Go Down Fighting

The old dog has been having quite a lot of trouble with his digestive tract lately. Even when he was younger, he'd occasionally get a bout of the viscous orangey diarrhea. It appears to be bile-related, so I suspect the pup has had issues with his gall bladder, liver and pancreas for a long time. His lab work is usually normal except for certain pancreatic enzyme values. We already know he's got pancreatitis. I lay a lot of newspaper on the kitchen floor before I go to bed. This morning the dog again had an issue. It's not his fault. And he absolutely refused to have anything to do with the home-cooked turkey, rice, gizzards and sweet potatoes mix that contained his medicine. He's especially not fond of the Tylan powder (used to treat his digestive ills when he was younger), which I understand can taste bitter. He can smell it. I used to hide it in peanut butter, or balled up inside white bread nuggets. But the dog can't eat peanut butter anymore. And he's very discerning with his bread now.

The dog will lick flavored yogurt out of my hand. Plain yogurt not so much. Yes, the dog's got a definite sweet tooth. I drive to the vet and ask for something to treat the pup's digestive woes. Instead of probiotic paste, the dog is prescribed a new treatment: Visbiome®, a super-strong probiotic in capsule form that I can sprinkle on his food. It's suppose to be odorless and tasteless. We'll see... I have to buy more flavored yogurt, and while I'm at a different grocery store, I'll have to see if I can get some ciabatta bread. Ugh, there's only a loaf of olive oil, and a loaf of garlic. Well, garlic's definitely a no-no. I take my chances with the olive oil since the nutrition label suggests that there's barely any fat content.

Since the probiotic needs to be refrigerated and cars get hot in the summer, I have to go home and drop all this stuff off before I head to the gym. My son is still asleep when I leave the house for the second time today. It's past noon and the gym is mostly empty. It's also a really nice day out, bright and sunny with little humidity, and not too hot. (Of course, my lawn is sitting in 2" of water so I'm not seeing it being cut anytime soon either.) I do my warm up cardio and DB routine, stretch at the Cage and wrap my hands. The glare is always a problem on the kickboxing machine screen, and no different today. Ugh.

I decide that even though I skipped last week, I should be able to increase my rounds this week. I settle on doing 7 rounds Beginner, and 5 rounds Intermediate. That familiar burning sensation at the bottom of my lungs appears halfway through the Beginner rounds. I must be in horrid cardio shape because I don't remember feeling this way before I had my glaucoma surgery. This feeling persists through the 5 rounds of Intermediate, but halfway through that, I suddenly realize that it doesn't really bother me. Hurrah for tiny victories.

I am completely drenched though. I hurry to change and shower because I'd like to not be there when the crazy woman and her dog and kid show up. As I walk out the door, I hear the familiar thwack of the pads being struck. A small wiry man with a big headset (if I can see it from 15 yards it's a big headset) is whacking the other Nexersys. I've never seen him before, but I'm glad someone other than me is making use of them!

7 rounds Beginner FM

When I finally get home, the dog is eager for me to make him ciabatta toast. I put a tiny (0.8 ml) of CBD oil spread thin on 4 little pieces. He greedily gobbles them down. Then I mix a capsule of Visbiome into a heaping teaspoon of Chobani Smooth strawberry-banana flavored yogurt. The pup licks the bowl clean. Half an hour later he noses me frantically, because he knows when there's a disturbance in the bowels. I'm hoping the Visbiome eventually calms his system down. I don't think the tiny amount of CBD oil is causing diarrhea. Because the pup still enjoys his walks, toast and yogurt, and there's some hope that his issues can be treated reasonably, we're not ready to call it Done. But cleaning poop off the kitchen floor several times a day gets old really fast! I'm also tired of my house smelling faintly like pee. Ugh.

The old pup's still got some fight in him. I don't see anything in his eyes to suggest he's ready to leave us yet. He might be stubborn (oh yes, he's definitely that), or just not that bright (yeah, that too), so as long as he's willing to get up every day and tend to business, we'll be there too. I just need to buy the economy size disinfectant wipes, trash bags and paper towels...

5 rounds Intermediate FM

Nexersys Thursday
10 elliptical
Calories 86.3
Miles 0.79
AHR 140 / 171

T, Y & I Raises
5lbs x 15 x 2

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys FM
7r Beginner
5r Intermediate