SKIPPED HANGING OUT TODAY

I was supposed to go to a street fair today with friends but I got a bit nostalgic and sad and decided to stay home and be with Happi instead. Her surgery is Thursday and I have to work most of the day Monday and Tuesday so I want to spend time with her.

She went for a walk and ate two big meals. She laid out in the hazy sunshine. I guess that is a good day for a dog.

Until tomorrow...

LOOKING BETTER

My friend and his newly adopted son stopped by for a visit today. Lucky had a good time playing with the kid. We had some lunch.

Happi seems perkier. She was looking for food at feeding time which is an improvement.

I can't believe this medicine sucrafate has almost stopped her teeth chattering. I have been sleeping! Happi has been sleeping.

Until tomorrow...

MONITORING HAPPI

Today I worked from home and spent some if the day monitoring Happi.

Last night was rough. She got up and walked around the house and decided to sleep upstairs by herself. She peed on the floor in the middle of the night.

This morning she ate some food and took her medicine. She did not perk up at the suggestion of a walk.  She slept a lot during the day. At dinner time she acted very hungry so I fed her more rice, cottage cheese and baby food.  I let her rest a bit then I asked her if she wanted a walk. She perked up a bit more then.  We went on a short walk with Happi moving very slowly and Lucky getting VERY frustrated. During the walk the vet called to check in. He increased her sulculfrate to 3 times a day to calm her tummy. Funny, I used to take that drug to calm my tummy.

When we got home our neighbor came to visit for a bit and we watched a new TV show together "The Cool Kids".  It's about 4 older folks living in a retirement home. It has some famous actors in it Vicki Lawrence, David Alan Grier, Jamie Farr, Martin Mull, Leslie Jordon, and others. We thought it was funny.

Hoping Happi keeps getting better and better.

Until tomorrow...

SAD MEDICAL NEWS ABOUT HAPPI

Today Happi and I woke up early and took a taxi to the vet's office. She spent the whole day there. Happi had an ultrasound of her abdomen. She was a champ in the taxi on the way to the vet office. I used a towel on the seat of the taxi. She seemed to like that.

I went to my CPR/first aid recertification class in the afternoon. I passed with flying colors.

At 5 pm I got a call with the results. There was a lot of information and I was standing in a doctor's office lobby.  The doctor said that Happi has a mass in her spleen. He won't know if the mass is benign or cancerous until he removes the spleen. The spleen is like an appendicitis, you don't need it. There was more information but sort of stopped listening after "mass in her abdomen".

Unfortunately, he doesn't think ultimately that is what is causing Happi's problems. So when he is inside he is going to biopsy her stomach and intestines. Next Thursday is surgery day.

I picked Happi up at 6pm. She was still coming out of sedation. She was so miserable. She could hardly walk. We waited for M to come pick us up and drive us home. Happi cried the whole way home.

She is now sleeping off the sedation. 

Any and all positive thoughts are appreciated.

Until tomorrow...

I HATE NOT HAVING A CAR

My day started very early.  At 1:30 am I was woken by Happi getting sick.  After getting sick, she started pacing around the room.  She went upstairs, came downstairs.  She could not lay in one place for more than one minute.  She was licking her lips.  She was whining and growly.  I let it go on for 30 minutes and then I decided that I needed to take her to the ER.

Yes, I drove the car very slowly and carefully.  The were few people on the road that that hour and I was careful that no one followed me the whole way.

The vet saw her and decided to give her a shot of Pepcid and Cerenia.  I waited in the waiting room watching my downloaded Netflix show Sugar Rush.  I always keep a downloaded show just in case I get caught in a waiting room which in my life, is way to frequent.

I got her back home and she slept like a baby.  So well in fact that I had to wake her at 7:40 am.  This was a treat for me since she usually wakes me at 5:45 am every morning.

I got very nervous quickly when she wouldn't pee, poop, eat or drink.  I called the vet to see what to do.  Happi slept all day.  The vet called at 2 pm to say bring her in now.  I called a taxi and we went in.  She was antsy in the cab but we made it there.  I dropped her off.

Two hours later they called to say they were done with her and she was resting.  I went to get her and they told me what they did.  Happi had two shots: Cerenia and Pepcid.  They ran labs and did an x-ray of her abdomen.  They also gave her fluids.  I called a taxi to take us home.

We got in the cab and got about 1/2 way home when she started to freak out.  I had to get out of the cab.  Now what to do?  I had to carry her home the last 7 uphill blocks.

When I got home the vet called to tell me the plan.  The labs will come back tomorrow.  The x-ray showed she had a lot of food in her stomach.  That blocked her spleen.  Her spleen was inflamed but he could not see why due to the full stomach.  So tomorrow I have to bring her in for the whole day for him to monitor and take an ultrasound once the food moves out of her stomach.

Not great news but I refuse to get too upset yet. Now you can see why I hate not having a car.

Until tomorrow...

STUDY DAY THREE

Today is the last day of study time.  I only have three sections left.  I only have about 15 minutes left of study time and then a quick review.  I am so nervous I won't remember anything.  I am the worst test taker.  I freeze up and forget everything. 

Wish me luck!  30 and 2 (that is a CPR thing)

Until tomorrow...

STUDY DAY TWO

Today is study day two for my recertification of my Adult and Pediatric CPR and First Aid training. When you get recertified you can do hours of at home study and two hours of in-class testing.

There are 33 sections and today finished 15. I have 3 sections left.

I took my car to the adjusters today. By looking at the car you would not think there was much wrong. The bumper only has a few tiny scratches and knicks.  I made sure the adjuster checked the whole car out.  It turns out there is a lot of damage. The bumper is messed up. The shocks in the bumper are ruined. The foam in my bumper is no longer foamy. And that is what he can see without taking the car apart. Once he takes it apart there maybe more damage.

All I have to say is I TOLD YOU HE HIT ME HARD! The emergency responders kept looking at the car and saying you couldn't be that hurt there isn't any damage.  Just possibly thousands of dollars of damage.  In fact possibly more than the car is worth between the two accidents.

Anyway I am not supposed to drive it because if I was to be hit again there is no protection in the rear end.  I have an appointment on Oct 8 to get it fixed.

Until tomorrow...

STUDY DAY ONE

Today is study day one for my recertification of my Adult and Pediatric CPR and First Aid training. When you get recertified you can do hours of at home study and two hours of in-class testing.

There are 33 sections and today finished 15.

I have 18 sections left. The whole at home portion takes about 2 hours. I could not do it all at once. It is mind numbing listening to the computer voice repeating the same info over and over again.

Poor Happi has diarrhea. Real bad. I found a chart of poop and she has the worst poop on the chart. Unfortunately I don't have anything to feed her in the house.  

Tomorrow I can go to the store when I take my car. I will call the vet too.   It is so hard on her going up and down the stairs do many times when she doesn't feel well.

I am still feeling where the seat belt was across my chest. Advil seems to help.

Until tomorrow...

FRUIT AND VEGGIE

I got my fruit and veggie box. It was filled with some great stuff.

*Beets
*Corn on the cob
*Watermelon
*Honeydew melon
*Zucchini
*Barlett Pears
*Asian Pear
*Red Bell Pepper

Delicious!

I am feeling much better. I went for a walk and my chest is a bit painful. I think I am bruised under the skin. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY THREE POST ACCIDENT

Today I got back in the car to take Happi to get checked out. She needed to get checked out since she was in an accident too. They said she was fine. Traumatized and wouldn't get in the car but fine.

Then to add insult to injury I had them do the x-rays that we were originally going there for. She was so stressed out that they had to sedate her. Poor baby is so knocked out now. The initial results of the x-rays are they see nothing out of the ordinary. I was trying to see if an x-ray could see why she was chattering her teeth.  So there is no broken or dislocated jaw. We will see what the radiologist says tomorrow.

Other than going food shopping, that is the last of driving the car until Monday when I take it to the adjusters to get it checked out.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO POST ACCIDENT

Today I had to be at a client's so I had to will myself better. I got myself ready and got going. While carrying my backpack I realized that I must have internal bruising from my seatbelt. My backpack is killing me. Front and back. Front from the seatbelt and back from the "cervical strain".  I could barely make it home walking even when the wait for the bus was 38 min. I finally made it home and took some meds.

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE POST ACCIDENT

Ugh. They warned me I would feel worse. I do but not they way I pictured. I don't feel super sore. My brain feels scrambled. I have a headache. I am super tired and can't stay awake. I stayed in bed almost all day.

I got a letter a number of weeks ago inviting me to an event. The first line of the letter says "We would like to invite you to an event on September 26." There was an attached flyer.

Now I have been to this event and events similar many times so I barely glanced at the flyer because they just change the date on them and use the see flyer over and over. I know the location (it is always in the same location) and I know what to bring (A-M brings 12 plastic or can drinks of water or juice) and I know vaguely the times.  I marked the date on my calendar.

Tonight after 5 pm I get an email stating REMINDER: The event is tomorrow.

WHAT?!? I send back an email stating my letter said the 26th. They write back stating the flyer said the 20th. Oops they made a mistake. Two people got a letter with the 26th date and I was one of them.

I have a car that was just in a car accident and after 5pm at night I was not going to get a rental car for first thing in the morning. I had made plans with clients that I would have had to cancel last minute. I was not going to be able to go.  How frustrating!  I was mad.

This is not my week.

Until tomorrow. .

ACCIDENT

Before you say anything this accident was not my fault.

I was driving Happi to a vet appointment (more on that in another post) when I was turning left.  This intersection is a four lane road that I was traveling on; two lanes in each direction. I was turning onto a street and there was no stop sign or street light.  There were no cars coming.

As I was turning left, there were some pedestrians just starting to cross the road I was turning into so I stopped.  I was barely into the four lane road because my car is so small.  I had my foot on the brake and clutch. When BAM! I was hit. I thought I was hit by a car from the four lane road but no! I was hit from a car crossing the four lane road. He did not see me stop because he "was late to work."

I was rear-ended and my head flew forward and back. I thankfully did not take my foot off the brake. I would have careened into the pedestrians.

I got out of the car and immediately sat down because I was nauseous and lightheaded.  I immediately got Happi out of the car.  She was shaking like leaf.  She would have run away if she had not been on a lead. Happi had been seatbelted in the backseat.

A nice lady called 911 and ordered me an ambulance. The fire trucks were there pretty fast. They wanted me to go to the hospital but I had nowhere to put Happi. 

The guy who hit me "got his car out of the way" and parked it really far away. The 911 girl went and got his license plate for me. Then he drove off.

Then the ambulance showed up and they wanted to take me and let Happi in the ambulance while they checked me out. Once again what am I going to do with Happi and my car? I promised I would go to the ER.

Meanwhile the accident guy returns to the scene. I get more information but he swears he left his driver's license and insurance card at home in his rush to his first day at a new job. That was why he left he had to tell his new boss what happened.  He says he will call me later.

I put Happi in the car very reluctantly. She is shaking. We get home. I call the insurance company AGAIN!

I call my friend M and he takes me to the ER. He is so sweet. He stays with me while they take x-rays. I have nothing broken.  Cervical strain or sprain.  No matter what they say I feel like I have a concussion again. Or that my brain is muddled. I go home and enjoy the norco they gave me.

Until tomorrow...

HAPPI X-RAY

I decided that tomorrow I am taking Happi for x-rays on her jaw. I am tired of hearing her crunch her teeth all night long. She can't sleep. I can't sleep. We need to figure it out. Tomorrow is the day.

Until tomorrow...

NAME DAY

Today is my name day. A name day is a tradition in some countries in Europe, Latin America, and Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries in general. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's given name.

I never knew what a name day was until my friend who lives in Sweden celebrated her name day and she told me when mine was.

I think a name day is cool!

NOTE: I was told this was my name day but I can not find where my friend researched that this was my name day. The only two places I find my name listed on a Name Day list it is on April 23 or Sept 8.

September 8 Name Day - Saint Adrian was a pagan officer at the imperial court of Nicomedia. Impressed by the courage of a group of Christians who were being tortured, he declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned with them and suffered excruciating tortures before he was put to death. His young wife, Natalia, who was present at his death, comforted him in his agony, recovered one of his severed hands, and took it to Argyropolis near Constantinople, where she fled to escape the importunities of an imperial official of Nicomedia who wanted to marry her. She died there peacefully on December 1. Adrian is the patron of soldiers and butchers.

January 9 Saint Adrian of Canterbury - Saint Adrian of Canterbury was a highly successful missionary in pagan England. He was also a great teacher of Bible study.  This name day means brave.

Maybe my friend got the date wrong.

I'll have to figure this out!

Until tomorrow...

FOSTER ADOPT TRAINING

I went to a training on trauma today. It was super interesting but really long. Six hours of sitting in a room listening to one guy talk is a long time.

Until torrow...

NOT FEELING WELL AGAIN

I woke up very early with a horrible stomach ache. Within minutes I was extremely ill. Almost exactly like two weeks ago. I felt like I had food poisoning. It would be bad luck to get it twice in two weeks.

I promised I would attend my good friends adoption proceedings. They were adopting their foster son. I am extremely close to all of them. I felt horrible that I was ill and going to miss it. I rallied and drove like a bat out of h*ll to get there. Luckily the court was running late. I was in attendance for the whole thing.  I cried during the proceedings. I am so happy for them.

Until tomorrow...

LOSING WEIGHT

I had an appointment with my nutritionist today.  We spoke about why I have been gaining weight.  He added up the food I ate yesterday and said it makes no sense if I eat like that every day.  I am not eating enough calories to gain weight.  I know I need more exercise. 

Then I went to see my gut doctor.  It was a short appointment.  Everything is going well. 

I stopped by the pharmacy to see about getting the shingles shot but still no luck.

I was supposed to have lunch with a client but they cancelled at the last minute, so I took Happi for a walk.  Lucky was with the dog walker so we had a lovely walk all alone.

Until tomorrow...

ADJUSTER

Today I went to the car insurance adjuster.  She was super nice and she saw the damage to my car.  The damage to my car is about $3,000.  Now I need to find a body shop to fix the car and then I am set.

Until tomorrow...

REMEMBERANCE

Today on the morning news shows people were remembering where they were on 9/11/2001.  I thought I would say where I was.

On 9/10/2001 I flew back from Boston to the West Coast.  I woke up early on 9/11 because I had a doctor's appointment.  I had to take a bus across town to get to the doctor's office before going to work.

I was on the bus when my partner at the time called me on my cellphone to tell me that something happened to the Towers.  Both my father and I used to work in the Towers.  She gave me the minute by minute information.  But at that time, it was not clear if it was an accident or not. We were not sure if my father was at a meeting in the Towers for a short time.  Then it became clear it was not an accident but a deliberate attack when the second plane flew into the Towers.

I continued on to my blood test and contacted my office.  We were a block from a building that could be a threat.  We needed to close the office.  People needed to go home or stay home.

My doctor's office had a TV and everyone was gathered around it.  As soon as I was done, I rushed home and sat in front of the TV watching CNN with the rest of the world.

It was such a horrible day for every one.  A couple of months later I went to NYC to visit family and went to the site of the Towers.  I wanted to pay my respects to the people who were lost and to the building I once worked in.

Until tomorrow...

FRUIT AND VEGGIE DELIVERY

Last week I got my veggie and fruit delivery and didn't post the photo.  Here it is:

I got:

• Broccoli
• Watermelon (seedless)
• Cantelope
• golden beets
• bi-colored corn
• pears

The corn and broccoli are already eaten. The beets are going to be gone tomorrow.  Yum!

Until tomorrow...

FINALLY A SUNNY DAY AND A DAY TO REMEMBER

I was supposed to go food shopping today and take the bird to get his wings clipped.  But you know what?  It was so nice and sunny (finally) I decided to stay home and sit in the backyard and talk to my cousin and read a book and enjoy the fleeting nice weather we are going to have this year.

Then I got news that my friend Bob's mom passed away.  She lived a good long life and Bob has taken very good care of her under extreme circumstances.  He is in my thoughts.

Until tomorrow...

CLIMATE CHANGE MARCH

I woke up and decided to go to the Climate Change March.  I whipped up a sign (I bought some extra poster board last time I went to the variety store) and headed downtown.  The march was moving really slow so I decided to fast track it and I walked along side the people walking slow.  I had to get to the bank before it closed.  I had other things to do that afternoon.  As it was, it took me 2 hours to march.  I am sure the other folks marching where I was took more than 4 hours to finish marching.

Yes, Climate Change Is Real.

The accident guy finally called to get my insurance information.

Until tomorrow...

THE WEATHER IS DEPRESSING

I was supposed to go out last night but it has been such a blah week.  The weather has been overcast, it has been cold, the news has been depressing, I had the "accident", I have occular rosacea.  Ugh. 

So I got take out food.  That always cheers me up.  So good Thai food delivered to my door in less than 1 hour.  Yum! Always puts a smile on my face.  I watched a funny movie (The Book Club) and went to bed early. 

Until tomorrow...

NOT MY BEST DAY

In my area there is a lot of road construction and home construction.  It makes driving hazardous.  I found out today.  I drove up a street and went to make a right turn and there was a large truck double parked.  There was also a car badly parked on the corner about 2 feet from the curb.  I made the right turn and heard the scrape as my car touched the parked car.

I jumped out and sure enough there was red paint transfer on the white car.  My car showed more damage since it crushed the panel over my tire.  The white car also showed some black transfer so I think some other car also scraped his car.

I stopped and took photos and left my name and number.

I hurried off to my eye doctor appointment.  My eye doctor told me I have ocular rosacea.  I already knew I had rosacea on my face but to find out I have it in my eyes was a shock.  Basically the symptoms are dry gritty eyes, sensitivity to sunlight, dry eyes, burning eyes, and red swollen eyelids.  What I already have.

The complications concern me: Ocular rosacea may affect the surface of your eye (cornea), particularly when you have dry eyes from a deficiency of tears. Corneal complications can lead to visual symptoms. Inflammation of your eyelids (blepharitis) can cause secondary irritation of the cornea from misdirected eyelashes or other complications. Ultimately, corneal complications can lead to vision loss.

So I have to be more careful with my eyes now.  Limit touching my eyes and keep them very clean.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF THE HANDYMAN

The handyman came again today and started right in on working.  He is so great.  He is my house-husband.  I have a car-husband and now a house-husband.  They go and fix those things I don't want to do.  I have these lights in my garage that remind me of the lights we had in my school in grade school.  You would always see the janitor going around with the long bulbs changing the lights.  There were four of the light bulbs in each light and when they were going they would flicker.  Or the ballast was dying.  I have those in the garage.  One of them has been flickering for months.  I hate changing them because it really takes an easy hand or you put the bulb in and doesn't work.  The handyman came and made the light work.  I walked in today and was shocked how light that corner is now.  You could do surgery there now.

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE OF THE HANDYMAN

Today is the first day of my handyman doing work at the house. I had a medium sized list for him to do.  Things like fixing the weird sound coming from the guest bathroom toilet, fixing my #2 button on my toilet, clean and seal the front stairs, seal the inside walkway, install a new flagpole holder, and plaster and paint water damage in the living room.

He is going to be here another day.  It is great to get this stuff fixed.

Until tomorrow...

LABOR DAY 2018

The weather is kinda ugly.  It is overcast and smokey so it isn't nice to be outside.  I am feeling better so I decide to get at least one thing done on my list for the weekend.  I went to Target and got a few things.  I was disappointed to see they have no clothes that I want to buy.  I usually see something during the back to school season.  Nothing this year.  I got the few things I wanted and went home to do some invoicing of clients.

Until tomorrow...

TAKING IT EASY

I am taking it easy today after my bad stomach issue.  Watching TV and taking naps.

Until tomorrow...

POBLANO PEPPERS

OMG!  I have been up since 4 am with stomach issues.  I think, no I know, it is something I ate.  The lunch yesterday at my clients.  They used LOTS of poblano peppers.  I now know I can not eat poblano peppers.  The roasted corn salad had equal parts corn and poblano peppers.  The salad had an avocado dressing with poblano peppers in it.  Oh, my poor intestines.

I spent the whole day in bed watching TV and movies and sleeping between bathroom breaks.

Never again.

Until tomorrow...