Mac's heritage revealed

We finally got Mac's DNA test results back today and boy was I a bit shocked. We knew he was definitely a Labrador mix so that was a no brainer that Lab came out on top. It's the other breeds that showed up that were interesting. Coming in second was Beagle (that I don't see at all!) then tied are Boxer, Rottweiler and finally shiatsu (that must be where he gets his curly hair from?). All in all, the personalities of each breed were also listed and he definitely does have personality traits of each breed. It now makes sense why he doesn't like being left alone as pretty much every breed listed hate being left alone or away from the pack. I think his funny little bark and mumble noises are the beagle or rottweiler. So now that we know what all he is it will be easier to know how best to train him and what he'll respond to. I just can't wait for him to start doggie daycare so that he can really start socializing with other dogs more.

Productive weekend

This weekend was fairly productive. Saturday we had the carpets cleaned, which were in desperate need of it! We had to have everything up off the floor and I wanted the house as clean as possible so we spent a bit of Friday and all morning Saturday cleaning. Now I have a fairly clean house...yay! I took Mac down so mom could puppy sit for us while the carpet people were here. He didn't necessarily like getting ready to go because he doesn't quite know what to think of his new backpack just yet (kills me I didn't take pictures!) but once Dan got his backpack on and loaded with his toys we were off to grandma's. Mom sure got a kick out of seeing him. It's just like dropping your human child off at the babysitter's. I gave her all the instructions as far as how to care of him since he is teething, etc. He cried a bit when I left but he did very well for grandma I am told. I was asleep when Dan went to go pick him up at 4, but he was apparently very tuckered out from playing with grandma because he didn't mind that he had to be in the garage last night. Today was a bit of a different story. He is ready to come back inside but the carpet is still a tad damp so he's got one more night in the garage. You would think he was stuck at Quantanimo Bay or something!

This afternoon we did some training in the garage. It is definitely starting to get cooler outside so we have decided to move our training sessions into the garage. It definitely seemed to work as he finally seems to have caught on to the "come" command. Dan took some rope he found and made a pretty long line that attached to his collar so that helped with his training because once we got outside I was able to call him back with just two calls which is a big improvement. I also used treats more this time around and that also seems to have helped too. We also worked on the "watch me" command. That one takes alot more work as he only really seems to do it if I have a treat in my hand. Otherwise he tends to ignore me. I've got lots of pictures I still need to upload, I just haven't felt much like it lately (you know I am feeling bad when I am not working on my scrapbooking and uploading pictures!).

I took some more pain medicine tonight. I am beginning to think I might have a kidney infection since my back is still hurting and the pain isn't shooting down my leg entirely like it did back in May. I sure hope whatever it is goes away soon! It's very very painful!

Semi good news from the neurosurgeon

Today Dr. Schmidt emailed with his thoughts about my latest MRI. Overall things seem to look okay. He said that it doesn't seem like I have a shunt blockage but he does want me to get a CT scan with dye injected just to make sure that I don't have any more deterioration of my upper spinal cord. If I do get more nauseated and feverish then it still might be a blocked shunt. So for now we are cautiously optimistic that it is just stress and anxiety. We'll see what the CT shows but for now I'm hopeful we don't need to be going to Utah any sooner than October as planned.

To go or not to go??

Okay, I know the title of this blog is a bit cryptic so let me explain. For the last month I've been having some weird medical symptoms again.....yep, again! A few days after Dan's birthday back in July I woke up with my legs practically on fire with an electrical/prickly sensation. I just figured I slept wrong and that it would go away. After the sensation still being there after a week, I made mention of it to my PT. We were hopeful that the "weird" sensation was a good sign that my body had finally decided to wake up from the paralysis caused from the syrinx on my spine and that the decompresssion surgery was finally showing real signs of working. Since I wasn't in pain perse just had this rather annoying sensation in my legs I didn't think too much of it. Yeah, that was until the pain really set in and the tingling wouldn't go away no matter how much medicine I took. Then the other symptoms started. To date, I am headachy almost all the time, nuaseated more frequently, losing my balance, extremely bad memory problems (I had to ask Dan today what my SSN was and almost forgot my birthday!). I went to my regular doctor a couple of weeks ago finally and she ordered the battery of MRI tests. Then I went to the pain specialist for my regular monthly appointment and she was able to pull up the MRI results. To her it looked like nothing major had changed since May so we were hoping it was all due to medication changes (okay that was her thinking and not wanting to face the inevitable I agreed with her). I still didn't think things were going quite right though even though I started back on my meds. so I made an appointment with the neurologist just as a precaution while waiting for the neurosurgeon to get back with me.

Well I stayed home from work last Friday with another bad headache. Saturday was a tad bit better and Sunday was okay, but I still felt very tired which has been the norm for about a week or so now. Yesterday I felt pretty good so we went to the fair for a bit. Then at 4 a.m this morning I started feeling nauseated and did throw up. My headache isn't too bad today, but my mental abilities have gone down the drain today so Dan had me stay home. My appointment with the neurologist was suppose to be tomorrow and I was just trying to hang on until then so I wouldn't have to go to the ER. As luck would have it, the neurologist's office called with a cancellation and felt like I would be the person they would need to see the most (thank you Heavenly Father!) so we rushed right in. Dr. Downs did all the usual neuro exam things and I don't think I passed as well as I had hoped cause she kept repeating a few of them. She reviewed the MRI results and she was a bit more concerned about one thing it said that Dr. Bertrand seemed to miss. Apparently the report said that there may be other things that they couldn't see very well in the imaging that could be contributing to my symptoms and that was because my spinal cord has had so much damage to my mid c-spine that it is hard to see exactly what is going on. There is apparently some more fluid around there than there was in May. So there might be a possability that the syrinx has changed or there is something else going on. Dr. Downs is deferring to Dr. Schmidt at this point. So we are just waiting on him to call back now.

So there might be the option of needing to go back down to Utah yet again for another visit with Dr. Schmidt. The only reason I wanted to be visiting Utah this soon was for Grandma's 90th birthday in October. I was checking on airfare and as luck would have it the tickets wouldn't be too expensive to go in October. I really don't want to be stuck back in the hospital this soon. I am sick of hospitals and sick of being sick all the time. If there really isn't anything more that can be done and this whole vicious cycle is just going to continue with more and more surgery, I really am doubting if it is worth it. I would much rather just learn to live with the symptoms. So that is the question, do I go to Utah now and see what these symptoms are caused from and face the possability of another surgery, or do I just finally say enough is enough and live with the symptoms? I suppose either way I'll be in Utah if not in September we'll be there in October for Grandma's birthday.

It's been a week

Well it's been just over a week since Buttercup crossed the rainbow bridge. I miss her terribly. This week was pretty hard, especially the first few days. I couldn't even drive by the vet's office without breaking down. By the end of the week things were getting a bit better. Having Mac and Pixel around really have helped to cheer me up. We will go either today or tomorrow to pick up her ashes. That I think is going to be really hard. I've been putting that off since Wednesday when they called to let us know they were ready. It just seems like that will be the final closure to her not being here anymore. Thank you to everyone who has sent cards, flowers and emails to cheer me up. She really was like a member of the family so it has meant alot to know that my family and friends cared and loved her just as much as I did!

Puppy Classes

The puppy started puppy classes this past Wednesday (I know I'm a little late in posting!) It was quite the experience! We had decided that it would be best for me to go through the classes with Mac by myself so that he doesn't get distracted by Daniel, but that didn't work! For starters, I arrive at Petco a good fifteen minutes early like the trainer suggested. We were the first pair there so we got to talk to the trainer some which was great. She said that she has also done alot of ADA service dog training so looks like I found my trainer for that portion once he settles down a bit. Well things were going pretty well until the other puppies started to arrive! The first puppy to arrive was some sort of beagle mix (I'll have to ask her again this week), anyway, I know I'm biased but this puppy wasn't really all that cute. I know most puppies are cute, but I think his personality really distracts from his cuteness! Anyway, as soon as he came along Mac wanted to start playing with him and vice versa. I had quite the time getting him under control. I'm not used to being around dogs yet so their version of play is not what I am used to. I know they were just wanting to play, but I was probably being overprotective since Mac isn't fully vaccinated yet (we get that done hopefully this week). This other puppy also has very sharp looking teeth and he was just very hyper which made Mac hyper. Oh, and not to mention, this puppy is getting trained by two children! Gimme a break!

Okay, so on to the class. Once we got everyone settled down and I was able to get ahold of Dan to tell him he needed to join in, things went better. We learned how to do loose leash walking, which is still taking a bit of time for him to learn, but he is getting better. He does alot better with Dan than me. I think he is still trying to get used to the wheelchair. We also learned the "watch me" command which has been very useful around the house. Now that we have treat training more consistent he is much more calm. Although, I do have to brag that he is a very smart puppy. He will sit before you even tell him to because he knows he will get a treat. Then if he doesn't see the treat or the bag he sometimes will ignore me....like he is saying, sorry lady, no treat no sit. We also learned the wait command. This is so that he will learn that he has to wait and go second after Dan or I when entering the house, etc. This will be slightly modified since we'll be using him as a service dog and sometimes he will have to pull the chair. He is still having a bit of trouble with this one when we practice at home. Overall though, he did very well in class. Yes, I know I am a proud puppy mommy! I think is the smartest one in the class!

R.I.P Buttercup

Yesterday our family was torn apart from each other as Buttercup lost her battle with feline leukemia. We thought she was going to be able to beat it and that perhaps her bone marrow would start regenerating again as this past week she seemed to be doing better. Friday night though she wasn't doing well at all. She hadn't eaten at all that day and not much the day before and had started to lose body functions. Dan gave her one last bath to help get her clean and we almost lost her during that process. It was just heart breaking to watch! We got her comfortable and stayed up with her for as long as we could until she fell asleep. We checked on her throughout the night and she was still breathing. I knew what we would have to do the next morning and just dreaded the thought.

Saturday morning we got up and Daniel picked her up and wrapped her in a blanket and brought her to me. I just held her and let her know everything would be okay and that she was going to go to a place that she could be happy forever and healthy again. She purred the whole time I held her. Daniel put her on the bed for a bit so we could get ready to go to the ER for one last time with her. My poor baby just lay on the bed and was trying to get comfortable, but still purred the whole time as I sat there and stroked her fur. Dan picked her up and placed her in my arms and we rushed to the vet. I could tell she was in pain as any movement caused her to cry out in a very mournful meow. We barely made it to the vet. Her breathing had become more labored and she had started gasping for air. I felt sick to my stomach that we had waited this long and she was indeed now suffering! They rushed us back to the exam room and took her from me. I wasn't with her when they gave her the I.V fluids that would help her relax enough to pass on to the Rainbow bridge, but they did bring her back in to me so I could hold her and talk to her and let her know it was okay to go on and keep Grandpa Marvin, Uncle Alan, Nanny and Dan's Grandparents all company while she waited for us to meet her again and cross the bridge together as an eternal family.

Even though I know she is in a better place and my heart is at peace with that fact, I still feel my heart breaking into a thousand pieces all over again every time I see something in the house that reminds me of her or find one of her toys or a piece of her hair. Losing her has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through and I don't know what to do without needing to care for her now. She was my best friend and was always there for me when I needed her. I'm trying to not be sad because I know she wouldn't want me to be sad. Whenever she saw me sick or upset she always came over to cuddle and let me know everything would be okay. I know I have to continue to be strong and go on with life, right now though, the mere thought seems impossible!

We decided to do cremation so that she could be laid to rest in the flower bed and pond that she loved so much. It was going to be very difficult to do a burial there since we will have to move it soon when we put in a new deck and porch and fence. So I picked out a very pretty ceramic urn with kitties on it to put her ashes in and next year on the anniversary of her death if everything is in place, we will spread her ashes in the flowerbed near the catmint plant.