The Devil is in the Details

I spent 45 minutes in traffic yesterday because people can't seem to pay attention while they're driving, so there were two accidents (one where three cars rear-ended each other) we had to waffle through. I was late to my swim class but not really a big deal since there's only two students. Even though I took last week off, I pretty much remembered most of my lessons well enough. There's only two more classes after Thanksgiving, and I have to decided whether I'm going to sign up for private lessons and/or Lap Swimming. Lap Swimming is considerably cheaper than taking classes. Private lessons are more difficult to arrange, although my instructor tells me she still wants to teach me the breast stroke. I'm having trouble with that particular kick.

I'm also still vaguely sick, which means that every now and then I have to cough up a hairball. It sounds nastier than it really is and I think this is the tail end of it. My hubs, however, seems to be falling ill with the same fatigue and cough. I load him up with zinc and vitamin C. My son seems immune and I'm happy about that.

I call my glaucoma doc this morning to find out if she had prescribed the 2% or the 4% solution of pilocarpine. The pharmacy was about to give me 4% when I said that's not what I recall the doc telling me she was doing. It takes all day before I get in touch with the tech who admits she's made a mistake and will be sending a new Rx order for the 2% drops. Oh jeeze! Good thing I pay attention! My husband wants to know why it seems as if I'm telling the doctor how to treat my condition, as in why she didn't recommend optic nerve vitamins before? And why she didn't suggest pilocarpine after noting that I'm allergic to most of the other meds out there, and that the latanoprost and Azopt aren't working as well as she'd like? I can't really say, except that her independent office still writes out records by hand and her staff turnover seems high. But she's a glaucoma specialist who is willing to listen to my suggestions, as opposed to other docs I've met who harbor low opinions of their patients' IQs. That's worth something.

The dog is still getting up in the middle of the night and peeing in the kitchen. Good thing he pees on the newspaper already on the floor, and good thing I get the newspaper delivered so there's a steady supply on hand. He ate a slice of Swiss cheese and a slice of white sandwich bread with yogurt on it. I take him out briefly and then go to the gym. Today I'm whacking the machine! Ten minutes to warm up, five minutes to tape and wrap up my hands. Then a little over an hour to go 5 rounds three times and bust a drenching sweat. The machine is still oddly finicky, subtracting accuracy points when I respond to a glitchy flash signifying a faux blow. Ugh.

The Intermediate and Advance settings have some good rounds interspersed with more problematic ones. Ones that are 3 minutes of glitchy lights and commands that might or might not be legit. Oh well. Afterwards, I spend 30 minutes on the elliptical. I'm torn between doing Intervals or Program 3. Program 3 wins because kickboxing the machine always messes with my sciatica and the pedal backward sections of the Performance Programs seems to help alleviate that problem. Then I muscle through my pull ups, and I'm done. No stretching. Just done.

Once done with my errands, I weigh myself at home just to see if I'm any closer to being on tract. I'm actually heavier at 110.2 lbs, but my body fat has dropped a tiny bit (15.8%). Okay, I wasn't expecting that. I speak to the vet who came to the house yesterday. Good news: the dog's kidneys and liver seem to be okay, but his pancreas isn't. Hmmm. Chronic problems with his pancreas would explain his inability to process fatty foods and the sporadic issues he has with his bowels. She tells me that pancreatitis is very painful. That might explain his peeing in the middle of the night. But she says the exam showed her that his belly wasn't painful so hopefully he'll recover with the right kind of bland low-fat foods. She believes he needs more protein though and suggested that I make him chicken or scramble eggs. I guess I'll be boiling chicken on a regular basis too.

Tonight, while I'm boiling some chicken thighs with rice, I make a scrambled egg and the dog eats it out of my fingers. He seems more alert today. That's always a good sign. Once he starts eating regularly, I can put him back on pain meds for his back legs. He still seems a bit lopsided, especially since he seems to be tilting his head a lot. My hubs asks me if the dog had a stroke and I tell him I don't think so, but anything's possible. My son looks at me and asks incredulously, "Dogs can have strokes?" Uh, well yes. But it's unlikely.

Friday Workout

10 min elliptical
0.85 miles
96 calories

Nexersys
5 rounds Beginner
5 r Intermediate
5 r Advance

30 min elliptical
Program 3
Miles: 2.80
Calories: 242

HGPU 31

Photos posted for actual stats:

5 rounds Beginner
(great warm up rounds!)

5 rounds Intermediat
(the 2nd round I lost points because the machine doesn't realize it's flashing phantom strike commands)

5 rounds Advance
(frustrating but fun)

Not Totally Unexpected but Worrisome

I skipped the gym today waiting to hear back from a vet who makes house calls. Unfortunately she is unable to come visit my dog this week. After conferring with my regular vet on the phone, I called a vet two towns over who also makes house calls. She'll be by to see my dog tomorrow afternoon.

My dog is unquestionably old at 13, but until he ruptured his right, and then his left CCL, he'd been in pretty good health, with only a sensitive stomach that he'd cure himself by nibbling on tall green grass shoots. That wouldn't make him vomit, but somehow settled the springs in his tummy. Yesterday he vomited up his breakfast, and then ate it back again. Well, he is a dog. His back legs both failed at the end of his morning walk, and it was difficult to haul him up the ramp. Once in the house, he seemed okay, but tired. Old dogs sleep a lot.

October 2015

Dogs seem to develop a perverse obsession with food as they age. All of my dogs became inveterate food nags. I used to hand feed him when he was a puppy because he was so disinterested in his kibble. Sometimes he still is, so now I add boiled ground turkey in rice to his softened dog chow. This morning I discover he's throw up last night's meal all across the living room and into the kitchen. He peed on the newspapers under his water bowl.

I don't try to take him out, or even get him to stand, although he does wobble over to take a small drink afterwards. Mostly, he's lying on the floor by the storm door. It lets the warm sun in, and gives him a view of the bird feeder, and a chance to bark at the neighborhood cats lurking in the driveway. Today he's not interested at all. Today he faces away from the door, with his tail curled oddly under his skinny back legs.

His ears are unusually cool to the touch, and his eyes seem very sad. I'm worried that if I take him to the vet, I won't be coming home with him. I've had many dogs, and although he's not the smartest or the prettiest, he's special in his own way.

Tomorrow before the vet shows up, I plan to go to the gym in the morning, and maybe pick up those eye drops I asked my glaucoma doc about. Because my eye pressures need to be much lower than the 13/14 they tested at, I ask her about one of the older glaucoma drugs, pilocarpine. There are potentially adverse effects, but I'd rather not go blind. I seem to be allergic to most other medications, and I'd prefer not to have eye surgery. There are always repercussions from surgery. From Wikipedia:

"Use of pilocarpine may result in a range of adverse effects, most of them related to its non-selective action as a muscarinic receptor agonist. Pilocarpine has been known to cause excessive salivation, sweating, bronchial mucus secretion, bronchospasm, bradycardia, vasodilation, and diarrhea. Eye drops can result in brow ache and chronic use in miosis."

Miosis means pinpoint pupils due to the constricting effect. Good thing I have dark brown eyes. No one will notice. The headaches will be another story. But maybe that won't be so bad. The doc tells me that she used those drops on my eye to perform the SLT. Ah... okay, I can deal with that. But I'll have to administer drops twice daily. I'll probably just get used to having a chronic mild headache. It could be worse...