Sunday

Little Miss Muppet had a rough day yesterday - not really feeling up to par all day - her jaundice really flared up making the whites of her eyes very yellow as well as her soft little belly. Then - this morning at 1 she had a seizure. It didn't last very long but it concerned me because she has been getting her meds right on time so her body must be seizing due to the stress of her illness. I put her in the kitchen to let her wander and I moved out to the couch to sleep so I could hear her if anything happened. She is now sleeping on the couch next to me while I watch the hockey game. She hasn't eaten much today - just her pill pockets when she took her meds.

Yesterday L came over to do some laundry and while she had a couple loads going we went to the movies. We saw Shutter Island! Not at all what I was expecting after seeing the commercials. It was good - a little confusing - lots of twists to try and follow. Had a lot of fun spending the day with L! I don't think we have laughed so much together in a long time!

On my way home after dropping her back off at the apartment I was listening to talk radio - 97.3 FM - and they were talking to this guy who has just filed a law suit against Sea World Orlando because they closed down the Killer Whale show the day he was supposed to go - he had brought the whole family to Orlando for vacation. The show was closed because of the drowning death of one of the trainers by one of the whales. This guy was an absolute idiot - thinking that his loss of being able to see the whales is on the same par as the family who lost their child due to the drowning. He kept saying that so what if she was eaten by the whale - no reason to close down the exhibit - he had paid for it. He is suing for pain and suffering and claiming that his "relations" with his wife have suffered because of this. I was just listening to this in amazement that someone could be so shallow and/or money grubbing! Unbelievable! I just can't wrap my brain around how people can think like this.

End of Period 1 in the Hockey game - I'm gonna go throw a load of laundry in - empty the dishwasher and then get back to watching the game. Or - I'm going to play some WWF - make some toast - go back to watching the game.

De

Cautiosly Optomistic

Today has been a good day with Mup - although I find myself holding back on being ecstatic. I don't want to think that all is well only to find out that I have to make a tough decision.

Mup did well last night and woke up this morning a little peppier than she had been. She wouldn't eat this morning but she wasn't all listless and lethargic. We met up with Dr Brar at 1230 - on his day off I might add - and she got a good hours worth of fluids as well as an antibiotic and something to stimulate her appetite. When I went to get her after the hour she was a different pup - she was wagging her tail - trying to get out of the cage - licking my hand - definitely not the same pup from a few days ago. When we got home she ate! She had 2 crunchy cookies - half a can of dog food - and a few bites of her dry food! She jumped off the couch to get herself water! She did still sleep a lot but I am sure her body is exhausted.

Tomorrow she will spend the whole day at the vets again getting fluids, antibiotics, and having her blood drawn in order to run the Billirubin tests and to see where her liver enzymes are. I am cautiously optomistic - I worry that the fluids and the appetite stimulant are just masking her still being sick. I don't want to get my hopes up only to find out that her enzyme levels haven't gone down enough.

My sister Colleen and Niece Krystina may not know this but they helped me get through this weekend - we had multiple games of Words With Friends going on through my iPod and their iPhones - I was busy trying to find words and didn't have lots of time to worry about Mup being at the vets. It was a great and fun way of keeping my mind off things. Thank You!

Mup and I are going to try sleeping in the bed tonight instead of on the couch.

De

Choices

I ended up spending the whole day on the couch. Shortly after posting this morning the phone did ring and I went to the vets to get her results. It's not looking good - the enzyme that was at 8K Thursday was at 12K today - that is a fast deterioration in 2 days. Dr Brar and I discussed my choices -

• Go to a Specialist - with her enzyme counts a specialist may not even try with her and if they did it would be lots of tests - possibly have a feeding tube put down her throat.
• Dr Brar could do an ultrasound and/or a biopsy of the liver - although he said that is a surgical procedure and he doesn't think she would survive the anesthesia.
• We could do fluids today, tomorrow, and Monday and then on Monday run her labs again to see if there has been any improvement.
• We could just say good bye today.

After discussing it with Dr Brar I decided to go with the third choice. Dr Brar says he has seen a few cases where the dog turns around and makes a recovery - they are rare but it has happened. My thoughts were - why shouldn't I give Muppet that same chance. So we are going to give her meds - fluids - food and the rest is up to Muppet and God.

De

Long Night

Muppet and I moved form the couch to the bedroom around 1130 pm - she was getting twitchy and I figured she might be more comfortable on the pillows. We had just gotten settled in when she lost control of her bladder - she was on a pillow so that is what mostly got soaked. I wrapped her in a towel to dry her off - stripped the bed - and we moved back out to the couch. I didn't turn on the TV I just sat there and held her. She started shaking - I couldn't tell if she was having mini seizures, shaking from cold, or stress. I just held her close - she gave a big shudder and was quiet - I thought she had died in my arms but then she took a breath. This went on for an hour - her shaking and me thinking that this was it. I finally fell asleep - waking up off and on during the night. At 400 am I took her outside to go potty - she is peeing a lot - she left a small lake outside! Came back inside - turned on curling - and just snuggled with her.

This morning she was back to not wanting anything to do with her pill pockets or her food. I tried to tempt her - force her - I left her locked in the kitchen while I went to wash my face and stuff. When I came back out she was just curled up in her bed - looking so very sad. When I had tried to get her to take her meds I noticed that her eyes were more yellow this morning than they were last night. So it seems that being on an IV all day helps her to eat at night but by the next morning she is going back down hill. I took her to the vets this morning - let them know what was going on - she was shaking really bad again.

I went to Starbucks - got a drink - and sat outside in the February Spring weather. I called Lydia - my bff - talked about Mup and talked about her cute little boy Hoyt. I just wasn't ready to go home yet. I am home now though - watching Curling and waiting to hear form the vet office - they are supposed to get blood work results back today. I need to get my new Credit Card in the mail today so I can take care of her bill.

I think I will go clean my kitchen and then maybe make some Banana Bread to get my mind off things. Sitting on the couch waiting for the phone to ring isn't going to make it ring any faster.

Oh - on a silly funny note - L's Cat Niki is a very very strange cat! She has been jumping into my tub in the middle of the night and chasing imaginary things! I went in there yesterday morning and this black head pops up over the edge of the tub - looks at me - then starts chasing things! So So Weird!

De

Muppet News

Muppet is home with me tonight after spending the whole day at the vets. There she got fluids, antibiotics, and they force fed her to get her some nutrition and to see if she could keep the food down. When Dr Brar saw her this morning he found that she was jaundiced - the whites of her eyes are yellow and they shave away a spot on her chest which revealed that her skin is yellow. This is a sign of liver failure. He didn't run the test for Cushing's disease because he said she's not going to die from Cushing's - they need to see whether or not her liver is functioning at all. So they drew some blood - forced her to have some food - then drew more blood. He was sending those out to the lab tonight and he should have results tomorrow. I have to bring her back tomorrow at 8 so they can give her more fluids and antibiotics. The change in her just over the 2 days since she had been at the vets before has been drastic - which is why he drew more blood today in order to recheck the enzymes - if her enzyme count has elevated more then her liver is shutting down. Dr Brar said that depending on what the tests come back as Muppet may need to go see a specialist - but I asked him if it would really be worth it to go to a specialist - I want her to have quality of life and not keep her alive just because I will miss her - that's not fair to her. He said he would be direct with me and tell me exactly what's going on and what the chances are for any kind of recovery or life.

After have been on an IV all day she is acting a little better than this morning - she was a limp rag doll this morning - tonight she sat up for a bit and I was able to get her to eat some food. I got her the fancy food I fed her when I first got her - flavor of the night Grammy's Pot Pie. She really liked it. She is now sleeping at the end of the couch - I am about to pick her up and just rock her for a bit.

I will keep everyone posted.

De

Little Miss Muppet

Little Miss Muppet is not doing well - the test results came back today. The vet assistant called me to let me know that the results were in and that the vet wanted to see me to go over them - never a good sign. The blood work came back a lot worse than we thought it would - the one enzyme that was at 2K on their machine yesterday actually registered as 8.5K at the lab. The other 2 that didn't register at all yesterday came back very elevated also. The full blood work up also showed another item that was way too low. What we know from all this is that Muppets liver is damaged - really damaged - but we don't know why. So - tomorrow, Saturday, and Monday I have to drop Mup off at 8am and leave her there all day and then pick her back up in the evening so they can run more tests. Tomorrow they will run tests to see if she has Cushing's Disease. This is one we are hoping she doesn't have as it will make things very complicated - she would need to be taken off the phenobarbital that keeps her seizures away. Then Saturday and Monday will be to get her system full of fluids, antibiotics, and to run tests to see if her enzyme counts come down. Dr Brar was going to also call the lab tonight and have them run another test to see if she has Hypothyroidism. One of the symptoms for this disease is thinning of the hair on the back - she has had thinning hair for awhile now. This is one that it wouldn't be too bad for her to have - it's manageable and we could still keep her on the meds for the seizures. Which ever it ends up being there may be too much damage to her liver to reverse. She is on a liver supplement right now which helps it to regenerate but her enzyme count shows sever damage.

For those of you that know me you know that Mup is like a child to me - a member of my family. I am stressed worrying about what might happen to her.

De

Money Money Money

Just a fun couple of days here in good old Washington . . . . . . Not!!!!! Woke up yesterday morning to a phone call from Apple Computer - my first thought . . . WTH are they doing making Telemarketing Calls at 630 in the morning. Not what they were calling about. They were double checking to see if I had made a purchase at Apple Online with my card ending in 9730 . . . the purchase was for a Mac Book Pro at around $4K! . . . . Uh No . . . Not me! The gal said I needed to call my bank because someone had gotten a hold of my information . . see . . . they not only had my credit card number but they also had my name and address! Lucky for me I have made purchases from them before so they had my phone number on file and it didn't match what the thieves had entered!! So for the third time in the past year I had to cancel my credit card and have a new one issued. It will take 5 - 7 business days for the new card to arrive . . they offered to overnight it for $15 . . Nah . . I can make it a week without a credit card. Famous last words!! You see . . . even as I said it I had this thought run through my head . . . as long as the pet flu doesn't turn out to be anything more serious! I think I have the ability of premonition! Yup . . . Muppet was doing worse this morning so I had to take her to the vets.

Took her to the vet at 10 this morning where she ended up needing to stay for the day - needed to run some tests and give her fluids. Not a good sign when you go to pick your animal up and they put you in a room for the Dr to talk to you first. Dr Brar . . . a new associate at Klahanie Center Vet . . . showed me some blood work results . . . it wasn't Pancreatitis but Mup's Liver enzymes were very elevated. One of them should be between 20 - 200 and hers were at 2000! The other ones didn't even register on the quick test so they are sending her blood out to be tested fully. Then came the xrays . . $$$$ . . . these showed that there was nothing in her tummy but that her liver is inflamed . . . these need to be looked at by a radiologist though to make a more definitive diagnosis. They sent me home with a lot of meds and said if she starts throwing up again to bring her right back in. No food tonight and try bland food tomorrow - one of her meds has to be given 30 - 45 min before eating so I will def have to change my morning routine around a bit. I will see how she is doing in the morning and figure out if I need to work from home or just set up the Muppet Cam so I can keep an eye on her from work.

Right now I am on the couch watching the Olympics and softly rubbing Mups belly. Will head to bed soon - just need to move some washing to the dryer and move the pup to the bed.

De

Catch Up

Man - I think the 24 hour pet flu ht my household this past weekend. All 3 of the animals threw up on Saturday . . .the cats once each and poor little Muppet 3 times. Of course . . . . Muppet couldn't keep her meds down which resulted in 2 seizures during the night. All day Sunday she just laid on the couch. This morning she was still lethargic but I needed to head to work. When I got home she was out of her bed and was excited to see me . . . the energy only lasted a bit though and she is once again just hanging out on the couch.

Not sure if it's lack of sleep from this weekend or just my body getting used to the meds but I have had a headache for the last few days and the ringing in my ear has gotten a little too loud!

I've been watching the Olympics - Tape Delayed!! Absolutely ridiculous . . . they are being held just 200+ miles from here and we don't get to see the events live! I used to be able to watch the events live on the Canadian Channel on Cable - CBUT - but they don't have the Olympics this year - another network got them that is not offered on our cable. Not sure if NBC had a hand in that in order to make sure us West Coasters were forced to watch their silly channel. I would just like to see events live and not have to worry about seeing the results before the event. So - tonight is the Pairs Skating Final and I'm trying to decide whether I try to stay up and watch it - cuz you know darn well that NBC won't be showing that until the end of the night - or just pull the results up on the Internet and go to bed.

Internet wins . . . taking my meds and a vicodin and going to bed.

De

Should Have Knocked On Wood Harder!

Tonight I went and got L and we went to Money Tree to see if we could get her Unemployment checks cashed. No Problem! She got all set up so she can got there anytime to cash her checks - they only charge 2.9% which isn't too bad. So we got her 2 checks cashed - she paid me back for what I loaned her last week - all was well with the world.

Oops - felt that way just a little too soon. I swear - every time it looks like things are finally going to run smoothly something pops up - whether it's a new issue or the reappearance of an old problem. Well - this time is an old issue. When I got home and got the mail tonight there was something in the mail addressed to L from the King County Courts - I opened it to see if it was something I needed to call her on right away - yup it was - she is being summoned to appear in court on 2/22 at 845 am to be arraigned on her DUI charge. I thought there had to be more going on with this - I didn't think it could be as simple as just having her drivers license punched and her driving privileges removed. So I called and let her know and told her I would bring by the summons so she knows where she needs to go. I told her that hopefully seeing as she is getting assistance from DSHS that she will qualify for a court appointed attorney.

Right now I am going to do some baking - stress reliever and want to make something sweet for A's last day at work tomorrow - watch Survivor Heroes -vs- Villains - Go Boston Rob and Stephenie my picks in the game at work! So glad tomorrow is Friday - def ready for a weekend.

De

How Do You Just Stand By

Day 3 of the bus tunnel and Wii Fit!

The bus to head home was late again today - during the time that the 4:24 bus should have come by there were 3 550 buses and 2 212 buses that came by - I just don't understand why the bus was always right on time when it traveled down 2nd but can't seem to be on time in the tunnel.

I learned today that the Security Officers in the tunnel aren't there to help you out if something is going on or if you're being attacked - per their contract they are there to observe and report. I learned this because last night a 15 year-old girl was attacked by another 15 year-old right in front of 3 security officers! She was pushed into the bus lanes - then thrown to the ground - and punched and kicked in the face - the officers did nothing but stand there - even when the attack was over and the hooligans had run away the officers didn't go to help get the girl up off the ground. This all happened at the stop I get on and off at. I always see security officers there and had felt comfortable but now, knowing that if anything happens they are going to just stand there, not so comforted. Also - even though it's in their contract that they don't get involved - how do you just stand by while a young girl gets the crap beaten out of her. Here's the video of the attack -



WiiFit - I unlocked a new Aerobic Exercise today - Rhythmic Boxing - so much fun! I feel like I am getting a good work out and nothing starts to hurt too much except for the bottoms of my feet - it's like they cramp up - anyone have any suggestions on how to help get through that or to avoid it. Still got my 30 minutes in though.

De

Wii Fit

Day 2 of Wii Fit - started out with Yoga - then some Balance Training - Moved on to Aerobics - Finished up with some more Balance Training. Earned 35 Tokens! It's kinda fun - I am an expert on Hula Hoop - Step - and Ski Jump!!

The trip through the Bus Tunnel went a lot smoother today - bus was on time both ways! The trip seems to go so fast - no having to stop at lights. The bus is rather crowded though - not sure why - when I caught the bus on 2nd it wasn't this crowded. Maybe more people are taking the 218 now that it's in the tunnel. . . . . would make sense.

Work has been non-stop since the new year . . . . everyone juggling different projects as well as regular duties . . . .it's making people a little testy - including me - I know I've snapped at a few people when they didn't really deserve it. I think we all are going to need some down time once the auditors are gone and we have closed out January - hopefully we get some before it's time to close February.

Well - Muppet is giving me the look so I think I better take her outside and then we shall head to bed.

De

Downtown Bus Tunnel

My bus has changed it's route to and from work. Instead of traveling down 4th in the morning and then 2nd in the afternoon we are traveling through the bus tunnel! I am excited! The bus tunnel means no more waiting in the rain for the bus - no more waiting on scary 2nd for the bus home at night - and the ride is supposed to be about 10 minutes shorter.

The first ride in this morning went smoothly for me - I knew where to get off - got to work. The only issue was that the 8:00 bus never showed up so I was 10 minutes later than I had planned on. Then heading home tonight the tunnel was backed up - a bus's breaks were stuck on at two stops down - so the bus was 20 minutes late picking us up and it was crowded! The bus driver was really nice though - as we pulled in to the Highlands Park & Ride he apologized for our first day of traveling through the tunnel not going well.

The bus tunnel is pretty nice - reminded me a bit of the subway system in DC - but cleaner. Here are some pics I took on my phone while I waited for the bus.

De

**Day 1 of Wii Fit - and Wii Tennis exercise!**

Weekend Lessons

Things I've learned this weekend:

1. Grocery shopping on the Saturday of Super Bowl weekend is crazy!! I think there were more people in the QFC than the weekend before Thanksgiving.
2. Going to the same hairdresser for many many years pays off. I had an appointment with Bonnie scheduled for Friday at 430. January Close did not go as quickly or smoothly as I thought it would so I had to cancel my appointment. Bonnie was able to fit me in on Saturday morning so I didn't have to hack at my bangs!
3. The people who attend the Northwest Flower and Garden Show are completely oblivious to those around them! Trying to get out of Seattle on Friday was nuts! People walking from the Convention Center carrying flowers, baskets, garden chotskies,etc and not noticing that they are walking right in front of a car trying to exit the parking garage!! Then the people who went and got their cars and then are picking up friends at the Convention Center - Uh People . . . You're not supposed to just stop in the middle of the street so someone can load up their purchases!! It's traffic hour for god sakes!!
4. There is a lot of polyester worn at the Northwest Garden and Flower Show!
5. When you haven't eaten fast food in awhile . . . . eating a Jack in the Box deluxe burger and curly fries is not a good idea!!
6. The Saints are an amazing football team!!! Yay Drew Brees!!

I wonder what this week will bring!!

De

Busy Busy Busy

OK - No drama, just a busy evening. L's first unemployment check arrived - Our taxes being put to good use - and I met with her to help get it cashed. The plan - she would sign the check over to me - we would go to the bank to cash it - find out if I can deposit them through the ATM going forward - give the cash to L. All great plans of mice and men! She signed the check over to me - we went to the bank - they asked for her ID . . . . first bump in the road . . . . due to her DUI she has a hole punched in her Drivers License making it invalid . . . I don't really understand this - I mean it still has her picture on it, address, all that good stuff - she's just not allowed to drive with it. We asked if she could sign it over to me and they could see my ID - nope they needed hers. During this whole time the teller isn't really looking at us . . . . she's punching things into her computer . . . Flags must have been activated because the next question was "Did you have an account with us?" "It shows as closed in 7/09" "Do you owe us money?" "We need to know that first before we cash a check, cuz if you owe us money we will take that first before giving you any money" So - the first lesson is learned from past actions. I still have the check and so the next step is for her to get a State ID and then to see how much it will cost to cash the check somewhere else.

Next errand - L needed to do her Grocery Shopping - her Food Stamps card had been replenished for February - so I took her shopping. She is quite the good little shopper these days - looking for items on sale, buying store brands, sticking to what is on her list. She had a few items listed that were "wish" items - she decided not to get them because she didn't know how much things were going to cost and she didn't want to go over her limit. Good shopper - still has $65 left! I am very proud of the changes I have seen in her.

Afterwards I came home and discovered something gross about my dog . . . . . do not continue reading unless you have a strong stomach . . . . . . . dogs probably don't think it's gross but I certainly do. I always thought it was amazing how Muppet was able to hold her #2s until I got home and took her outside . . .I always thought Muppet was a nice dog - didn't have any of the nasty habits that her Texas Cousins have. I learned differently - got home tonight and the house smelled like a fresh poo . . . . I went in and cleaned up the puppy pad then picked up Muppet - sniff . . .sniff . . . . sniff . . . . why does it still smell so bad . . . . . . ooh Yuck!!! That would be because Muppet was snacking on her poo!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! So Gross!!!! Dog needs a tooth brushing and then lots and lots of Scope!!!

OK - it's been a full day - and it's to work early early tomorrow.

De

Lost - The Final Season

I had every intention of going to bed early tonight. I was going to watch NCIS and then call it a night. But then I remembered that the Final Season of Lost starts tonight - I had it set up to record on my DVR and it would be nice to be able to watch it and skip all the commercials. Well - I could just watch the first hour - which was a recap of all that has happened up til now. I should have stuck to the original plan! I had forgotten how exciting last season was so now I am going to be up until 11 watching!! I sure hope we get at least some answers tonight!

D

**Update**
OK - First hour done and I think I am more confused. Some questions have been answered - like the smoke monster - but more have been created. Let's see what the second hour brings!

Stress - Stress - Stress

I think the flu is trying to make a home in my body . . . I believe the stress over the last month has brought the defenses down! There has been nothing but work stress for the past month - it's all a blur - the months have blended. Someone at work put it perfectly - We go from December to February - We don't get a January! We are still working on closing 2009 and it's already time to close January! Not to mention - being in AP - I had to produce 1099s last week. I feel like I am juggling way too many things. I am behind in getting started on my close check list. When I got in this morning the plan was to really get going on invoices and credit cards. Instead, I was met with a huge list of items that needed to be pulled for the Auditors, emails with questions for the Auditors, Copies to make for the Auditors! The day was half over before I got to get going on my list. Then - at 6 I got ready to leave work - someone said "Aren't you supposed to have AP Closed today" You know what - I can only do so much! And . . . I drove in today and I was 15 minutes away from losing my early bird discount! It was time to go.

Vent Time - Aaaaaaagggggghhhhh!!!! People - My busy days are right at the end of one month and the first 2 days of the new month. If I have to work on other things then my close work can't get done!!! I will not spend my life at work!! Some things may not get done - but at the end of the day what we do is not brain surgery - if AP doesn't close until tomorrow morning no one will die!!

Now - I'm gonna go take some Advil and hope it takes care of the headache - sore throat - and hot flashes.

De