Just because I wanted to post something positive (since it's been so long).
Thursday, January 22, 2009
High Dollar Green Plastic
Gromit had surgery and I couldn’t be more livid.
When the vet called to tell me all went well, he tried to describe what he’d pulled out. He made it sound like he’d found two very large chunks of plastic. He didn’t know what it was, though he thought it looked like part of a kid’s toy, and he thought that there was no way he would have ever passed it or gotten it back up. He said he didn't even understand how he could have swallowed something so large. From his description, I was thinking the pieces must have been the size of a spool of thread with weird indentations on them.
I was freaking out a bit, looking around the house trying to figure out what he could have eaten. I was really curious, so I packed up both kids and drove over there just to retrieve the pieces so I could examine them. (Gromit can’t come home for two more days.)
Once I saw them, I knew exactly what they were from (a dog toy, more specifically, a hollow ball made of hard plastic, and one that was never owned by us) and I knew if we’d given him more time, he would have passed them one way or the other. He’d eaten far worse in the past (think large chunks of a hard plastic watering can) and had gotten rid of it.
The folks at doggy daycare were great yesterday, telling me that there are no toys in the yard, lest a dog decides to chew them up and ingest them, nobody caught Gromit eating anything, and nothing obvious was missing. My theory is that Gromit feasted on dog poo at doggy daycare (nothing new) and in one of the piles, a dog had excreted these pieces because that dog had chewed up a toy a few days prior. I think Gromit was sick yesterday morning, not from the plastic pieces, but from eating all that excrement (hope you’re not reading this at the dining table).
So it seems, at least to us, we’ve put Gromit through an unnecessary surgery and spent a whole lot of money on medical care that probably wasn't needed.
Above is a picture of what was in Gromit's stomach (well, minus the ruler). The two brown pieces on the left are what the vet removed. The green piece on the right, obviously not from the same item as the other two, is what we found when we were cleaning up his mess on Wednesday morning. If it hadn't been for that darn green piece, we would have never done the x-rays, seen more foreign matter, and done the surgery.
When the vet called to tell me all went well, he tried to describe what he’d pulled out. He made it sound like he’d found two very large chunks of plastic. He didn’t know what it was, though he thought it looked like part of a kid’s toy, and he thought that there was no way he would have ever passed it or gotten it back up. He said he didn't even understand how he could have swallowed something so large. From his description, I was thinking the pieces must have been the size of a spool of thread with weird indentations on them.
I was freaking out a bit, looking around the house trying to figure out what he could have eaten. I was really curious, so I packed up both kids and drove over there just to retrieve the pieces so I could examine them. (Gromit can’t come home for two more days.)
Once I saw them, I knew exactly what they were from (a dog toy, more specifically, a hollow ball made of hard plastic, and one that was never owned by us) and I knew if we’d given him more time, he would have passed them one way or the other. He’d eaten far worse in the past (think large chunks of a hard plastic watering can) and had gotten rid of it.
The folks at doggy daycare were great yesterday, telling me that there are no toys in the yard, lest a dog decides to chew them up and ingest them, nobody caught Gromit eating anything, and nothing obvious was missing. My theory is that Gromit feasted on dog poo at doggy daycare (nothing new) and in one of the piles, a dog had excreted these pieces because that dog had chewed up a toy a few days prior. I think Gromit was sick yesterday morning, not from the plastic pieces, but from eating all that excrement (hope you’re not reading this at the dining table).
So it seems, at least to us, we’ve put Gromit through an unnecessary surgery and spent a whole lot of money on medical care that probably wasn't needed.
Above is a picture of what was in Gromit's stomach (well, minus the ruler). The two brown pieces on the left are what the vet removed. The green piece on the right, obviously not from the same item as the other two, is what we found when we were cleaning up his mess on Wednesday morning. If it hadn't been for that darn green piece, we would have never done the x-rays, seen more foreign matter, and done the surgery.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Knocking Wood Doesn’t Work
Now Gromit’s sick. He went to doggy daycare yesterday and came home completely exhausted as usual, but during the night he vomited at least 10 times and one of them had a hard piece of plastic in it. This morning he did his thing outside but then wouldn’t come in, opting instead to hide under the deck stairs in the 18 degree weather. I had to drag him by his collar to get him back in the warm house. He could also barely walk on one of his hind legs.
Off to the vet we went, who said his rear paw was rubbed raw from running around all day. (That’s a fun sentence to say aloud.) When I told him about the plastic he took x-rays and saw that there’s a lot more of it in his tummy. He suggested we leave him there so they can give him IV fluids and antibiotics. We’re taking a wait-and-see approach, but the vet said he had only until tomorrow morning to get it out or he’d want to do surgery to remove it.
We’re tired of running to the doctor and vet. Just for kicks, here’s a list of our recent visits (14 trips in less than four weeks):
12/25 – Alex to ER, Bradley to the emergency vet
12/26 – Alex
12/31 – Bradley
1/6 – Alex, Bradley
1/8 – Alex and Claire
1/9 – Claire, Bradley
1/11 – Claire to ER
1/12 – Claire
1/14 – Claire and Alex (well-check visits – actually scheduled far in advance)
1/19 – Bradley
1/21 – Gromit
Off to the vet we went, who said his rear paw was rubbed raw from running around all day. (That’s a fun sentence to say aloud.) When I told him about the plastic he took x-rays and saw that there’s a lot more of it in his tummy. He suggested we leave him there so they can give him IV fluids and antibiotics. We’re taking a wait-and-see approach, but the vet said he had only until tomorrow morning to get it out or he’d want to do surgery to remove it.
We’re tired of running to the doctor and vet. Just for kicks, here’s a list of our recent visits (14 trips in less than four weeks):
12/25 – Alex to ER, Bradley to the emergency vet
12/26 – Alex
12/31 – Bradley
1/6 – Alex, Bradley
1/8 – Alex and Claire
1/9 – Claire, Bradley
1/11 – Claire to ER
1/12 – Claire
1/14 – Claire and Alex (well-check visits – actually scheduled far in advance)
1/19 – Bradley
1/21 – Gromit
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bye, Bradley
Today we had to say good-bye to Bradley. He's been sick for a couple of years and last night, since he's been unable to go to the bathroom for days and has been vomiting quite a bit, we made the decision that it was time to say good-bye. He got to do his favorite thing all night, which is sleep on top of Dave's chest. (Usually Dave would choo him away every couple of hours since it's a little hard to get a good night's sleep when you've got a wet cat nose nudging you periodically.) Dave has been his primary caregiver since he got sick, giving him his daily meds (nearly a dozen at his worst) and injections and changing his litterbox through my pregnancies. Even though Bradley hated getting his medications, he loved Dave so much, he let him do whatever needed to be done to him.The picture above is from his final hour doing his second favorite thing, romping in the backyard and eating grass (though there wasn't much romp left in him). We stayed with him and petted him while the injection was given, and Claire was an angel, sitting in her car seat on the floor quietly as we said our good-byes.
Bye, Bradley. Even though you could be a pain sometimes, you were a good cat and a good friend. We'll miss you.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Is Your House Cluttered?
Ours certainly is. If you're ever feeling like your house is a mess, take a look at the pictures below. This is how our house looks right now. Have we lowered our standards? Hmm, maybe a little. But our kids are clean (usually) and are wearing clean clothes (even if we're not) and we have food in our refrigerator, so I think we're still doing OK. I'm blaming the mess on two sick kids, one sick cat, and a husband who is working way too hard right now. (And right after I took these pictures he started folding laundry. Gotta love him.)
Our dining room (mostly clean laundry and Christmas decorations):
Our living room, aka the other playroom (boxes of clothes for Claire loaned by one of my friends and too many toys):
Stacks of paper, mail, magazines, Alex's artwork:
Our laundry room (dirty laundry, bins of clothes - Sherdian, I've been saving those for us to go through but at this rate Claire will have outgrown everything by the time we get to them)
Bring a shovel if you come visit so you can clear a path.
Our dining room (mostly clean laundry and Christmas decorations):
Our living room, aka the other playroom (boxes of clothes for Claire loaned by one of my friends and too many toys):
Stacks of paper, mail, magazines, Alex's artwork:
Our laundry room (dirty laundry, bins of clothes - Sherdian, I've been saving those for us to go through but at this rate Claire will have outgrown everything by the time we get to them)
Bring a shovel if you come visit so you can clear a path.
Finally Healthy [KNOCK WOOD]
It seems that everyone in the Gatewood house is healthy at the moment. (Well, that is, except for Bradley who is chronically ill. His kidney values were so bad last Friday that the vet thought by Monday we'd have to put him down, but after lots of subcutaneous fluids and Dave's remarkable pet nursing skills, he's perked up and is eating so we're just taking it day by day now.)
Last Saturday Claire's breathing became worse, despite the doctor on Friday saying that that day was probably the peak of the illness and she would begin improving. We called the doctor Saturday afternoon and he asked a ton of questions and determined that she was continuing to do OK. So we continued her breathing treatments all day and night and watched her like a hawk.
On Sunday her breathing was even worse: she was wheezing and congested, breathing 85-90 times per minute (normal respiration rate is 30/minute), and showing her ribs when she breathed (a sign of labored breathing). After another call to the doctor, he suggested we take her to ER. So off we went to St. Mary's ER for the second time in less than three weeks. Even though her breathing rate was scary, her blood oxygen levels were good. They gave her Motrin for the fever and more breathing treatments, and after spending the entire afternoon there for observation, she was sent home.
We followed up with the pediatrician on Monday and she was better, and she continued to get better this whole week. I would say now she's pretty much back to normal.
On Wednesday she had her 6-month check-up with her regular doctor. She weighs 19 pounds 6 ounces! (90th percentile for weight and 75th for length) And she was well enough to receive all her vaccinations, including her flu shot.
The only bad news from her appointment is that she hasn't lost her tongue thrust reflex. That's a newborn reflex that causes the baby to push out non-liquid substances from her mouth to prevent her from choking, but it's supposed to disappear by the fourth month so the baby can move food from the front of her mouth to the back. Even though Claire has an interest in eating solid food, she's unable to do it properly, and the doctor said that if she still can't eat properly within a month, we'll have to take her to be evaluated by a speech therapist (I guess they're trained to correct infant feeding problems too). Whatever...I think this is a minor bump in the road compared to the other things we've had to deal with over the past year!
I still need to work on uploading the video of Claire. That is, as soon as I get our thank-you notes completed for Christmas presents, Christmas decorations put away, and some laundry done! Things have been a little crazy around here.
Last Saturday Claire's breathing became worse, despite the doctor on Friday saying that that day was probably the peak of the illness and she would begin improving. We called the doctor Saturday afternoon and he asked a ton of questions and determined that she was continuing to do OK. So we continued her breathing treatments all day and night and watched her like a hawk.
On Sunday her breathing was even worse: she was wheezing and congested, breathing 85-90 times per minute (normal respiration rate is 30/minute), and showing her ribs when she breathed (a sign of labored breathing). After another call to the doctor, he suggested we take her to ER. So off we went to St. Mary's ER for the second time in less than three weeks. Even though her breathing rate was scary, her blood oxygen levels were good. They gave her Motrin for the fever and more breathing treatments, and after spending the entire afternoon there for observation, she was sent home.
We followed up with the pediatrician on Monday and she was better, and she continued to get better this whole week. I would say now she's pretty much back to normal.
On Wednesday she had her 6-month check-up with her regular doctor. She weighs 19 pounds 6 ounces! (90th percentile for weight and 75th for length) And she was well enough to receive all her vaccinations, including her flu shot.
The only bad news from her appointment is that she hasn't lost her tongue thrust reflex. That's a newborn reflex that causes the baby to push out non-liquid substances from her mouth to prevent her from choking, but it's supposed to disappear by the fourth month so the baby can move food from the front of her mouth to the back. Even though Claire has an interest in eating solid food, she's unable to do it properly, and the doctor said that if she still can't eat properly within a month, we'll have to take her to be evaluated by a speech therapist (I guess they're trained to correct infant feeding problems too). Whatever...I think this is a minor bump in the road compared to the other things we've had to deal with over the past year!
I still need to work on uploading the video of Claire. That is, as soon as I get our thank-you notes completed for Christmas presents, Christmas decorations put away, and some laundry done! Things have been a little crazy around here.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Our House of Germs
Now Claire has RSV! We've had three trips to the doctor this week with one diagnosis of pneumonia, two diagnoses of their "breathing is fine," and one diagnosis of RSV.
We had the same doctor as we had yesterday, the one who told me she was fine. And she was reluctant to give her the RSV test today and did so only after I said I wanted it. So is it bad that I got a weird sense of satisfaction when the test came back positive?
Claire had a breathing treatment at the doctor's office and sounded better afterward, so we're hoping to avoid the hospital. Our nebulizer is just going to pull double duty this weekend. Right now she's playing happily in the jumperoo, napless and hyped up on Albuterol.
We had the same doctor as we had yesterday, the one who told me she was fine. And she was reluctant to give her the RSV test today and did so only after I said I wanted it. So is it bad that I got a weird sense of satisfaction when the test came back positive?
Claire had a breathing treatment at the doctor's office and sounded better afterward, so we're hoping to avoid the hospital. Our nebulizer is just going to pull double duty this weekend. Right now she's playing happily in the jumperoo, napless and hyped up on Albuterol.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Pneumonia Again
Alex can't catch a break. He has pneumonia again, but it's not nearly as bad as it was back in May. We caught it very early (we know what to look for now) and we're hoping a short round of steriods and antibiotics will knock it out. He's doing fine...no fever and he's playing like there's nothing wrong (though he gets a bit winded even doing the simplest things and he coughs a lot, of course).
I've been trying to post video of Claire and her hearty belly laughs for about a week now, but blogger keeps erroring out. I'll get the video up eventually if things ever settle down around here!
I've been trying to post video of Claire and her hearty belly laughs for about a week now, but blogger keeps erroring out. I'll get the video up eventually if things ever settle down around here!
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