Drama in the Wilder Household

Ugh - where do I begin? Last Thursday Maddie, my dog, was limping a bit and generally acting slow. I put it down to possible arthritis and gave her some aspirin. (baby aspirin, no more than 1 per 12 hours!)

At 1:30 on Friday morning she woke me up in obvious pain. I grabbed the dog and ran across town to the 24 hour vet hospital. Within minutes they diagnosed her as having a possible ruptured or herniated disk.

OW!

They wanted to run some tests to make sure what was going on and see if she needed surgery. So I had to leave her there...sniff. I stopped by the desk on the way out and they wanted a deposit...of $2200.00!!! YIKES.

Now you tell me, who has that kind of money just lying around, especially in the middle of the night. I couldn't just give them a check the next day, they wanted it immediately or they wouldn't touch her.

I guess a person's word isn't worth much these days.

So I had to break out a credit card and make the downpayment. The next morning they called and yes...she needed surgery. And the pricetag? $3500.00.

I know...some of you are going to say I'm nuts - maybe I am, but I couldn't give up on my girl. She's only nine years old and that girl and I have been through hell together. She's travelled with me all over the U.S. and we did Katrina work for many months on end. She's more than just a dog to me.

Hey! Isn't that a commercial?

Anyway - my baby is home and she's recuperating well. Her back legs are weak - they had to move her spinal column during the surgery so it was bruised. She's been home almost 2 days now and i can see a big difference in her.

Recovery will be slow and long - about a month of being confined - so I've moved my office onto the first floor with my girl.

More later

Bumps in the road

One of my favorite movie lines is from The Big Chill.


"Nobody ever said life was supposed to be fun, at least they never said it to me." Richard from The Big Chill.

Mom has been ill since just after Thanksgiving and the ups and down have been waaayyyy big. She had an allergic reaction to some medication and its been getting worse since then. Her breathing has become more labored and she gets out of breath walking from the living room to the kitchen which is about 15 steps.

Last week she had her chest xrayed and the results aren't good. She could have emphysema or a host of other issues. The interesting thing here is that my mother never smoked, not even a single drag. If it does turn out that this is what she has, then Mom is a victim of second hand smoke.

My grandfather was a heavy smoker and he did smoke around her. He also took her to smoky bars when my grandmother was working. Yes, he was a sorry bastard and he died of emphysema and alcoholism.

My father was a smoker though he smoked pipes most of his life. After he became ill with multiple sclerosis he switched to cigarettes for the last fifteen years of his life. Consequently, I was subjected to second-hand smoke. I smoked for a short while then gave it up. It's just plain smelly. :)

Mom said that when she was in the car with her father she sat in back and all his smoke would hit her in the face. He did this even knowing that as a child, she already had a lung issue called Beck's Disease. BD is rare now and it is called Sarcoidosis - it alone can cause shortness of breath when she has a flare up.

So for those of you who smoke around your kids or others who don't smoke, what are you thinking? Do you want your loved ones to pay the price for your smoking sixty some years later, too?

I'm not one to preach, but I can't help being pissed off that a man who was a lousy father (for many more reasons than the smoking) and a rotten human being is still wrecking havoc with the last remaining members of his family.

Mom goes in Tuesday for a CAT scan. The doctors want to diagnose what is actually going on with her and get her started on some kind of treatment. Please keep her in your thoughts, she's all I have left.