Penny here! Boy I thought I’d never get back online and all of my fans would wonder forever what happened to me! Cause you know a little bit about the adventures my folks have been on, but I’m sure you were worried about me too. Right? Right???
You WERE worried, right?
Well at first mom and dad figured since I’m a big girl I could stay at home alone and mom would get home often enough to walk me and more importantly feed me. But once they were fully immersed in their adventure they realized they needed help, so one of our nice neighbors, Mr. Mike, came to the house and took me for walks.
He did that all weekend. I was cool with that cause I like Mr. Mike, and because sometimes he brought his dog Oliver along. Oliver and I are in love. (Don’t tell Oliver, but I have lots of boyfriends that I’m in love with.)
Then on Monday mom took me to go see my dog mom, Vivian, and her bestie Olivia, and my niece Sara and my mama S!
I can’t wait to see everybody!
I just love visiting there, Sarah and I play nonstop. Mom says I instigate a lot of the play and that I’m a little stinker but mama S. says I’m a perfect little girl who fits right in.
I don’t think my mom is fooled.
That’s my dog mom, Vivian, on the left and my niece Sarah on the right!
I was happy to be there, but then I turned around and my mom was gone! I couldn’t find her anywhere! And even though I love to visit I still want my mom. I’d wait by the door every evening hoping mom would come get me.
I was there all week and over another weekend and half way through the next week! Heck, when Mom finally decided she’d come get me I’d almost forgotten about her.
At the dog park I told those big dogs off. Cause they were on the other side of the fence.
Still, I was glad to be going home and so was a little confused when we stopped at a dog park and mom let me run and run and run. She said she wanted me to get all the antsy out of my system cause I was going on another adventure.
I like to contemplate life while I’m exploring.
And I ended up at my kennel! What the heck mom! I hadn’t even seen daddy yet! But it’s a nice kennel and I don’t mind being there. I followed the girl to the back without even looking at mom.
I do that cause I know it hurts her feelings.
Whatever, mother.
I should have been a bit more compassionate because mom says she felt terrible. But daddy was coming home from the hospital and he needed some time to get stronger before I was jumping all over him, so I had to stay at the kennel for four nights!
And finally, FINALLY, today mom came and got me and I was soooo excited that I barked and barked at her in the car and you know what she did?
I’m back at my park. Wonder what mom has up her sleeve this time?!
She stopped at the dog park and let me run and run and run until I wore myself out and then she took me home to see daddy who was very happy that everybody was finally at home.
I love to run, especially to mom who always has a treat!
And now we’re all going to get some sleep. I promised mom not to wake them up too early tomorrow morning. I hope I can keep that promise.
For the past few weeks our little family has been struggling with some health issues that resulted in 10 days in the hospital for my spouse. He’s back home now and the specific issue he went in for has been resolved, at least for now.
Our view
But ten days away from home is a lot. Ten days sleeping in a lumpy hospital bed, being woke every few hours by staff to check how he was doing, choosing meals from the same limited menu. Being stuck in one room. It was a lot.
The view at the end of the hall.
Ten days of tests and pokes and jabs and the endless, repetitive questions from a steady stream of doctors and residents and students and nurses and aids and social workers and nutritionists and physical therapists.
Sunset over a parking lot was the prettiest thing I saw in more than a week.
It was a lot for him and a lot for me too, sitting on the room’s plastic sofa that turns into a narrow bed if you decide to sleep over. I didn’t though maybe I should have a night or two.
A storm brewed just north of us.
My view out his window was of another wing of the hospital, the original parts of a building that was originally built in the 1920s. It’s been added on and added on and added on. Finding anything within it’s winding halls is a crap shoot.
Checking the roof after a big rain.
But the windows in the part we were in were big and I could watch the sky. Some days were particularly interesting as the Michigan spring changed by the hour.
A beautiful day for sky watching.
Other days the sky was a basic boring blue.
After a wet spring it’s hard to be mad at a blue sky.
I told him I should have studied weather in school, I am so fascinated, and always have been, in watching the sky as it and the light changed.
Different textures
Hours of waiting between tests take a toll on everyone. And by the end of the stay I was seeing ducks where there were none.
Shy duck hides under the bed.
It was all a lesson, I suppose, in finding something interesting to photograph no matter where you are. And even if you only have a cell phone camera.
But as photogenic as the experience turned out to be, we’d rather not visit this destination again.
Katie here! Let me tell you, I’ve had an adventure! I’m not quite sure how I feel about it, but that’s because I’m under the influence of drugs. These drugs make me feel warm and fuzzy….wait, I’m always warm and fuzzy….well anyway, the drugs make me sleepy and mama just gave me another one so I have to type fast before I lose all motivation.
When I first got home.
This adventure all started back in December when I went in for my usual “you’re a very healthy dog Katie” inspection. Usually I’m in and out of there and good to go for another year. Which is good cause I don’t really like going to the vet. That guy pokes me in very private places, you know?
Anyway, this time when my folks got my bloodwork back my liver numbers were all crazy high. The vet said it was nothing he was worried about, cause “old dogs have leaky livers.” Huh. First off, who is he to call me old? And second off, mama knew better and asked for an ultra sound of my liver and gallblader. And you know what he said? He said mama shouldn’t worry about it because “what are you going to do if you find something, she’s 14 years old.”
Then he sent us home noting I was surprisingly healthy for an old dog.
WELL!
My first nap at home post surgery.
Mama and daddy weren’t happy about this at all, so when we got home mama and I took a walk up the street to visit a neighbor who had a vet quite a ways away that he liked a lot. Mama had never considered going to her because she was located so far away, but she thought maybe we needed a second opinion.
So in January mama, daddy and I went way over near Lansing and I got poked and prodded some more. The vet talked to my folks over the phone and mama asked for an ultrasound and the vet said “Absolutely!” and did one right then! She saw the beginning of problems with my gallbladder, and put me on a bunch of meds to treat that and my liver numbers.
Can I get something to eat, mama?
Mama and daddy had quite the process figured out for the next three months, getting all those pills into me at the right times but they had it down. And every month I went back over to Lansing and had another ultrasound and more blood work. The liver numbers were going down but the vet was worried about my gallbladder and told mama and daddy to watch me very carefully, and if I seemed like I was in pain they were to get me to an emergency vet in a big hurry. Cause that would mean my gallbladder was getting dangerous.
So guess what? Last Tuesday night I threw up my dinner without fanfare, right in back of mama who was washing dishes in the kitchen sink. She seemed a bit worried, but the vet had changed some of my meds and the folks thought maybe something didn’t agree with me.
Then the next morning I threw up my breakfast, and mama hadn’t put any of the offending medcine in it. She waited a bit and offered me another small breakfast which I gobbled down and promptly threw up. Then I took a long drink of water and threw that up too.
And then, just to make my point, I started quivering.
I’m actually not that unhappy in my cone. But I keep smashing it into the back of mama’s legs.
Mama and daddy looked at each other and started throwing on shoes and coats and grabbing my meds and stuff and the next thing I know we’re in the car and mama and daddy look stressed.
So I end up in the doggie hospital. They took me inside, away from my parents, and mama had tears in her eyes and kissed me on the nose while the nice lady held me,and then I didn’t see mama again for forever! And all the time that mama and daddy were lost they were poking and prodding me and doing more ultrasounds (which meant they shaved my tummy again!!) and I swear no one was feeding me!
They called mama and daddy that evening and told them I needed that bad gallbladder out of there right away, so on Thursday morning some people came and took me away and I got really sleepy and when I woke up my tummy was cold and I didn’t feel well at all!
Sometimes, though, I give mama the stink-eye. Just because I can.
I stayed there for two whole days. Let me tell you, there’s no rest in the hospital! They’re always checking something, and I was hooked up to all sorts of stuff, I even had a tube down my nose. I guess they did that while I was sleeping cause no way would I have let them even try. A tube down my nose is not a look for a princess!
I was sad and scared and I didn’t feel very well, and my tummy hurt and stuff. I thought mama and daddy were lost forever and I was going to have to stay in this place with all these very nice, but nosey people. But one day a lady came along and put a leash on me and we went for a walk and all of the sudden I was outside. That scared me too, cause I didn’t know where we were going, and so far this adventure hadn’t been very fun.
Mama saw me coming out the door, lagging behind the nice lady, and she jumped out of the car and ran up to the front of the building and let me see her. At first I wasn’t sure if it was really her. After all she had been lost for a hundred days! And she was wearing a mask. But then I realized she was there and I started trotting, although wobbly, toward her. The nice lady smiled and said I was a good girl but I didn’t listen to her, I just wanted to get to mama!
This stupid cone doesn’t slow me down getting to my food, no siree!
Then daddy was there too and everyone seemed very happy and very emotional all at the same time and I told mama to hurry up and get me in my chariot cause I needed to go home! So she did, and she sat with me in the back to hold me cause I wouldn’t lay down. I insisted on standing up the whole way, watching the traffic and smelling the air of freedom blowing in the open window.
It was glorious!
And at home I checked out my house and then asked daddy for something to eat and then I flopped down on my favorite pillow and zonked out for a bit and then I got up and asked for more to eat and then I followed my people around and tried to find a comfortable spot and then I got up and asked for more food…and so on and so on and so on.
Mama says it was a very long first night.
But today is day two at home after being sprung from that camp (which doggies, let me tell you, stay away from the doggie hospital camp, it’s definitely no fun!) and I’m feeling lots better. Mama and daddy are figuring out a new set of pills and I’ve been getting multiple small meals. Personally I think they could make those meals a lot bigger, but I’m still working out the new rules around here.
Mama and daddy say they are glad I got rid of that troublesome gallbladder, they sure didn’t want me to die with a burst gallbladder! What a horrible way to go! And now, after I rest for a couple weeks, we can plan a real adventure. One that doesn’t involve anyone prodding me or taking my temperature in unmentionable places, or giving me a bath or making me wear this stupid hat.
Sometimes if I’m really zoned out and if mama or daddy can sit right there and watch me I get to nap without the cone.
Mama says this is too long, so I need to quit. Plus I’m really tired. I think she slipped me another one of those pain pills that makes me feel good, but oh so sleepy. She says she needs a break. I don’t understand why, it’s not like she had her gallbladder out!
And mama says I need to remember to thank all of you for the kind thoughts and comments and prayers you sent. They made me and her and daddy less scared while we were separated. It’s good to know you’re not alone, you know?
So thank you all, very very much.
For now I’m signing out. Another nap looms on my horizon. Darn drugs anyway.
Love, your Katie-girl, still a very healthy senior princess.
This is not a fashion statement designed for a princess, mama!
Change Is Hard 