The appt with the vet went better than expected. He thinks she has bad allergies. He gave her a cortizone shot to help with it, and we're giving her some other medication for two weeks. Hopefully, it will clear up her itching and skin issues and get rid of her cough. He said she really doesn't look that bad. Most dogs he sees are really nasty with skin problems and suffering. She seems to have had an allergy flare-up that was triggered by the fleas. The cough may have been allergies all along, since she has a history of ear problems that recur twice a year or so.
If the shot doesn't help the cough at all, we can test her for heartworm in the spring. Because she has had a few heartworm pills in the last two years, most likely she was only exposed this past summer, and whatever heartworms might be growing now are not strong enough to survive the pill I just gave her. They take about 7 months to become full grown and giving the dog the pills will stop them at any time during that 5-6 months that they're immature. At least I think that's what he was saying. So there's a slight possibility some from last summer did grow in her, but they will be weakened by giving her the pills over time and he's not too worried about it. And the cough is probably from her allergies anyway.
So....what. a. relief. He did go through the usual "how's Steve" spiel about how they're brothers and have so much in common blah blah blah. That's nice, I guess. He invited us to his church. I told him that I really don't want to go without Steve and I probably could find something nearby, but I don't want to go alone. I think that's what it pretty much boils down to. I would like to find a church that met his needs too, where he could be engaged and have a role. I don't know that there is one, and I don't really even want to go looking for it myself. *shrug* So we don't go.
I have to say. I'm loving the cool morning and the golden sunrise. Kids are walking to school. I could do without that. I think it would be really nice to sit out on the front porch with Steve and drink a cup of tea while he has a cup of coffee and quietly talk. Or not talk, just enjoy the morning. It's probably not going to happen. He leaves for work before the sun is up and we sleep in on weekends, but it's a nice thought. I'll probably work out front with the kids before it get too warm today. 94 is the estimated high. Fall is coming, though.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
I made the appt
So I made an appt today to take the dog to the vet. I'm glad they can get her in today. I hope it doesn't cost more than what's left on our credit card. I dread going. I omitted the real reason when I spoke with the receptionist. I may work up the courage to call her back before lunch in case they need to do anything to prepare to test her.
I'm going to have to take the kids. That's the worst part. At least they're old enough that Rebekah can sit with them in the waiting room. Maybe I'll see if they can go to a friend's house. I'll try to call them soon. It might not take long, so somebody taking them for an hour isn't so bad.
Steve is convinced you can get heartworm pills OTC real cheap. I tried to order them once before from an online petmeds place, but they still wanted the vet's contact info and you couldn't complete the order without it. You could order the frontline, but not the pills. So that's partly why she hasn't had it. Steve even suggested that we could maybe just let the pills slowly kill off the heartworms and not have to go through the difficult treatment. I was surprised by that. But I don't want her to suffer any more than she already has, and if there's already damage, I don't want any more. I'd rather do the treatment. Of course, if there's a huge cost because the vet doesn't feel so sympathetic to our financial situation, then that might be all we can do. Or maybe the vet will say he doesn't think there's been much damage yet and we can wait and see because treatment is pretty risky if the dog gets hyper because she has to be quiet for weeks to let the dead worms absorb into her system. Or maybe he'll say we're VERY lucky and she's just fat.
Anyway, I'm facing a major fear today. Better sooner than later, I think, that's why I took the appt so soon since they had a cancellation. Hopefully, a lot of my "if this and if that" will be answered.
I'm going to have to take the kids. That's the worst part. At least they're old enough that Rebekah can sit with them in the waiting room. Maybe I'll see if they can go to a friend's house. I'll try to call them soon. It might not take long, so somebody taking them for an hour isn't so bad.
Steve is convinced you can get heartworm pills OTC real cheap. I tried to order them once before from an online petmeds place, but they still wanted the vet's contact info and you couldn't complete the order without it. You could order the frontline, but not the pills. So that's partly why she hasn't had it. Steve even suggested that we could maybe just let the pills slowly kill off the heartworms and not have to go through the difficult treatment. I was surprised by that. But I don't want her to suffer any more than she already has, and if there's already damage, I don't want any more. I'd rather do the treatment. Of course, if there's a huge cost because the vet doesn't feel so sympathetic to our financial situation, then that might be all we can do. Or maybe the vet will say he doesn't think there's been much damage yet and we can wait and see because treatment is pretty risky if the dog gets hyper because she has to be quiet for weeks to let the dead worms absorb into her system. Or maybe he'll say we're VERY lucky and she's just fat.
Anyway, I'm facing a major fear today. Better sooner than later, I think, that's why I took the appt so soon since they had a cancellation. Hopefully, a lot of my "if this and if that" will be answered.
Friday, August 27, 2010
I feel terrible.
Our dog has heartworm. Well, it's not diagnosed yet, but I'm pretty sure she must.
It's entirely preventable, doesn't even cost all that much, but I didn't get her meds and now she has it.So we get to take her to the vet and spend hundreds of dollars to have her treated over the course of a few months and she will suffer and have to be restricted from activity if she doesn't die first. Sigh.
It's not that I feel guilty really, but it just kinda solidifies my hardness toward the Lord. I mean, if money never was an issue, I would have NEVER put off taking her to the vet and been so lax about her care.
Here I am, needing two surgeries, needing new glasses, needing to buy new underwear for myself and two kids for crying out loud. So I don't really feel guilty for not spending money on taking the dog to the vet.
Garrett's bike got stolen. It's been like 3 weeks now since it happened. I had hoped that some kid rode it home and after a while the mother would notice her kid got a bike from somewhere and would make him return it. I had hoped that we would come home sometime and it would be back. No such luck.
The dog got fleas and a stinky yeast infection, so I had to get her flea stuff from the vet last week. I got her heartworm stuff too, but giving it to her is what prompted me to get thinking about the possibility that she already had heartworms. Then I looked up the symptoms and she's definitely had the symptoms for some time. Anyway, if it wasn't for that and a flat tire last week, I would have gotten Garrett another bike for like $20 from the junk man down the road.
I feel so terrible about it all, I don't know what to do. I dread taking her to the vet. Our vet is really nice, he was actually friends with Steve for a while. He's given us the meds free before and always asks me all kinds of questions about Steve and how we're doing and do we need help with this or that. I just dread it. I have to go in there and tell him that the dog needs to be tested and he's going to ask me why I didn't just call him and get the meds. I don't really think he's going to give me a serious guilt-inducing talking-to, but still. If she needs the treatment, it's going to be a lot of work for him and he probably won't make us pay and I will feel bad. Or, the best case scenario is that he just says the reason she gets winded and coughs is that she's fat and Steve needs to quit giving her pizza crusts and I better keep in touch so she doesn't lapse with her meds again.
I hate depending on others for that kind of thing. I'm not so sure if I hate it really, but I know Steve hates it, so I hate it because I have to talk with him about it and I know it makes him feel like he doesn't provide well enough. I mean, the times people have given us things and we didn't ask for it was kinda different. We could both say, wow, that was a big blessing, a help. But I know for sure that Steve doesn't like taking free vet care from his friend because his friend has complained about people wanting free care just because they go to church with him. So anyway, having to ask for help now is doubly humbling because I should have asked in the first place.
So I kinda wonder sometimes if we're not seeing NT miracles and all because we aren't really open and loving with each other. I wonder sometimes if that's our calling, our path that the Lord has guided our steps toward. I mean, we're not poor because I need to have the best of everything or stuff I don't need. We're poor mostly because we have been trying the best we know how to follow the Lord. I think it's important that I be a "worker at home" and our kids get homeschooled. Steve does too. We both have grappled with allowing the Lord to determine the size of our family. But ever since that decision, debt has skyrocketed and problems get worse. We bought this house almost out of desparate exhaustion with living under a leaky, collapsing roof. We prayed and asked God to close the doors if it wasn't His will. We could see even while we were sitting at the closing table how God could just shut the door and say, "nope, it's not for you, not right now." But He didn't.
Is it something we need to learn about the interdependence of the Body of Christ? I don't know. I know that I wish I could just find a solution that wasn't some internet scam. I wish there was something I could do to bring in several hundred dollars a month and help to pull us out of this mess. I could do like 15 hours of something easily every week, maybe more. Unless I get pregnant, but that's pretty unlikely the way things have been going. Sigh. There are several people who have offered to help us with money. One of them could probably wipe out our debt with one check if she wanted to(not that I'd ask). I'm just saying. I really don't feel comfortable with looking at people like they are a "source," and I know that Steve isn't. Are we too "Americanized?"
It's entirely preventable, doesn't even cost all that much, but I didn't get her meds and now she has it.So we get to take her to the vet and spend hundreds of dollars to have her treated over the course of a few months and she will suffer and have to be restricted from activity if she doesn't die first. Sigh.
It's not that I feel guilty really, but it just kinda solidifies my hardness toward the Lord. I mean, if money never was an issue, I would have NEVER put off taking her to the vet and been so lax about her care.
Here I am, needing two surgeries, needing new glasses, needing to buy new underwear for myself and two kids for crying out loud. So I don't really feel guilty for not spending money on taking the dog to the vet.
Garrett's bike got stolen. It's been like 3 weeks now since it happened. I had hoped that some kid rode it home and after a while the mother would notice her kid got a bike from somewhere and would make him return it. I had hoped that we would come home sometime and it would be back. No such luck.
The dog got fleas and a stinky yeast infection, so I had to get her flea stuff from the vet last week. I got her heartworm stuff too, but giving it to her is what prompted me to get thinking about the possibility that she already had heartworms. Then I looked up the symptoms and she's definitely had the symptoms for some time. Anyway, if it wasn't for that and a flat tire last week, I would have gotten Garrett another bike for like $20 from the junk man down the road.
I feel so terrible about it all, I don't know what to do. I dread taking her to the vet. Our vet is really nice, he was actually friends with Steve for a while. He's given us the meds free before and always asks me all kinds of questions about Steve and how we're doing and do we need help with this or that. I just dread it. I have to go in there and tell him that the dog needs to be tested and he's going to ask me why I didn't just call him and get the meds. I don't really think he's going to give me a serious guilt-inducing talking-to, but still. If she needs the treatment, it's going to be a lot of work for him and he probably won't make us pay and I will feel bad. Or, the best case scenario is that he just says the reason she gets winded and coughs is that she's fat and Steve needs to quit giving her pizza crusts and I better keep in touch so she doesn't lapse with her meds again.
I hate depending on others for that kind of thing. I'm not so sure if I hate it really, but I know Steve hates it, so I hate it because I have to talk with him about it and I know it makes him feel like he doesn't provide well enough. I mean, the times people have given us things and we didn't ask for it was kinda different. We could both say, wow, that was a big blessing, a help. But I know for sure that Steve doesn't like taking free vet care from his friend because his friend has complained about people wanting free care just because they go to church with him. So anyway, having to ask for help now is doubly humbling because I should have asked in the first place.
So I kinda wonder sometimes if we're not seeing NT miracles and all because we aren't really open and loving with each other. I wonder sometimes if that's our calling, our path that the Lord has guided our steps toward. I mean, we're not poor because I need to have the best of everything or stuff I don't need. We're poor mostly because we have been trying the best we know how to follow the Lord. I think it's important that I be a "worker at home" and our kids get homeschooled. Steve does too. We both have grappled with allowing the Lord to determine the size of our family. But ever since that decision, debt has skyrocketed and problems get worse. We bought this house almost out of desparate exhaustion with living under a leaky, collapsing roof. We prayed and asked God to close the doors if it wasn't His will. We could see even while we were sitting at the closing table how God could just shut the door and say, "nope, it's not for you, not right now." But He didn't.
Is it something we need to learn about the interdependence of the Body of Christ? I don't know. I know that I wish I could just find a solution that wasn't some internet scam. I wish there was something I could do to bring in several hundred dollars a month and help to pull us out of this mess. I could do like 15 hours of something easily every week, maybe more. Unless I get pregnant, but that's pretty unlikely the way things have been going. Sigh. There are several people who have offered to help us with money. One of them could probably wipe out our debt with one check if she wanted to(not that I'd ask). I'm just saying. I really don't feel comfortable with looking at people like they are a "source," and I know that Steve isn't. Are we too "Americanized?"
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