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carriebIf you see this:
See the black dot on her shoulder? We didn't know if that was a tick or mole.
Then you see this:
Things aren't good.
Sorry for the poor quality pic, but she refused to stand still and let me take a picture. Looking at the pictures and knowing what I know now, duh. Why did I hesitate to take her in? Thoough I didn't hesitate long. I took her in the same day I suspected Lyme's, but I felt dumb since it was not a traditional bulls eye rash. I found a google pic of a lady with the exact rash in the exact spot, and she also had Lyme's. Maybe the way the shoulder is shaped makes it go oval instead of round? I don't know.
Getting the medicine down her has not been easy, but it has not been impossible either. She screams, fights, and blows raspberries the whole time, but if we just squirt it in .5 ml at a time, she will swallow if we blow in her face. I'm so glad someone on FB gave me that tip a few months ago. She is not puking it back up, thank dog.
The rash is almost completely gone and she seems to be feeling a lot better. I must admit I sort of had a major internal freakout when I found out she has Lyme's. I've always heard such terrible things about the disease, but I think most of the problems come when you are not diagnosed early and you just kind of linger in poor health for months before someone figures out what it is.
In other news, I got the DVD that the funeral home made for my dad and they didn't include a single picture I had sent them. First, I sent them links to a flickr album and they couldn't work that (I didn't realize I just needed to go through and change the permissions) so I e-mailed a shit load of pics. The girl told me to just e-mail them all in one e-mail and didn't have a f---- clue why that might crash her e-mail. I split them up and got some bounce messages, so split them up further until I wasn't getting any bounce messages. I guess they never received any of the e-mails, including the e-mail which didn't include a single attachment but rather informed them that I was sending the e-mails. The only e-mail I got back said "this is the right e-mail" so I figured they were getting things. I knew they were idiots (they put the wrong date on the death certificate, which has caused my mom no end of hassle) but I assumed they must have the pictures because they KNEW the pictures were coming and they had my e-mail address. My sister repeatedly told them I was sending pictures. I know she's a big flake (she just had her IUD removed. I can't even. . . ), but this was really important to her and I am know she was trying to make sure everything was right.
I sent a very hotly worded e-mail to the funeral home and didn't get back an apology. Apparently it is my mom's fault because she approved the slide show (she had no way to know what pictures I had sent). Then it was my fault for not sending them correctly. Then it was my fault for not making sure they got my e-mail. They are adding the pictures to the end of the slide show and will fed-x me a new copy, but the funeral director is an asshole. And it's not his fault, because he was out of town. Don't you think the least they could do is say "sorry for the misunderstanding?" I mean, my God. We are the grieving family. We're allowed to be crazy.
It is too late to really "fix" since the funeral is over and I don't anticipate watching this thing very many times. It is too sad. I was already feeling guilty about missing the funeral, but then there were no pictures of me or my family in the slideshow. So what do people think? That we were estranged? That I wasn't a part of his life? That I was a giant bitch? I don't know. It pisses me off more than I would have imagined. You should see this string of e-mails between the funeral director and myself. Usually I am fairly passive (honestly! I am! I talk a mean game in my journal, but I'm meek and mild sometimes), but I am putting this guy through the wringer and refusing to accept his blame. I am forcing him to come up with solutions.
Anyway, I need to think of something else.
We've been cat sitting this week for my friend. I am allergic to cats, but I can be in a house with them for awhile. Some cats make my eyes swell up, some cats make me sneeze and some cats have no effect. I've never had a cat make my hands burn.
Holy heck. This cat wants to be petted because he misses his family and he makes my hands burn like fire. I've never had that reaction before. I hope I never have it again. We only had to go over there three times, so I'm glad it is over. I just felt bad that I couldn't pet him as much as he wanted to be petted.
Three day weekend! We have nothing planned, but I want to go to Home Depot and get some dirt and plants. Our yard looks awful and our deck planters are full of weeds. I don't want to plant tomatoes because the squirrels eat them all (oh how I love fresh tomatoes), but weeds are annoying me. Flowers will be a lot nicer to look at, if we can motivate ourselves.
See the black dot on her shoulder? We didn't know if that was a tick or mole.
Then you see this:
Things aren't good.
Sorry for the poor quality pic, but she refused to stand still and let me take a picture. Looking at the pictures and knowing what I know now, duh. Why did I hesitate to take her in? Thoough I didn't hesitate long. I took her in the same day I suspected Lyme's, but I felt dumb since it was not a traditional bulls eye rash. I found a google pic of a lady with the exact rash in the exact spot, and she also had Lyme's. Maybe the way the shoulder is shaped makes it go oval instead of round? I don't know.
Getting the medicine down her has not been easy, but it has not been impossible either. She screams, fights, and blows raspberries the whole time, but if we just squirt it in .5 ml at a time, she will swallow if we blow in her face. I'm so glad someone on FB gave me that tip a few months ago. She is not puking it back up, thank dog.
The rash is almost completely gone and she seems to be feeling a lot better. I must admit I sort of had a major internal freakout when I found out she has Lyme's. I've always heard such terrible things about the disease, but I think most of the problems come when you are not diagnosed early and you just kind of linger in poor health for months before someone figures out what it is.
In other news, I got the DVD that the funeral home made for my dad and they didn't include a single picture I had sent them. First, I sent them links to a flickr album and they couldn't work that (I didn't realize I just needed to go through and change the permissions) so I e-mailed a shit load of pics. The girl told me to just e-mail them all in one e-mail and didn't have a f---- clue why that might crash her e-mail. I split them up and got some bounce messages, so split them up further until I wasn't getting any bounce messages. I guess they never received any of the e-mails, including the e-mail which didn't include a single attachment but rather informed them that I was sending the e-mails. The only e-mail I got back said "this is the right e-mail" so I figured they were getting things. I knew they were idiots (they put the wrong date on the death certificate, which has caused my mom no end of hassle) but I assumed they must have the pictures because they KNEW the pictures were coming and they had my e-mail address. My sister repeatedly told them I was sending pictures. I know she's a big flake (she just had her IUD removed. I can't even. . . ), but this was really important to her and I am know she was trying to make sure everything was right.
I sent a very hotly worded e-mail to the funeral home and didn't get back an apology. Apparently it is my mom's fault because she approved the slide show (she had no way to know what pictures I had sent). Then it was my fault for not sending them correctly. Then it was my fault for not making sure they got my e-mail. They are adding the pictures to the end of the slide show and will fed-x me a new copy, but the funeral director is an asshole. And it's not his fault, because he was out of town. Don't you think the least they could do is say "sorry for the misunderstanding?" I mean, my God. We are the grieving family. We're allowed to be crazy.
It is too late to really "fix" since the funeral is over and I don't anticipate watching this thing very many times. It is too sad. I was already feeling guilty about missing the funeral, but then there were no pictures of me or my family in the slideshow. So what do people think? That we were estranged? That I wasn't a part of his life? That I was a giant bitch? I don't know. It pisses me off more than I would have imagined. You should see this string of e-mails between the funeral director and myself. Usually I am fairly passive (honestly! I am! I talk a mean game in my journal, but I'm meek and mild sometimes), but I am putting this guy through the wringer and refusing to accept his blame. I am forcing him to come up with solutions.
Anyway, I need to think of something else.
We've been cat sitting this week for my friend. I am allergic to cats, but I can be in a house with them for awhile. Some cats make my eyes swell up, some cats make me sneeze and some cats have no effect. I've never had a cat make my hands burn.
Holy heck. This cat wants to be petted because he misses his family and he makes my hands burn like fire. I've never had that reaction before. I hope I never have it again. We only had to go over there three times, so I'm glad it is over. I just felt bad that I couldn't pet him as much as he wanted to be petted.
Three day weekend! We have nothing planned, but I want to go to Home Depot and get some dirt and plants. Our yard looks awful and our deck planters are full of weeds. I don't want to plant tomatoes because the squirrels eat them all (oh how I love fresh tomatoes), but weeds are annoying me. Flowers will be a lot nicer to look at, if we can motivate ourselves.
