Our Weekend!

Last week we noticed a swelling on the ear flap of Meka, my assistance dog.

I researched the symptoms and they fit those of aural hematoma, which is caused by bleeding between the layers of skin of the ear.
I took him to the vet and he was, in fact, diagnosed with an aural hematoma.

The vet stated that the treatment with the best chance for permanent resolution was surgery. We set up a date for surgery on Friday 10/29. She did drain it with a needle but advised that it would likely refill again, but would give him a bit of relief until the surgery could take place( if by chance, it actually resolved, the surgery could be canceled).

So, at 8:30 AM on Friday, we brought Meka in for his surgery; we picked him up again at 4 PM.

He came home with a bandage on his head and one on his leg where the IV was.

We were instructed to remove the bandage the next day and use the Elizabethan collar whenever we were not able to directly observe him to make sure that he didn't scratch or paw at the stitches.

We also have an anti inflammatory and antibiotics we need to give him.

He was fairly lethargic the rest of the evening, but went out readily for a brief relief break at about 11pm, then we all conked out.

Photos below:





Yesterday when we got up David went to the kitchen and the kitchen light blew out and blew a fuse, we thought, but actually blew a breaker further along the line. So, we had to get maintenance and it was determined that the fixture had a short, so I had to quickly do some shopping online to decide what I wanted and where to go for it.

I went to Home Depot and got some fixtures and got back as quickly as I could so that the maintenance man would still be available to install it. He did. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the first choice of placement, but at least we have light where we need it, the breakers aren't tripping and I can have things moved later if necessary.

Because the maintenance man was working on the ladder in the kitchen, I didn't get lunch until 2:30 PM, then needed to do a couple of errands and went to Mass at 5:30.

Later, we removed the dressing on Meka's ear. The wound was still pretty raw looking.

I re-bandaged the ear and for overnight we placed the Elizabethan collar on him ( no photos of that yet).

He bumbled about in a pathetic fashion, trying to judge where this thing will fit and where it won't and how to move with it. At some point during the night, he decided to join us in bed, a very rare occurrence without an express invitation. In true doggy fashion, he made himself comfortable. The cat moved to another location, then another. Meka continued to spread out and David was soon clinging to an edge of the bed with an edge of the blanket.

I slept through most of this and woke fairly refreshed.

Today we plan a relaxing day, no plans except to greet trick or treaters!

ONE YEAR LATER!!!!

Wow, I knew I was behind on my posting but a whole year!!?? AAAARGH!

Part of my neglect has had to do with the fact that I've had several health setbacks, first some repetitive stress injuries and then a slow starting, kind of long lasting flare up of my MS, so I haven't been doing too much on the creative side that didn't also have a practical purpose at home.

My priorities were placed in attempting to manage everyday life and responsibilities to family, friends and community while also trying to get better. I've actually made some progress but recently realized I needed a bit more help, so I'm doing a round of steroid treatment.

Here's a nutshell version of last year. I'll try to keep it in some sort of order, maybe reverse is best, since the medication decision is the most recent.

The previous post shows a photo of our table at last year's MS Walk. We did not participate at the Marketplace tables this year because I was too fatigued. I did, however, sign on as a "Virtual Walker" to raise funds and exceeded my fundraising goal, thanks to wonderful friends, relatives, neighbors and colleagues.

I've been going to Physical and Occupational Therapy and to an Aquatics program for people with MS and up until the flare-up, had been improving my endurance and my ability to do some of my crafting without pain. However, I still haven't had a sustained level of energy that would allow me to conceptualize and realize a complete project.

We were able to have all of our usual family celebrations of birthdays and holidays, though sometimes with a revised level of expectation of the work I required of myself to do that.

With the help of other family members we were able to assist an elder family member to deal with a medical emergency that then required a new living arrangement in an assisted living residence.

So, while the external crafting of art has been suspended for a time, the art of life has gone on...

The photos are some of the "practical art" that has come of the year.

April 30th - Day one, Solumedrol Infusion

The medication and infusion supplies were delivered last night and just about noon today, a nurse from Visiting Nurse Service arrived for my first infusion.

He took my medical history, explained the services of the agency and the specifics of the infusion procedure, discussed my previous experiences with it. He then inserted the intravenous catheter which stays in place (if all goes well) for the five day duration of the infusion. He then instructed me in the procedures for mixing the medication with the glucose solution, setting up, connecting and disconnecting the medication from the tube (catheter) that remains in the vein. He remained for a couple of hours to monitor the progress of the infusion while he input data into the record.

He'll be back here tomorrow, but it's my understanding that the next few days I'll be on my own, unless I run into a problem and call for help.

So unless I misunderstand the plan, if I don't need further help, someone will be back to check in on Tuesday and to remove the catheter.

We planned to do the infusion slowly and started it quite slowly. Within the first half hour, though I was feeling and looking quite flushed and so we decided to dial the flow back a bit further. The whole thing took about three hours.

I'm already hungry, but I'm trying to be really careful to stay in my calorie range.

I'm thinking of dividing the meals into more smaller, more frequent mini meals for the next few days so that I don't get ambushed by the munchies.