Not So Fun Times At the Animal ER

Yesterday evening I was hanging out in bed with a book when I looked over at my dog and realized he was having a seizure. I managed to stay calm -- I've had enough exposure to epilepsy in both the pets and people in my family to not freak out too much (although, our dog Fizzgigg passed away during a seizure, so there was definitely some freaking) as I called out to Matt and told him what was happening.

It lasted about ten minutes, but after it passed, Pete seemed fine, albeit a little freaked out himself, but we decided we'd rather be safe than sorry, so we took him to the animal ER closest to our house. They did a full blood workup to rule out poison or illness as a cause, and kept him overnight for observation. Ten hours and $400 later, I picked him up and learned that he didn't have any other episodes and that his blood tests all came back normal. Nevertheless, they left an IV catheter in his leg and sent me away with a bag of IV fluid with instructions to take him directly to his regular vet for a follow-up.

Which I did, despite the fact that it was only 7 AM and his vet wasn't open yet. Somewhere between the ER and his vet my worry-addled and coffee-deprived brain realized I should call ahead. Nobody answered, but the machine said that they opened at 7:30, so I stayed the course and drove all the way across town to his "regular" vet, i.e., the place where we chose to have him neutered three years ago because it was close to my then-workplace. I got there right at 7:30 and they still hadn't opened yet, so I called and talked to a person this time, who told me that the doctor wouldn't arrive until 9, so I might as well go home and come back later. OY!

Never mind the inconvenience of having to schlep clear across town four times in one morning (two of which were during the morning rush). Poor Pete was so anxious and confused by this point, he had NO clue what was going on, and letting him go home only to turn right around just as he was starting to relax and take him back to get poked and prodded by more strange people and get yet another thermometer poked up his backside just COMPLETELY ruined whatever happiness was left in his day.

Stressed puppy

At any rate, we finally had the follow-up, and his vet said that he's basically healthy, but he's at the right age to develop epilepsy and that it's fairly common in chihuahuas, and that we should just keep an eye on him and keep a log if he has any more seizures. If they start to happen frequently, then she'll want to start him on medication, but unless/until that happens, she didn't really see the point, other than to make us feel better. But as noted above, we've got enough experience in this area to know how hard anti-seizure medicine can be on a body, so we're actually relieved that the vet thinks it's too early to start meds, and hoping that he'll never need them.

Since coming home, he's been showered with love and attention and dog treats, and now he's sleeping it off, and I'm trying to restore some order to my day, and my thoughts, since my routine has been so completely disrupted. But of course it's all worth it to know that our little guy is healthy.

Memorial Planning

This week has been better. Busy, but better. Busy because, believe it or not, taking three weeks off from your business to deal with your late mom-in-law's estate followed by a week of double-whammy sickness results in a big daggum pile of stuff that needs getting done. Shocking, I know. But at least we're both mostly over the crud now, so getting stuff done has gotten easier.

First things first: we've made arrangements for the memorial service. If you'd like to attend, it will be next Saturday, January 22nd, at 3:00 PM CST, in the fellowship hall at Southwood Bible Church here in Tulsa. We're asking people to bring, if possible, a snack, appetizer or dessert and a story or memory to share about Gina. But nobody will give you the stink-eye if you don't bring any food or don't want to speak.

I went shopping today for supplies for the service, and for a decent pair of pants for Rob to wear in public since, being a shut-in for the last however many years, all he had were sweat pants. I also bought supplies to make a picture collage to display at the service. We'll probably start on that tonight. My friend Erin wrote a really touching poem that we'll probably include somewhere in the collage.

Still debating on whether to do a program, or some kind of obituary hand-out. We also still need to get a nice urn. We were going to shop for that the other day after visiting Rob, but it's a depressing task and when the time came we just weren't in the mood to deal with it. Obviously, we're going to have to suck it up and get that done soon.

On a happy note, Rob's mood is improving. He's making friends at the nursing home and he told us the other day that he's starting to like it there.  Of course, he's still grieving pretty hard, but at least it's no longer compounded by depression over his new living situation. His birthday is tomorrow, so we'll be taking him some treats and letting him try his new pants on for size.

I wish Bobo was doing as well as Rob, but he's still hiding out in my office and not eating very much. He was so gigantically obese when we got him that I'm not too concerned yet. He's lost weight, but he can still stand to lose more. Before the month is out I'll do a proper introductory post about him. Hopefully with pictures, if I can get him to come out of hiding long enough to get a few.

Why being too focused is a bad thing.

If you've been reading the Twitter updates that get gathered up and posted here once a day, then you already know I've got a perfectly good excuse for not posting anything else last week--I was bogged down with a big web redesign project that the client needed done ASAP. I kept my head down in hyperfocus mode, coming up with mockup after mockup trying to capture what the clients wanted, and feeling frustrated and a bit depressed because everything I came up with was just passably adequate and completely uninspired. I was giving them everything they asked for, but nobody was happy with it. After days of this I realized that they had a feeling in mind more than a specific look, and if I could capture that feeling they'd probably love it, even if it looked nothing like what they described. I threw out all of their feedback and finally found some inspiration, and at last came up with a look that made them say "Wow! I love it!" Now I'm just waiting for the go ahead to start coding it. So that was a valuable lesson learned - it's more important to pay attention to what a client wants to evoke or accomplish with their site than any specifics they give about what they want it to look like, because sometimes, they don't really know what they want.

So that was pretty much my whole week. For the sake of that project I neglected all kinds of other things--not only this blog and my writing, but also any healthy habits I'd developed in the way of exercise, eating or sleep, and this week I'm paying for it. Despite taking Saturday off to rest and recover, I'm not feeling so hot lately. Yesterday I was just tired and cranky and a little depressed, and with the weather having been gray and rainy for days, I figured I was getting a preview of the SAD I usually struggle with during the winter. But today, with a mildly upset stomach and some lightheadedness added to the mix, I think I might have a touch of something else. Most significantly, my limbs feel heavy and I feel like I can't get enough sleep. Allergies aren't helping - my eyes constantly sting and my sinuses feel like I'm trying to grow a second head from the inside out.

So this week I'm going to go easy on myself and just focus on keeping my clients happy in between taking naps, munching on Vitamin C & Zinc tablets, and drinking lots and lots of tea. Unpaid projects will still be there when I'm feeling better. Getting the next episode of This Old Haunt up is a high priority, but not over fighting off whatever this crud is before it can turn into something requiring medical intervention.

I think I'm ready to take one of those naps right now. While I'm out, tell me what you've been up to. Are your goals still on track, or are they getting derailed by life and other inconveniences?