Denial is not a river in Egypt
19-Mar-04
First the good news for today:
1. Hammer and I did Step One of clicker training. This step is particularly fun for the dog, because he doesn’t really have to do anything but eat.
click. treat. click. treat. click. treat. click. treat. repeat 30 times (we did it about 18 this morning).
First I put the clicker in my right pocket and the treats in my left pocket and click-treated him 8 times. Then I went in the kitchen, put more treats in my right pocket and moved the clicker to my left pocket and went back to click-treat another 10 times. Then we were done for the morning, and I gave John instructions on clicking him throughout the rest of the day.
2. My test came back normal from the pulmonologist. I have “restricted airways disease” which means my lungs are OK, but my airways are a little spastic. I am cleared for diving, as long as I take an inhaler 30 minutes before going underwater.
And the bad news:
After breakfast, Hammer’s back legs collapsed under him, his left leg spasmed a few times, and basically refused to work. John took him to the vet this morning. As a result of the stress from getting in and out of the car, he had breathing troubles, which he’s had a couple of times in recent weeks (I should have known better and taken him to the vet right away for this, actually). Anyway, his gums turned blue, which means he’s suffocating, so they stabilized him and calmed him and everything, and decided to do some x-rays. X-ray of the leg that was sprained, of course, and while they’re at it, let’s get the chest and lungs, too.
He exerted himself again while they were trying for the frontal chest x-ray; I don’t know if they’ll be able to get that one or not today. But the other x-ray, when compared to his x-ray from August (just 7 months ago) shows an enlarged heart.
This is very serious. Could be a treatable arrhythmia, could be a number of other problems that I don’t know about. Am I worried? Of course. Am I actually thinking about it? Absolutely not– I have to be able to drive, thanks.
And while we’re here, how about the embarassing news:
When John called me this morning to talk about Hammer’s exertion at the vet, I asked him “who’s the vet?” because I wondered if it was Dr. Hill or Dr. Miller. They’re both good vets, but I prefer Dr. Miller. When John said “Dr. Hill” I kind of went “meh” and mentioned that I prefer Dr. Miller.
Have I ever told you that my phone is REALLY LOUD when it calls John’s phone? And that Dr. Hill was standing right there……
Sigh. Yes. Very embarassing. John apologized, and he said she kind of laughed it off, but still. I feel bad. I wonder if there are any other ways I can stick my foot into my mouth before the day is out.