There was no warning. It began fine: I had bought James a new duffle bag for our anniversary to take to dialysis (the old bag was falling apart). It has a separate compartment intended for gym shoes or a wet towel/swimsuit, and we have put his blanket in there. He doesn't really needed it, because now that he's on dialysis, he's not cold all the time. There's a compartment for his sugar-free mints, one for his snacks and visor, one for his water bottle and a juice box, one for his TV schedule, and then the inner compartment has a pocket into which he has two paperback books. The central compartment now just holds his noise-cancelling headphones (dialysis clinics are loud), his neck pillow, and his tablet (charged daily so he can watch Battlebots and whatever that Sylvester Stallone show is).

Tuesday was a disaster. James twisted, thrashed, and kicked because he was in pain all night. Needless to say I didn't sleep, and we went to Hanger to get his back brace fitted in very ill tempers. As we pulled out of the driveway a car stopped in front of us and the driver got out.

I've talked many times about Tucker's adversarial relationship with Max, the German Shepherd on the corner. I don't know how much I've mentioned his relationship with Champion, the German Shepherd down at the end of the street. His people rent a house in the lower cul-de-sac. I watched Champion from when he was a young dog. He has always approached Tucker with curiosity--"Oh, look, what a cute little dog!"--and Tucker approached him back with his head up and his tail wagging obligingly. It was obvious they both wanted to play together, but of course his person was walking him one way, and I was walking Tucker the other.

It was Champion's owner who stopped to talk to us: Champion DIED on Monday; he said they didn't know why.

We couldn't go home afterwards because James was scheduled for the bone scan at Kaiser, so we spent about a half-hour in Barnes & Noble before heading to Townpark. I was quite woozy and sick; we were going to stop at Walmart for yogurt and I was so sick we didn't. I did manage to get us a couple of treats in Bernhard's Bakery.

I was feeling better Wednesday, so after finishing the Lidl/Publix/Kroger grocery route, stopped at Walmart on the way home for the yogurt. In the evening I finally bit the bullet and ordered new phones. My current cell reboots at odd times and loses connection on local streets, and it's beginning to eat battery. I got James a desert tan color and I got a red one. Maybe it will be easier to find.

Then...out of nowhere, James got up Thursday morning, went out to make breakfast, and found out Tucker had vomited on the floor. Sometimes he does just get an upset stomach and vomit. But Wednesday he only ate one dog biscuit and a mouthful of rice in beef stock. He was listless and his eyes were tragic and he'd only drink if he licked it off my hands during the day. He drank more at night and ate a couple more dog biscuits. By afternoon I called Riverview and made him an appointment for the next day.

Thursday Tucker wouldn't even walk down the stairs voluntarily. I scooped him up and carried him on his back in his blanket and he just lay there. He hates being held upside down. His breath was raspy.

He stayed at the vet the rest of the day and overnight. He had a high fever (105℉!) and diarrhea and had IVs getting antibiotics into him and helping his dehydration.

We went to pick him up but he was limp and listless on Friday. I had to feed him with Hill's Urgent Care soft food with a syringe, and this was the only time he struggled. He has a dangerously low level of white blood cells in his body, can't go near other dogs and we have to watch him because he's susceptible to sepsis. It was so bad Saturday night I had a meltdown. This is too fucking much. First it was Oliver, then James in the hospital, then James at home, then the falls, and now it's poor Tucker. I felt totally helpless.

Sunday was a little better, as I did get some stuff done, but a real struggle to feed Tucker via syringe (I mean, I get it! I would hate it, too!).

Labels: dogs, food, health, pets, shopping, sickness, smartphones, technology

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 3:30:00 PM

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We saw our first Christmas lights Monday night, November 4! I love Christmas decorations, guys! But, too early!

Tried to avoid election coverage on Tuesday by watching a movie, but after the film curiosity got the better of us and we stayed up until midnight watching the returns. I will admit I am not happy, although I disliked both candidates. When your new "leader" nominates an anti-vaxxer to run a health organization there is something wrong. Our parents worshiped the ground Drs. Salk and Sabin walked on, because their children were not crippled, were not confined to an iron lung, did not die from polio, all because of vaccines. Smallpox was a dreadful thing. Just not right.

Chores for the rest of the week, and a visit to Dr. Salazar on Friday ended the week. We had not yet seen the orders for the tests, but he assured us they were in the system.

So Saturday was a very busy day: we were up early to get in line for free electronics recycling day. Yay, that stupid microwave James keeps barking his leg on is gone. Also my venerable vacuum cleaner, which gave me much joy. The new one works wonderfully, but it's still too heavy. Then we had Hair Day and got to see Mel and Phyllis! We nipped home afterward for a meal (James made pork chops and we ate at three), and then went to Kaiser Townpark. James had two CT scans starting at 5:40, and then we had to wait the hour until his 8 p.m. MRI. It was a relief to get home.

It was chilly and cloudy on Sunday, such wonderful weather! Tucker and I had a long walk, me clad in my favorite fabric, flannel! Later I put up the upstairs and foyer Thanksgiving decorations

Labels: Christmas, election, events, exercise, friends, health, sickness, Thanksgiving, weather

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:25:00 PM

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James has finally seen the spinal doctor at Emory!

Not that it did him much good.

The appointment was wayyyyy over at the old Executive Park complex which used to be a rabbit warren of little buildings, many of them rented by CDC. I had attended meetings and classes at Executive Park; the plus of going there was that it was near a plaza that was filled with restaurants, including a Chinese place we were very fond of going to for Friday lunch.

All of the buildings are now gone. In its place are the big Arthur Blank Hospital, part of Children's Hospital of Atlanta, a bunch of construction, and the Emory Muskoskeletal and Spinal Center, which was us. The building is shiny new, with a very nice-smelling cafe at the entrance. They have an interesting system of elevators, too. When you get there you register, and they give you a ticket telling you where to go: Level 4, for example, and then Aisle E. Then you go to the elevator bay which has a central panel. You tell the elevator you're going to Level 4, and it tells you what elevator to take. There are no buttons in the elevator; it's kinda spooky.

Anyway, we saw Dr. Hobson, but nothing was done that Thursday; she wanted a battery of tests first: a complete spinal CT scan, a complete MRI of the spine, and a bone density test. She doesn't want to start a treatment for his lower back that will screw up his upper back. She also prescribed a back brace, which we'll get from Hangar Orthotics, and hydrotherapy. When we got home we tried to set up the CT and MRI immediately, but the orders weren't in the system yet; they did not go in until Wednesday and James made appointments on Saturday evening the 9th at Townpark, but he couldn't get the bone scan until the following Tuesday. But it will be done quickly, so we can hopefully get James some pain relief.

This wasn't our only appointment this week; we also went to see Dr. Coyle. The fistula still isn't "ripe." You know, we were told, both times, that this thing would be "ripe" in six weeks. Now they tell us six weeks to three months!

In happier trips, we drove out to the Costco in Paulding County again. We got supplies, but there was no ScotTissue! We also stopped at the Walmart out there and I was able to find twelve cans of the recently discontinued Harvest Tomato soup, which I use to make chicken cacciatore. I think this is the only big haul I'm going to be able to get. I now have 20 cans, and then we will need to find something else. I'm very sad.

James had already filled in his mail-in ballot, and I did mine on Wednesday. When we left dialysis, we drove past the Smyrna community center where they were having early voting. This year they did allow me to deposit James' ballot along with mine; last year they insisted he do it himself.

I put up the outside Thanksgiving decorations on Friday only to discover I had no Thanksgiving flag! I ordered one immediately, a very beautiful surround of autumn leaves surrounding the word "thankful." Then I drove out to the Walmart near Roswell Road and Cobb Parkway in hope of finding more Harvest Tomato soup. No luck there, but they did have slip-on canvas shoes that I use for dog-walking at night. And just in time, too, because when I got home and swapped out the inserts in my old dog-walking shoes, I discovered the soles of both shoes were cracked!

This Walmart is next to Sam's Club, so I went in for ScotTissue. Thank goodness, they did have some! They also had—oh, my ears and whiskers!—poultry gravy. It has been like pulling teeth to find containers of poultry gravy; you can get brown gravy all the time, but not poultry. I ended up paying something like fifteen dollars to get a canister of McCormick poultry gravy mix from Amazon, and there they were at Sam's Club for $5 each. So I bought three!

Uploaded a new fanfic as well: "Haunted."

Labels: change, clothing, food, health, shopping, sickness, writing

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:37:00 PM

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