SEPTEMBER TEARS

September. A month I dread. Especially the last part of the month. It's been almost 3 years and the pain is still as fresh as it was in 2011. I literally sit and think about the last time I talked to my mom. I can tell you the last time I talked to her and what we talked about. It was September 22 and Grey's Anatomy was coming on TV. That was our last conversation. I would give anything to talk to her one more time.

 I still feel overwhelming guilt about taking her off the vent, even though I knew she was already gone. My good friend asked me how she could be there for me this month. I don't have an answer. I never know when the pain and tears are going to strike. They struck tonight.

People say time heals. They lie. At least for me, time hasn't healed me.

PROGRESS REPORT

Miss KK continues to improve. She has now been cleared to begin some light activity. I've started putting her on the treadmill everyday. She's up to about 5 minutes a day at a slightly brisk pace. She's gained about 4.5lbs while being sick. So we have a lot of conditioning to do. I've started working with her on lefts/rights on the ground. No jumping. She hasn't been on a piece of agility equipment since July 6. My plan is to have her start on some agility equipment around mid month.

This picture was taken one week before KK fell so ill.

We are going to a working seminar the first weekend in October. I hope she will have the stamina to get through the weekend. Hopefully she will be able to jump by then. She's entered in 2 days of the Memphis AKC trial the next weekend. We leave immediately after that trial and go straight to Columbia for Marley's hip replacement.

It's been a very exhausting 10 weeks. It seems like I'll be getting KK all better and then Marley will be down for weeks. I just can't seem to catch a break.

On a positive note, just 7 weeks into my new collegiate job, I was given the course leader job for pediatrics! I'm a little overwhelmed, but am excited at the same time. So glad the timing was right and the perfect job opened up for me at the perfect time.

MY ADVENTURES IN COLUMBIA

I know this is Marley and Mommy's blog, but I stole the laptop because I wanted to let everyone know what has been going on with me. This is KK!!

 

 

 

I know Mommy has let people know I have been sick. But no one really knew how sick I was. So this is my story.

 

I started feeling bad a few days before I hurt my toe. They gave me some medicine for my hurt toe and the medicine just overwhelmed me. I felt so bad. I tried really hard at the Monroe AKC agility trial but I was so tired. I knew Mommy was worried about me but I just couldn't tell her how bad I felt. Every night after the agility trial, Mommy's friend would clean my sore toe. See everyone thought it was my toe that was bothering me. But it wasn't.

 

 

After we got home from the Monroe trial, Mommy took me to the vet and said I had a GI infection. They gave me some more medicine and it made my tummy better but I still felt so tired. Mommy was so worried about me and I wanted to tell her how bad I felt, but I couldn't. All I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't play with Marley or my toys anymore. I just slept on the sofa all day and night.

 

 

 

Mommy started a new job and couldn't take me to the vet but my favorite Aunt could. So I spent a lot of time with my Aunt going to the vet and she would take me to Sonic after every appointment. I love their corn dogs!! They took a lot of blood from me and poked my belly with a needle and then they shaved my belly and I don't know what they did because I got so sleepy in the comfy bed they had me in, that I went to sleep.

 

 

 

The picture they took of my belly showed that my adrenal glands were small and they thought I had Addison's Disease. So I got put on some medicine for that. It didn't make me feel any better. I wish I could have told Mommy how bad I felt. They did find out that I had ehrlichia and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and I got put on some medicine for it. I didn't really respond to the medicine like my vets thought I would. So they suggested since Marley was going to Missouri for her hip surgery, that Mommy get me an appointment and see if they could figure out why I wasn't getting better.

 

Since I had ehrlichia, Mommy had Marley got tested for ehrlichia and she was positive too. So Mommy had to talk to the doctor in Missouri about it. Her orthopedic surgeon wouldn't do her hip replacement surgery because Marley was sick too...not sick like me. But Mommy decided to take me to the University of Missouri Veterinary College anyway so I could be seen by their Internal Medical Specialists.

 

It was a long drive but I slept most of the way. I was a little scared in the waiting room. Marley got to go too because she's my favorite sister.

 

I love my Mommy but she's not good in a crisis. Lucky for me, my favorite Aunt went with us and did all the talking and asking questions. My Mommy was a 'hot mess'. She needed a friend to take care of her!

I had a real nice student named Kyle and he asked lots of questions about me. Then a real nice vet named Tracie took over my care along with Kyle. I had to stay with them all day on Monday.

While I was at the hospital, Mommy and my Aunt went to eat at Harpo's. The restaurant was closed but the manager, Anthony, let them come in and eat for free!! They had the restaurant all to themselves. Marley told me she got to eat the leftover burgers. She was so lucky!!

Meanwhile back at the hospital, they gave me some medicine and I slept. Mommy said they did lots of tests on me while I slept. They drew blood, stuck a needle in my bladder and in my joints!! They also took all kinds of pictures of me.They really couldn't find anything other than confirming that I had ehrlichia and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. But they did say that I didn't have Addison's Disease. I got to go back to the motel that night with Mommy. I looked a little funny because they shaved me.

 

The next day I had to go back to the hospital. Kyle took care of me. They gave me that medicine again and I slept. This time Neurology looked at me. They did a spinal tap on me and thankfully it was normal. They shaved the back of my head and now I look really funny.

 

 







Dr. Tracie and her team decided that I was in pain from the tick diseases. So they put me on some pain meds for a few weeks.  They let me go home with Mommy!! I was so happy. Everyone was so nice and friendly to me at the hospital. The vet techs liked me and would get me out of my crate and love on me. I gave them lots of kisses. I even played with Marley the next morning before we left the motel. I actually felt a little better.

 

 

On the way home, Mommy took me back to the Animal Shelter where MOKAN rescued me from. Mommy made we wear a sign. I was so happy I didn't have to stay there very long as a puppy and I am so grateful I was rescued and ended up with Mommy.

 

       

 

We also passed this sign on the way home!

 

 

 

I am taking lots of medicine and I am starting to feel a little better. I don't sleep as much and I have played a little. It's going to be a long road to recovery for me, but I am so thankful I have Mommy to take care of me. So that's my story for now.











SUMMER BLUES

My older girls, Molly and Missy are doing well. They enjoy going out everyday and exploring. Molly wants to stay out for hours but her age is catching up with her and she has to come in the house frequently to cool off. Missy will go out for just a few minutes and then she wants back in. Missy has never been an outside dog, however she has decided that at age 14, she loves to get on the agility equipment.

Marley is having a left hip replacement on August 5 so I have been letting her play outside everyday. Just letting her run and play and be Marley because she will be on crate rest for at least 8 weeks and I want her to have freedom now.

Kalea-Kate has been sick for over a month now. She was diagnosed with Campylobacter infection shortly after the Monroe AKC agility trial. She was still puny and had additional labs drawn and then got a tentative diagnosis of Addison's Disease and then she tested positive for ehrlichiosis. After a week on steroids and 4 days of doxycycline, she still isn't better. She is going back in for more lab work. I'm so worried about her and just want her to get better. I am so thankful that my good friend has been able to take her to her vet appointments since I just started my new job and can't get time off.

 

 

I'm very happy in my new job but drama from the old job seems to follow me. Trying my best to keep my head up and let the drama roll off my back, but it's hard. I just want to be left alone to live my life, the way I want to live it.

 

 

On a happy note, a friend and I went and got tattoos a few weeks ago. It's my first tattoo and I love it!!

 



 



LIFE CHANGES

The last month has been full of changes for me. On the professional level, an opportunity to teach at a college presented itself. It was the perfect timing for me. I was ready for a professional change and I took the job. Only my closest friends knew how unhappy I was where I was working. And only they knew what were the precipitating factors in my decision to leave. When going to work causes you to cry, it's time for a change. I'm so thankful the right job came along when it did and I absolutely love being in the collegiate world. I have already learned so much in my first 2 weeks and am very excited to be where I am. Who knows, maybe I'll pursue my PhD??

 

I also learned the hard way these last few weeks who you can trust and who your real friends are. I have been hurt so bad by people who were 'friends'. Once I left my job, people came out of the woodworks claiming to be 'concerned' for me. These same people never had the time of day for me before. One girl (who claims to be a devoted Christian) had the audacity to start a nasty, vicious rumor about me that I quickly addressed with that person. It was completely made up and why a grown woman would sink to that level is beyond me. I have had to resort to blocking former colleagues from my Facebook to just end the drama. Even with blocking people on Facebook, the rumors still seem to get back to me. I don't know why people can't leave me alone. I have been gone over a month from my previous job, so why I still seem to be the topic of conversation I just don't understand. It's time to move on folks!!

The only person who can change your life, is you! And I chose to change mine!

 

A BABY DOG IN A SEA OF MACHS

We went to West Monroe, LA over July 4th weekend for a 4 day AKC agility trial. We noticed on the way down that KK wasn't her usual wild self. I chalked it up to her toe and the antibiotics she was on. She had a great trial. She did the table everyday! She jumped off once but I got too close to her while she was on the table and she doesn't like that.

She ended up with 4 Q's: 2 T2B, 1 Master FAST and 1 Master JWW. The rest of her runs were just 1 thing from Q-ing. Mostly errors on my part. KK did have one run where she had a 2 y/o moment and she just randomly took obstacles. I had to scratch her from one run because she just wasn't herself. All weekend she was a little slow and her weaving was very slow for her. She even popped out once which she has never done in a trial before.

After we got home, I took her to the vet and she has a GI infection. So she's back on antibiotics and I hope she bounces back soon. She's still sleeping a lot and not playing. She has a NADAC trial next weekend, so I hope she feels better soon.

KK Master JWW

My friend and I were watching all the 20in dogs run and got to wondering how many of those dogs had MACH's and how many years they had been competing. There were 30 20in dogs entered in Masters. 13 of those dogs had at least 1 MACH (43% of the dogs). 17 or 59% of the dogs had been competing for 5 or more years. One dog had been competing for 9 years. 10 or 34% of the dogs had been competing at least 3 years but less than 5 years. 2 dogs or 7% had been competing 2-3 years.

My sweet baby KK, who is just 2 1/2, has been competing for 16 months off and on and she's holding her own in all Masters. She's just a baby dog in a sea of MACHS!!

MARLEY'S SURGERY IS SCHEDULED

I have finally officially scheduled Marley's Total Hip Replacement. Originally scheduled for last week, we had to reschedule her surgery due to the fact that the surgeon we wanted would be out of town right after her surgery. So after many emails trying to get the surgeon I wanted, she is on the books to be evaluated on August 4th with surgery first thing the morning of August 5th. She should be hospitalized 2-3 nights and then be discharged home for 6-8 weeks of recovery before being seen back at Columbia. After her recheck, she will begin rehab.

 

 

So my late summer and fall will be pretty busy with Marley so KK's agility career will be on hold until Marley is able to travel again. But if it means Marley will feel better, it will be all worth it.