Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Thursday, September 1, 2011

I'm meeeeelllllltttttiiiiinnnnggggg...



So, Minnesota weather has been cooperating quite well for the last few days. Much nicer to play Frisbee and ball when it's not hot enough to melt the toys (and the dogs!) to the sidewalk. Today on the other hand...not so much. I remember when I LOVED hot and humid weather. That was before chemo screwed up my internal thermostat. I am now quite happy with upper 60s and don't mind when it's chilly enough for hoodies. I still ABHOR our freezing winters, and as such am looking forward to the time when I will be back home in WA! There is just something so freakishly unnatural about chipping multiple inches of ice off of your sidewalk and being warned by the National Weather Service that being outside with any amount of bare skin will result in frostbite in less time than it takes one to say "It's f***ing cold out here."

I don't have any new photos of Sae Dee to share. This one was taken the same day she came home. I know, I know...I can hear it now: "Well, WTF have you been doing then??" I have been slowly but surely cleaning the house. One might be inclined to say that a hurricane tore through here, but I assure you that is not the case. In fact, it's something far less dramatic and newsworthy: when I arrived home from WI, I was so horribly sick that the only thing I was able to do was bring in the dog food and peel my clothes off before collapsing in the recliner. My week + recovery did nothing to minimize the mess I was creating just by being gross and sick. Ted heroically brought in my luggage and sundries, but I did not have the energy to put all of that away...and there it still lies. Don't worry, my love, it will all be nice and clean by the time you arrive home; I will then be back to my usual obsessive behaviors that consist of me following you around, turning off lights and pointing my finger at things that you leave in your wake such as pens, Post-Its, and junk mail, saying "Pick that up!" I will also obsessively move your important papers to stacks in your man-cave and not remember which stack is the most recent nor will I recall where the handwritten note with an important phone number or date or address made its way to. Love me, love my OCD coupled with chemo brain. I write myself reminder notes all over the house, but forget what they meant. Ignorance is NOT bliss, I can assure you!

So...had better get back to this mess before I lose motivation and decide to order pizza and watch a House marathon. I will leave you with this fabulous picture my friend took of Cody and I after I tossed him into the water tank.



I am also accepting ideas for the re-naming of my blog. I simply cannot come up with something that is catchy enough to attract new readers, is not heinously sarcastic, and encompasses the message I wish to convey. Comment or e-mail me with your ideas!


Monday, July 11, 2011

Good News is Relative



Harley seems to be doing MUCH better. She is still pretty lethargic and I do have her on a relatively high dose of tramadol. Today was the best out of the last week--we went for a walk and played ball!! She was just trotting all over the street with her ball in her mouth like she had already forgotten how sick she is! She's eating, not drinking nearly as much water, playing a bit, and the swelling is almost gone from her abdomen. She still coughs, but it's not as frequently and I have seen no blood. Her breathing is fast and shallow though, and she is exerting some effort on exhale. She still tires quickly--but she has been able to go longer periods of time being active. Her mucous membranes have a bit more color in them, too. Her bloods weren't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I know that this is probably just temporary, but a part of me hopes that this means she will be comfortable and with me for a little bit longer.

Okay, apparently I am too tired to remember how to load a Word or PDF into my blog. I wanted to post Harley's blood results; I'm going to have to go REALLY ghetto and just copy & paste. Sorry if it looks completely terrible.

Accession No. Doctor Owner Pet Name Received

CHBC53689039 AM NIZZI HARLEY 07/09/2011

Species Breed Sex Pet Age Reported

Canine Labrador Retriever SF 8Y 07/09/2011 05:28 AM

Test Requested Results Reference Range Units

Vet Screen

Total Protein 5.0 5.0-7.4 g/dL

Albumin 2.9 2.7-4.4 g/dL

Globulin 2.1 1.6-3.6 g/dL

A/G Ratio 1.4 0.8-2.0

AST (SGOT) 32 15-66 IU/L

ALT (SGPT) 20 12-118 IU/L

Alk Phosphatase 51 5-131 IU/L

Total Bilirubin 0.4 (HIGH) 0.1-0.3 mg/dL

BUN 20 6-31 mg/dL

Creatinine 0.9 0.5-1.6 mg/dL

BUN/Creatinine Ratio 22 4-27

Phosphorus 4.4 2.5-6.0 mg/dL

Glucose 117 70-138 mg/dL

Calcium 8.8 (LOW) 8.9-11.4 mg/dL

Corrected Calcium 9.4

Sodium 146 139-154 mEq/L

Potassium 3.4 (LOW) 3.6-5.5 mEq/L

Na/K Ratio 43 (HIGH) 27-38

Chloride 114 102-120 mEq/L

Cholesterol 141 92-324 mg/dL

CPK 161 59-895 IU/L

CBC

WBC 17.2 (HIGH) 4.0-15.5 103/µL

Corrected for NRBCs

RBC 2.7 (LOW) 4.8-9.3 106/µL

HGB 6.8 (LOW) 12.1-20.3 g/dL

HCT 21 (LOW) 36-60 %

MCV 77 58-79 fL

MCH 25.5 19-28 pg

MCHC 33 30-38 g/dL

Anisocytosis Moderate

Polychromasia Slight

NRBC 10 (HIGH) 0-1 /100 WBC

Blood Parasites None Seen

Platelet Count 101 (LOW) 170-400 103/µL

Fibrin clumps present; micro-clotting in the sample may spuriously lower the platelet count and estimate.

Platelet count reflects the minimum number due to platelet clumping.

Platelet Est Adequate

Differential Absolute %

Neutrophils 15136 (HIGH) 88 2060-10600 /µL

Toxic Changes Slight

Bands 344 (HIGH) 2 0-300 /µL

Lymphocytes 688 (LOW) 4 690-4500 /µL

Monocytes 344 2 0-840 /µL

Eosinophils 688 4 0-1200 /µL

Basophils 0 0 0-150 /µL

Comment

Blood smear reviewed by technologist.






In other news, if you are reading this and I have pictures for you, rest assured that I am working on them. I think I took on WAY too many projects. It seems like the folders full of raw image files never get any smaller.

I am thinking of changing the name of my blog to reflect the fact that I told cancer to go to hell. My friend Sara Williams (her wonderful blog can be found here) sort of inspired me to want to do that as she had changed her blog name to reflect her remission from breast cancer. What do you guys think? Any ideas?

Yep, I'm going to bed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........................