Happy Mother's Day and Terrible Twos

Happy Mother's Day! I hope all the mother's out there are having a wonderful day and enjoying time with their families.

I am spending the day wondering why I even attempt traveling with my two year old. I was naive to think that he wasn't one of those kids suffering the "terrible twos". Here's hoping I survive another day on the road with him. I'll post more soon.

Abbey Update, Flooding, and Other Things

Abbey's test results were delayed because of the horrible flooding down in Nashville that I'm sure you heard about. You may not have heard that Clarksville is suffering major flooding especially on our river front. In fact, school has been cancelled all week so far and is not opening tomorrow either. Here are some of the photos we took with our phones on our adventure to get dog food yesterday.

The road by Dunbar Cave State Park

Taken from the hill leading down to the River Walk. The entire road is gone and all the stores are completely flooded. Notice the van parked at the store fronts that are usually across a main road from the river.
The trees are submerged by the flooding river.

Back to Abbey, the tests came back normal. Thank goodness. I've been thinking all along that it is probably just a case of incontinence that some dogs suffer after being spayed. But for whatever reason the vet just doesn't think that is it. He is referring her to a vet down in Nashville. (Read=major bill coming) I am really hoping that we can get that done before Pat has to leave. Also, hoping that they have an answer. I will say that if they come to the conclusion that it is just incontinence, I will be very happy for Abbey's health but very frustrated with the vets in town.

Today we ran around making all sorts of doctor appointments that we are trying to fit in before Pat leaves. Among them I booked myself a dentist appointment. I absolutely abhor going to the dentist. I admit with great shame that it has been 2.5 years since I last went. I know this has led to a decline in my oral health, and the dentist is going to yell at me. At least this time I feel like I earned the reprimand I have coming. I will say that for the next few weeks I am going to be a nervous wreck about my upcoming appointment.

Another bit of news that I can share is that Pat gave me my mother's day present early so I could have it ready for our vacation. He gave me an Amazon Kindle. I love it and plan to use it a ton. One of my deployment goals is to read many books, and I think the Kindle will help me complete the goal. I'll post my deployment goals sometime soon.

Lastly, a little Stampin' Up!® news. Some great products have been added to the clearance rack. So if you are into scrapbooking or card making and are looking for a deal you should check it out. You can get to the clearance rack by clicking HERE. Check out all the Designer Series Paper packs! They are great for both scrapbooking or card making and are extremely high quality, thick papers. I personally love them all so check out Afternoon Tea, Fall Flowers, Green Tea, Petals and Paisleys, or Summer Picnic just to name a few. One last great deal to point out is the Lifelong Notes Simply Sent card kit. This kit contains everything you need to make quick and easy homemade cards and was originally priced at $42.95 and is now $16.95. And as a bonus, I still have one free gift to give away to the next online order I receive.

Our Girl, Abbey

Right now I am very concerned for our girl dog, Abbey. She is kind of a miracle dog in a way. We adopted her from a shelter when she was about 9 weeks old. She had been abandoned in an apartment by herself. She didn't have any siblings or a mother with her. She was all alone at the shelter, and we were drawn to her. Two days after we brought her home she was diagnosed to have parvo. (which can be a deadly virus to puppies) She survived and they sent her back home to me. Immediately after getting her home I knew something wasn't right. We brought her back to the vet that evening to find that the parvo had caused terrible ulcerations all over her mouth. She was in extreme pain, and the vet wasn't sure she'd make it. He had never seen anything like this. We would visit her in the hospital and tried to give her the love she needed. Remember she was just a little 10 week old puppy at this time. She wasn't eating, and everyone feared that she wouldn't recover. Finally the afternoon after one of our visits we got the great news that she began to eat. A few days later we were able to bring her home. At this point our $60 shelter dog had turned into our $1000+ dog, but we were so happy to finally have Abbey joining our family that money didn't matter.

Two and a half years ago shortly after we moved to this area Abbey seemed like she was getting sick. It seemed to be a stomach issue. I will spare you the details, but we brought her in to the vet here. I was less than impressed when their only suggestion was that we should put her on antidepressants. Over those few months we brought her in again and again and they kept giving her antibiotics and sending us on our way without finding the problem. We felt helpless. Pat deployed, and we were left waiting for some new symptom to appear that may help them treat Abbey. When I found out how much weight Abbey had lost during this time I brought her in again and was not leaving without answers. I went over everything with them again, and finally the vet we saw this day listened. She told me that it could be a condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency--EPI. This condition is where her body doesn't produce an enzyme that is needed to breakdown, digest, and absorb her food. Abbey had essentially been starving despite us feeding her. This also explained a lot about her recent behavior during this time period. Abbey tested positive for EPI. Treatment for this condition is an enzyme added to her food. Unfortunately for us it is kind of costly--about $110 every month for the rest of her life just for the medicine. (plus the almost $1000 in vet bills from all the trips to the vet to find this diagnosis) But Abbey is worth it, she is a part of our family, and we love her.

Now Abbey is back at the vet because she seems to be having incontinence issues. Pat brought her in, and obviously Abbey hates going to the vet. We have to muzzle her to bring her in, she still bucks around the room from fear, and often ends up soiling herself. They had to sedate Abbey to run some tests. They told Pat that they suspect that it could be damage to her liver or kidneys. This is very upsetting because damage to these organs is usually irreparable. We are praying that she is okay. She is our only girl. We feel like it was fate that brought her to our home and for that she is a lucky dog. Not everyone would be willing to do what we've done for her. But for us, we aren't doing anything special. We are just taking care of our family member.

We should find out more in the next couple of days. Please send good thoughts Abbey's way. She is a strong, loving dog that has faced too much in her short life. I'll keep everyone updated.