What. A. Week...

And it's still going! So I've told the story of Maddy and the vet a million times already, but it definitely deserves a blog post for those who I don't talk to on a regular basis. Here comes the play by play!!!

Last wednesday/thursday, Maddy had a bloody nose. Not an intense amount, but a decent size drip. Everytime she would go outside, it'd start up again, so I attributed it to the cold weather drying her out. Saturday morning, she started losing her appetite. By saturday afternoon, she stopped eating all together and by saturday night, she had diarrhea. This continued through all of sunday. By the end of the day sunday, I noticed her paws were bloody and she was chewing on them constantly and they were starting to bleed. She wasn't herself. Hardly getting up or moving at all. In fact, her paws were so irritated that she hobbled as she walked. Poor girl. =(

Monday morning I decided she needed to go to the vet. She still wasn't eating and I was worried about dehydration. She just kept looking more and more miserable. So I called the vet and they told me they didn't have any appointments availalble, so take her to the ER. (Strike one) I was ticked because taking her to the ER meant $100 office visit rather than a $30 office visit.

Into the ER we go with Katie in tow cause she was here visiting. So sorry it put a damper on our fun, but boy was it great to have my best friend by my side while I took "man's best friend" to the doctor. So I tell the ER doctor all her symptoms. They insist that the itching and biting at her paws is because she's developed a food allergy. My first problem with this is that they made this assumption without even doing any kind of exam on her yet. They decided that this was the problem and didn't work to investigate it further. In fact, through our whole experience, they never once asked me what I feed Maddy or suggested something new to try.

At this point I also informed them that she's been having itching in her ears for at least a month now and that it looks exactly the same as when our cat had ear mites. The ER doctor responds (without even lifting up the flap of her ears to check) that this is because of the food allergy and that ear mites aren't as common in dogs as cats. Ok, I say... doctor's know best, right?

So I leave her there and wait for a call to hear how the blood work and x-rays went. The purpose of these tests were to see why she wasn't eating and why she was having diarrhea. Well, after four hours, I decide to call and check in on her myself. I call the ER and they inform me to call my vet that works at the Bath Veterinary Clinic. They say that she's the one overseeing the case and that they're forwarding all information to her. So I call her. And she knows hardly anything. She hasn't seen Maddy at all. She's just reading the info they gave her via fax. Helpful, eh? She tells me that the tests all came back clear and that they don't know what's wrong with her, but they'll keep her there and keep her hydrated till morning.

So I get a call tuesday morning. Again, from the vet that hasn't seen Maddy at all. She tells me that Maddy's doing better! "Great," I think! Then she goes on to say that Maddy still isn't eating. She isn't pooping at all. And the inflamation on her feet is getting worse. But they think I should take her home. Wait a minute... where's the great? From what I'm hearing, you're telling me she's getting worse.

I decide to just let it go and get off the phone. I decided I'll just go to the ER to pick Maddy up and insist on talking to a doctor on site that is actually interacting with Maddy. So I go and request to see a doctor and they insist that the only doctor I can talk to is the one I've already been conversing with on the phone. So they put me on the phone with her again! I was fuming. Seriously, intensely mad. So I got straight up...

I told her that I spent nearly $700 on all these tests because I was worried about my dog and now they're sending me home with a dog that I'm even more worried about because she hadn't eaten in 3 days and her itching was getting worse! The doctor talked herself in circles and then offered for me to spend another $1000 on an internal medicine specialist. Right. Fat chance. So I took all her records and test results with me and headed home with a sick dog.

The gave me medicine for her that they didn't tell me how to administer. They told me to put her back on her regular diet. (Remind you, they don't know what this regular diet is, and they suggest that she has a food allergy... but I should keep it the same????) They didn't tell me to follow up or anything. Just "take her home."

By tuesday afternoon, Maddy decided to eat a little bit. Thank God! She still looked miserable though. By tuesday evening, I noticed she now had a scabby bloody spot on the tip of her ear. Wierd. She couldn't have chewed the tip of her ear, so these scabs have to be popping up for a different reason. Andrew hops on google and investigates scabby ears in canines. What causes this? EAR MITES!!!! For real? I told the doctor that's what we thought she had, but they didn't even bother to look. Ok, unedjucated readers... you make the call... Here is a picture of a dog's ear with ear mites...


Here's a picture of Maddy's ear last night... (Granted, it looked a lot dirtier in person, but you get the idea. My camera isn't that great.)


Doesn't take a genius to see that these are the same. And it turns out that if ear mites go untreated, they can start laying eggs under the skin that cause scabby sores and extreme itching. Weird. Sounds like Maddy. =P

So last night, I made a trip to petsmart. Andrew and I proceeded to give Maddy a bath in an insecticide and treated her ears with ear mite cleaner. Already this morning, the itching has gone down a bit and her mood is right back to the hyper Maddy we know and love. She's started eating again and she's getting much better all around.

Thank you Dr. Thorp, Bath Veterinary Clinic, and Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital for charging us $700 for blood work and x-rays instead of just lifting up my dog's ear to check on the mites I told you I thought were there. Coulda saved us a lot of trouble, money and heartache. Google did a better job on making my dog healthier and more comfortable than you did.

P.S. As for the bloody nose... mites can travel down to the nose and cause nosebleeds. Hmm... coincidence?

From Surviving to Thriving...

2010 was one of the roughest, yet most blessed years of my life. It's amazing how some of the greatest and most rewarding things can also be so stressful. From having a beautiful baby boy amidst a 6 month long kitchen remodel, to spending 5 days in the hospital when he had RSV... I'd say this year has been a whirlwind. Most of the time I was just surviving from one day to the next. From one adventure to another.

But, I wouldn't trade a minute of my time with these two men for anything.


And who can argue with having a kitchen like this?


And despite all the sickness Nathan experienced the month of December. It doesn't stop his smiles.


All I can say is that I'm ready to go from surviving, to thriving. And with that, most importantly, is taking full advantage of the wonderful friends and family I have surrounding me. This year, my resolution is to be more intentional in my relationships. To deepen my relationships rather than just maintain them.

Most of all, I just want to be a better me. =)