Let's catch up, shall we?

Let's see...looks like this current "challenge" in our lives started about 3 weeks ago, so I'm very behind on my doggy-blogging duties.
But Mommy could make it a lot easier for me if she would just hold the laptop for me (oh wait...that's right...she actually hasn't been all that well, either.)
Ok, so we have both been neglecting our fans and furpals.

But I'm back.  Wanna know what we've up to?


Let's go back a bit...yes, quite a bit...


Sun, Mar 25
I had my first attack of pain - not sure what happened, but I just started yelping and ran to Momma for help.  Momma wasn't sure what it was either, but she just stayed with me, petting my neck and back until I settled down.  Good Momma, good. WOL.


Mon, Mar 26
Another pain attack and more yelping. 

Then Momma got a cut on her hand and had to go to the ER - and by ambulance no less.She drops like a tree at the sight of her own blood.  
Mine, Trot's, the kitties or anyone else's...she's a hero.
Hers? Thud.
(But really...she's just trying to steal my thunder.  WOL!)


Tue, Mar 27
All seemed ok.  Both Momma and I were doing well.


Wed, Mar 28
Ok - now Momma was REALLY trying to steal my audience as her hand and arm became so infected it looked like a cooked lobster.
So she had to go to the ER (again), per her own doctor, this time.

There, they gave her IV antibiotics, so at least she got a taste of what I have to go through when she hooks me up to all of those bags and tubes.  WOL!

But then later that night, I had another one of my painful attacks and Momma decided to call the vet in the morning.


Thu, Mar 29
The vet scheduled an appt late in the day, because in the meantime, Momma had another return visit to the ER where they told her they wanted her to stay in the hospital for monitoring and IVs, but she told them about me and they compromised.

Instead, she had to return every day for a week to get a daily IV of antibiotics.  So she came home that very afternoon to bring me to the vet.

While on the way to the vet, Momma, Trot & myself were rear-ended at an intersection (really, folks, even Lassie couldn't make up this stuff).  No one was hurt, but was someone playing with a St. Bernard voodoo doll somewhere?

Vet said she thought I have a slipped disc in my neck, gave me more medications, and did some Laser therapy on me.  Mmmm...my neck was all warm and cozy.  But...I had another attack around midnight.

And then, I decided to stop eating and just started to throw up everything Momma put in my tummy - food, ice, medicine.  Yuck.

So for Momma and me...Thursday was a very long day.

ps - Great news though (sorta) - I weighed in at 135lbs - up 20 lbs from October.  But bad news on the way...see Apr. 2.


Fri, Mar 30
Momma continued to go to the hospital for her anitibiotics.

Memere & Pepere (French for Gramma & Grampa) said they were going to visit over the weekend.  And Memere was actually going to stay for a whole week!!

We love when they visit!!

But I continued to go downhill, not eating and throwing up all of my medicine.


Sat, Mar 31
Momma went back to the hospital for another IV...again.

Then, Memere & Pepere arrived.  BIG WOOFS from me and Trot!!

Pepere moved our kennel onto the patio so I could stop eating grass and dirt, which Momma thinks was the biggest contributer to my upset tummies.

I still couldn't eat real food all day and Momma kept trying to give me the medicine I needed.  But I threw it up all night.

Poor Memere & Pepere - I think I kept them up most of the night too.  Momma and I are used to it, but not Memere and Pepere.


Sun, Apr 1
More antibiotics at the hospital for Momma...

Pepere returned home, and...

Memere stayed for the week - just to be with ME!!  
(ok, maybe it's not really the case - but in my mind, she wanted to visit her favorite St. Bernard - and yes, of course, her favorite Germand Shepard too.  Momma keeps reminding me not to leave Trot out of my blog.  WOL!  Ok ok....and maybe Memere was here to see Momma too!)

But I just keep throwing up my medicine.  Momma didn't even try to feed me today.
She was just hoping I could keep my medicine down, but that didn't work.

I'm AM thirsty though because every time Trot drinks from his water dish, I'm right there too.
Of course, neither Momma nor Memere let me have anything, but Momma says it's a good sign that at least I want to drink.

So, we're off to the vet again tomorrow.


Mon, Apr 2
Momma keeps going to get those bags of IV antibiotics.  What a pain.
At least mine can be done in the comfort of my own doggie bed!!

Memere and Momma keep trying to get my meds to stay down but I had to go to vet since Momma said I was getting too bad.

Turns out she was right:  since my last visit only on Thurs., I lost 17 lbs and was now down to 117.  Vet says mostly because I was so dehydrated.

So I went home with a catheter so Momma could give me my own IV liquids.  Now whose thunder is stolen?!?  WOL!  (Still woof ya Momma!  It's ok.  Like you always say, we're in this together!!)


Tue, Apr 3
More antibiotics for Momma and more liquids for me.
I'm still not eating yet, but Momma and Memere can already see a difference.  
And I just want to keep drinking Trot's water.  
Hopefully, Momma will give me ice cubes soon.


Wed, Apr 4
Uh-oh.  Another pain attack.  My, and I was doing so well without them!!
Momma just rubs my back until I settle down.  Yikes!  What is that?!?!

At least is was the last day of antibiotics for Momma - yippee!!


Thu, Apr 5
I'm still vomiting all of my medicine - including the $20/dose antibiotics Momma had to buy - and she bought a bottle of 5 doses.

But I have thrown up 2 doses so far.  Sorry Momma. 
(No worries, she says to me all the time, and just gives me big, dry human kisses.)

So tomorrow, she will get an injectable antibiotic that will go right into my IV line.  That should be much better.


Fri, Apr 6
Momma continued to see her doctors (for her hand and then some others too - she has lots of doctors, but this isn't her story...it's ALL about ME!!  WOL!)

Then, on her way home, she picked up more IV bags and the special antibiotic.  And was told that the vet wanted to see me again on Monday and wanted to have the "Quality of Life" talk with Momma.  Uh-oh.

Pepere came back - Woof! - to get Memere to bring back home - un-Woof!
But it's so nice to see my favorite grandparents!!

And big news...Momma stopped my medicines - all of them, except the injectable antibiotic.
Since I'm not holding anything down anyway, why keep making me go through the motions of regurgitating?  Good thinking Momma...


Sat, Apr 7
...Because now that she stopped the medicines, I haven't vomited all night.  
What a relief!!  Finally!!
And later in the day...she even gave me 3 ice cubes.
BIG Woofs!!  (and amazingly, I kept them down!!)


Sun, Apr 8
Still no meds.  Still no vomiting.  Go figure!!  Maybe Momma's on to something!!

So guess who got to eat 6 frozen meatballs today??

But my IV doesn't seem to be working anymore.
It took 3 hours to empty a bag, whereas it was only taking 30 minutes earlier this week.
Momma says I might need a new line so we'll haved it checked at tomorrow's appt.


Mon, Apr 9
More meatballs.  More ice cubes.  No getting sick.

Then...the vet visit.

And phew!  The vet was so surprised and happy to see that I was back to my perky ol' self.
Even when the tech brought in a bowl of water for another laser treatment on my neck (they use it to wet down my hair), I followed her around the room, in hopes she'd give me some.  no luck, but a boy's gotta try!!

So they all had a chuckle and the vet agreed it was't quite the time for the "Quality of Life" talk with Momma.  But she did say that she didn't think I'd make it through another one of these bad episodes.

Her suggestion, if money were no object, is to put in a feeding tube because no matter how much Momma tries to feed me, I just won't be able to gain the weight or muscle back that I really need without specialized formulas that they can use with feeding tubes.
So this means more vet visits.  Darn.

And since money IS really an object, Momma is really going to have to figure out what to do.
And fast.

Well...at least I'm the best patient they say they've ever had.  WOL!
Especially when I'm getting my IV lines inserted or checked - I just lie there.
Let them do there thing.
Then get praised for doing nothing.
WOL WOL WOL!!  I know how to work the system!!


Tue, Apr 10
Speaking of IV lines...I had to get a new one.  Even though they checked it yesterday, it just stopped working today.  And again...best patient ever!!

Then, Momma had to go to the human hospital to pick up more injectable antibiotics for me.  Did you know you can do that?

Anyway, I'm eating more and more meatballs and eating more ice cubes.  Big Woofs!!


Wed, Apr 11
Quiet day...shhh...don't jinx it!!


Thu, Apr 12
Yup.  It got jinxed.
Today, my new IV line got infected and my leg began to swell and get red and hot - just like Momma's arm did last week.  
So Momma pulled the catheter and tomorrow, it's back to the vet.

But more meatballs and no getting sick.  
I'm really starting to like this!!


Fri, Apr 13
Back to the vet. 

Trot too, this time - he has a hot spot that he keeps licking - bad Trot, bad.  And he DID NOT like it when the vet put a needle with some steroids into it.  Woof - did he bark and yelp!!

As for me...my legs just did not want a new IV line - too swollen and irritated.  So they wrapped me up and we're back in the morning.

(Geez - we should just move our beds into their office - WOL!!)


Sat, Apr 14
New IV line.  
3 EASY bags of fluids.  
3 full meals of frozen meatballs!!

Pretty good day for Mr. MegaPaws, if I do say so myself.
(And I do.  WOL!)


Sun, Apr 15
More fluids - nice and easy.  
More meatballs for breakfast and lunch.
Then meatballs AND pure canned food cut into chunks for dinner - BIG WOOFs!
Now that's progress.

I had a bit of a hard time overnight though (Sunday into Monday) - gurgled alot since I had such a big dinner.  
So Momma is just going to give me a bigger breakfast and lunch, and then a smaller dinner - so we can all have a better time overnight tomorrow.

We really need our beauty sleep.  
Well, just Momma and Trot, really.  
I'm already the best looking St. Bernard around!!  WOL WOL!


Mon, Apr 16
More good fluids.  
More meatballs and canned food.
More ice cubes - AND Momma added in a little bit of milkshake too!
Big breakfast and lunch so far.  Smaller dinner later.

Momma got more bags of fluid too!  So you'd think everything is on the up-and-up, right?
But...not everything is as pretty as it seems.  (Get ready.)

What I haven't disclosed yet is that I have had terrible "runs" since Saturday.
Just plain explosive.  (Sorry to the squeemish, or those who have never had pets - or even children, for that matter - WOL!)

Apparently, the antibiotics are wreaking havoc on my stomach.
So let's cross our paws that goes away soon.  
Poor Momma (and yes, poor me too!)


Anyway, another meal and IV are in store for later this evening.

And then of course, another middle-of-the-night session later - although that's just a tiny "snack", really.  IMHO, of course.
Momma says it's just enough to get me to stop whining in the middle of the night.

But hey, at least I'm hungry!!  And eating!!  And not getting scik!!


And, Yes - food and fluids 4 times a day - you do the math - every 6 hours - good for me since I get to eat, then just sit or lie there.  
But not so much for Momma.  She can't go to sleep since she has to watch my IV bag so it doesn't run empty.  But I keep promising her, I'll be better soon.


In fact, we see a special vet on Wed. who will give us more information about a feeding tube.
Let's cross our paws!!


All is ok for now.  I'll keep you updated.


And I want to say a very special Thank You to all of my fans, friends, followers, and especially to my furpals!!  Big Love & Woofs to you all!




Woof!