered.

So all this to say, it's probably yet another tummy bug (most likely acquired during one of our numerous trips to each and every public restroom Emily sees, and then, must use.)

That's been our week in a nutshell.

A Visit to the Butterfly Garden

Emily and I visited a local garden center yesterday for the purpose of visiting their butterfly pavillion. (Or as Emily calls them..."buttflies") We've tried to see the butterflies for about 2 years now, but missed them everytime. This year, someone told us that they usually appear at the end of May, so off we went.

Still no butterflies.

But there were frogs in the two ponds. Miss Em is currently rather fascinated with frogs. She's found a couple of frogs in the backyard and has named them Mr. Tumnus (we were reading the Chronicles of Narnia at the time) and The Robinsons. (Yes, one frog, plural name!) So instead of "buttflies" we watched the frogs jump in and out of the water and peek at us.

Above, Emily trying to spot some frogs in the pond.

Emily, posing for a cute picture.

One lone frog, peeking out from the water, just slightly above the middle of the picture . Look close! (Or click on the picture to enlarge it a bit)

Things No One Should Ever Have To See

I saw this on a Popeye's sign while driving through a parking lot yesterday.

YUCK!

I saw this when I finished filling up the tank of my Ford Windstar minivan which averages about 15.8 mpg.

TRIPLE YUCK!!!

I especially like the note at the bottom, telling me to "have a nice day". Okay, I will when I get over the sticker shock!

A School-Year Completed

Emily's last official day of preschool (she still likes to call it "pretty school") was today. All the preschool speech programs had a celebration in the school's courtyard with snacks, crafts and games. Em had a lot of fun. I, on the other hand, was relegated to the birdhouse-making table which involved the used of yarn, toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and bird seeds....and preschoolers. I'm going to be smelling peanut butter for a long time.

Anyhow, I thought I'd post the first-day-of-school photos and the last-day photos to compare.

Above is Em's first day of preschool on September 18, 2007.

Above and below are Em's pictures from this morning. Notice the difference in height. She's going to be sooooo tall.

A close-up of Miss Em, who insists on correcting us if we call her sweetie pie (or anything else) and reminding us that her name is (in her own special pronunciation) "Emiwee Ewivef ". This of course, is Emily Elizabeth, for those who don't speak Emily!

A Walk in the Park

These pictures are a couple weeks old, but since nothing interesting has happened today, I thought I'd share them.

Above, Emily is watching her first kite fly.

Of course, this is the kite, complete with a picture of Cinderella.

Em, flying solo. She enjoyed the new experience for about 5 minutes, then it was on to something else.

Above is a picture of the river from our nature trail walk. This is the same basic angle as the picture on the header of this blog. That one was taken in the fall with all the colorful leaves still on the trees. This one was taken in late April/early May with no leaves and a noticeably high water level. (Note the absence of the rocks at the base of the trees.) It was a long, wet, snowy winter!

Garden Update: Day 4

So far, so good. Everything looks like it did when we planted it, meaning it is still alive and thriving after 4 whole days under my care.

Today, we planted a few more flowers to fill in everything.

I thought we needed a bit more color, so we planted a couple Gerber daisies in a dark pink/red, which I really like.

The daisies are on either side of the grassy-looking day lily plants,

The yellow flower is one-of-a-kind. It belongs to Emily and she picked it our herself and helped me plant and water it. It's not a great picture, but it is a yellow dahlia (which I also really like).

Nothing too special here. Just a closer view of some of my flowers, since the first set of pictures from 3 days ago weren't very close because it was raining.

So there you have it. That's my story!