Celebrate! Commiserate!

This is my 300th post. I don't even know what to say about that. 300 posts later and I still don't really understand blogging or the friends and family who may read my random ramblings. 300 posts in and I still don't have a voice or a reason for writing other than a repository of memories and photos of A. I know that I haven't been updating as much lately. Since the last post, we have attended 3 adorable birthday parties (and I had a friend's birthday lunch and another friend's birthday dinner), one of my closest and dearest friends came to spend the weekend, I traveled out of town to give a research talk, I've attended or led more committee meetings than I can count, and read or sent hundreds of emails.

On Friday night we took A to Urgent Care because she was complaining of ear pain. She had a low grade fever related to a double ear infection. It appeared that one of her tubes had fallen out (no surprise given it was February 2013 that she got them) and the other ear tube was displaced and sideways in her ear canal. She seemed to respond really well to the Omnicef but on Sunday she spiked a fairly high fever (ranging from 102-104.8), complained of dizziness, refused to eat, and went to bed hours earlier than usual. However, on Monday morning she woke up happy and her temperature was 97.8. We hung out at home and were considering going to gymnastics but her temperature popped back up again. Tuesday was a repeat of the same so the pediatrician wanted to see her. She said she thought this was just a secondary virus so Chad stayed home with A on Wednesday and fortunately, her temperature stayed normal all day. Tomorrow we go to Tulsa for her pulmonology appointment.

In other tough news, the vet called us this afternoon to let us know that, after running more tests on Jasper last week, she is confident that he has Cushing's Disease. While some of his lab work was inconclusive, his presentation is prototypic--polydipsia, increased hunger and food scavenging, fatigue, increased urination, hair loss, thinning of the skin, etc. I have not hidden the fact that I have been incredibly frustrated with both dogs since having A and gaining more responsibilities at work while they become more dependent with increased medical needs. However, I do feel bad that he is struggling. We will be talking with the vet to determine our options (which likely will involve chemotherapy but may instead involve medication, surgery, or radiation) as Cushing's Disease seems to respond well to treatment and quality of life can be regained after a few months of the correct plan. Separately, I am going to attempt to think of things I can do to appreciate both dogs more often and to offer them extra love because they really have been a part of our family for so long.

Batman party at the park:

Fun mermaid surprise party, with special guest, Ariel (who A was obsessed with)!

Safari party at Lost Creek Safari:

 

Urgent Care visit

 Sick days sweetness

Curly Sue