Form Letters. Casey's Iron. Dead Fish. (Does it get any better than this)?

   Drip. Drip. Drip...


Good Morning Everyone-
Oh! I am SO far behind once again...

What a few weeks these have been for us.
We learned that Casey's pancreatic enzymes are no longer on the FDA's approved list of medications. The only 3 that are, are meds she has had problems with already.
Those 3, are also of the delayed release variety. (And I hesitate to use the word "variety". They are all the same, different combos of the same meds).
Casey cannot take any of these 3 as she experiences more nausea, pain and delayed gastric emptying (what she had surgery to be rid of in January).

What to do? I have already written to the FDA, (who of course replied with a note about the issue that I already knew).  I hate form letters.

I then got hold of a friend of mine. Sheila is a pharmacist and is trying to learn any tips that might work for Casey to be able to use one of the three products.  Please say a little prayer or two?

It still amazes me, even though I grew up with Miss Sheila, the sheer number of people that have come together in this godawful fight we have to simply keep Casey alive and pain free. Whether by prayers, or love, or information, or all 3. This illness of Casey's has brought so many of us together.

CaseyAnne received her 2nd iron blood infusion on Tuesday at 8:30.
It is a 2 hour appointment.
... Or, better said, it should have been a 2 hour appointment. It took them over an hour and 15 minutes to be able to get a good enough vein to flow.
Casey has been poked so very many times that she has veins that roll and infiltrate immediately.



 
Casey explains to Lisa which veins might work anymore..
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But Miss Lisa hits one that does not work. Lisa has a rule to only try once in these situations. She calls in another nurse.
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Then 2 more nurses...
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Well, you get the picture...
On and on and on it went.
This is NOT a problem with the nursing staff. It is a problem that Casey will deal with for the rest of her life. (I'd even suggested using the veins in her legs and tipping the chair all the way back).
She should have had a port installed years ago... We didn't know.


I had to go outside and let Punk out so she could go potty. -When Kelli had been over the previous evening Punk had peed no less than about 25 times in 1/2 an hour.  Figuring her UTI wasn't fixed (after 3 weeks of pills!), I had made a mental note to let her out of the car, often.

When I came back inside, this is what I see...
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It is running! (On the 9th poke they found one that worked)!


They have to let it go slow because the body needs to be able to work with it as it flows.
Just that, as we all know, Casey's body does not always cooperate as it should...

Halfway through, her blood pressure dropped to 80/44.  Not good- Those nurses sure can move! Lisa then readied herself if Casey might need more liquids etc...

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Note the extra bag of saline.
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All's well that ends well. Casey walked out around noon on her own two legs!

I had a 1:30 appointment to bring Punk back to the vet-
I was early then, so Punk and I stopped over at Gritters place.

They weren't home, but I left a note, and snapped this picture on the way out of the driveway.
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Those are just 2 of the faces that feed on all my apples and pears! hehehe
They were also infinitely more interested in the birds behind my car than they were of me.
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So to the vets early.
Punk has lost 10+ pounds in 2 months. Dr. Spires didn't think it anything to be concerned about since Punk is still a bit overweight.
He did think it was time to do a bit more investigating... So Punk had her very 1st ultrasound.

His findings were, that for some reason, Punks bladder walls are over an inch thick. Adding that one should be able to read a newspaper through them...
About her bladder he stated, "We have not ever seen this in a long time."

I spoke to him yesterday after her urine tests had come back. Once again it is an ecoli urinary tract infection.
This time she will be on Cipro for 6 weeks.

I do not wish you to know that my thoughts right now are "what next"... I know better than to ask such a thing!

On the way home, we stopped at Wouters. Gary was out by the ball diamond, so we had to say hi!
They have Mens Softball on Tuesday, Womens on Wednesdays, and co~ed Kickball on Thursdays.

He was having problems getting his sprinkler system to run. (And I helped)! ;-)
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Punk helps Gary get water to re~prime the pump... hehehe
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About an hour later, we had it going!
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As he worked on the field, Punk decided she loved the river there as well as it runs through the woods at home. And being a lab, there is no keeping her out!

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She waded and swam -and completely loved every minute of it!

While Gary and I were talking, she had moved upriver a bit.
(Unbeknownst to us, there is a pile of dead suckers there).

You got it.  She is once more covered in black and stinks to high heaven.
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And SO damnably bloody happy about it!
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I could have cried! 
I found a stick and threw it in the river a dozen times for her at that point.
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After that she promptly rolled in the sand. And got herself tied up on the footbridge til we left.

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hehehe
God help me...
Gary held her while I mopped her up with a blanket before she got in my car. It helped a little.
Thank God it is only one mile up the road!

I now call her "Cod Liver Oil." --  "Stink" for short. (It is a mixture now of sandalwood, roses water and patchouli.
She smells like an opium den. Just worse.

I hope your week is going better than mine, and that your dog isn't reeky like mine!
Time for another shower... *sigh*

Love to all.

XOXO
Me