Where everybody knows your dog . . .

Its now official. I think that our dogs are probably the best known by vets in the Hollister and Santa Cruz areas. I had been thinking that Gregg's "tough" male dog has been the only healthy one of the bunch. But recently, G noticed a little mole or tick on his nose that we've been concerned about. So finally, yesterday G took him to the vet and what do you know, its a tumor! Probably benign but they'll have to remove it and make sure. What almost cracked me up about the whole thing was that G said he spent a good half hour discussing our other dogs' ailments and issues, because they've been referred to specialists now and the vet was curious about their progress.

BTW -- Bandit has Cushing's disease. All that leaking and peeing? Its because she has little tumors in her pituitary gland. It got quite a bit worse before it got better -- lots of appointments and tests before they identified the problem. She started eating poop (I guess because dogs with Cushing's are constantly hungry and thirsty). She woke up several times a night to drink water and/or pee. It was fun. Finally, though, after about 2 weeks of meds, she had her first full night's sleep last night! And both G and I noticed quite a bit more energy when we've been walking her lately, so apparently all her lagging this last year was all connected to this.

Mia's hip stem cell treatment worked really well on one hip and not so much on the other side. So we're going to try it again. To try to do something different, the vet gave me some meds to help regenerate cartilage which I have inject into her several times a week between now and the treatment. All I can say is that I've been staring at that needle wondering how I ever thought med school might be an option for me.

Between the lot of them, seems like we're at a different vet each week, and the vet bills will probably almost equal the wedding bills before we're through.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone was dying for the doggie update, so there you go. :)

Circus life

Gregg has been away this week for work, so I've been hanging with the dogs. Normally, that's not that big of a deal, but this week has been ridiculous.

First of all, Mia is still recovering. She's got these big shaved patches on her stomach and hips. She seemed to perk up right after the surgery but then started limping about a week ago and hasn't stopped. I feel terrible watching her hobble around. Feel terrible, that is, until she starts growling at Bandit, at which point I just want to beat her. Yeah, she's been growling pretty non-stop at Bandit. I don't know if its just her being edgy or her being possessive of my attention. Probably both. Over the years, she's learned to tolerate Gregg's dogs, but I think she's still an "only child" at heart. Even as I write this, she's growling at Tucker for jumping on MY bed, though there's plenty of room for them both. And definitely she's been getting some extra lovin' with the whole surgery thing, but I guess that's not doing much for her personality. Anyway, she growls at Bandit. Bandit -- never one to be scared -- comes closer to check her out. Tucker starts barking and running over to protect me (from Mia, I guess). And I start screaming at all of them. This is seriously the cycle we go through at least 5-6 times a day (more when I was home all weekend). I'm guessing the neighbors are about one step away from calling the cops on me. Once Bandit and Mia even got into an all out fight. I'm sure that's helping with the recovery process.

And, Bandit started leaking. By that, I mean, she seems to be leaving puddles of urine EVERYWHERE. The house smells like a urinal, I kid you not. Its totally disgusting. I've been walking around the house constantly spraying febreeze, pouring Resolve where ever I see spots in the carpet, lighting candles, and freezing my ass off with the door open just to get the stink out. No luck. I have no idea what's up. Granted Bandit's an old dog, but she's never had even a little leakage problem, let alone a gushing issue. Plus it turns out that she might have a heart condition too. Apparently the normal heart rate for a dog is about 130. Hers is about half that. So today, we had a vet appt to figure out the peeing problem. Friday, we go back to the vet to get xrays for the heart, and next week, an EKG with a heart specialist. I'm not even thinking about how much the vet bills are going to be.

Basically, I feel like I'm living at the zoo -- lots of growling and smelly living quarters to boot. Like seriously, I should just put a sign on my door and sell tickets, between vet visits of course. . . You know, come smell my house and tell me if it makes you want to puke too, take in a dog fight, etc.

So of course now, if you've been following along, you'll see the full extent of my dilemma from yesterday!

Dilemma

I can't find my little MP3 player. Not that that's a world crisis or anything, but here's the thing. I think the maids took it. I know, its a total cliche and I feel ridiculous for thinking it. But I don't know what else could have happened to it. I don't really take it around with me. I use it only when I go running and then come in and leave it on one of the console tables, either by the back door or the front, depending on which way I come in. And those are pretty much the only places it hangs out. Which is why I'm sure it must have been the maids. What else could have happened to it?

But of course I feel like a total idiot because I haven't gone running in weeks, so I'm not sure exactly when it disappeared. And we did switch maid services a little while ago, so there's a tiny tiny possibility it was the old maids (no pun intended!). Though I'm pretty positive I went running after the switch.

So what do I do? I don't want to accuse them and be wrong. But if it is them (and I'm 95% sure it is), then I don't want them cleaning the house anymore. But they do a pretty decent job otherwise. Plus I don't want to be even more of a cliche and go through all the maid services in town. The reason we switched is because I was pretty sure the last ones had lost the house key. So . . .

one last push . . .

This year, I've received more emails and seen more blog posts about political issues than ever before, and I love it. I hope this isn't just me and my circle of friends. I hope that its indicative of the entire country. Because whatever your thoughts or beliefs, the most important thing any of us can do is go out, get informed, and vote.

In 2004, approximately 64% of voting-age citizens turned out to vote. I guess its not bad compared to some years, but it still appalls me to realize how many people don't take advantage of their opportunity to have a say in the political process. Whatever the reasons are for not voting, believe me, I've been there -- too busy, totally indifferent about the candidates, hate standing in line, forgot to register. I don't believe there's been single election where I haven't felt one of these. Last time, I forgot to re-register when I moved and was just thankful it wasn't a presidential election year. But I didn't get to make the difficult choice between Obama and Hilary!

I wonder if our general abysmal record when it comes to voting isn't indicative of a larger problem -- is it just me or as a society, do we just not discuss politics? I rarely engage in political discussions with friends. While I tend to have strong opinions, I don't really go around talking about them. And (maybe as a result), I actually don't really like having prolonged conversations with people that disagree with me politically. I'm not sure its like this world wide. Traveling around, I feel like I've encountered much more animated political chatter in other countries. In India, for example, at least in my family, sounding off on politics is an almost daily occurrence. And it seems that no matter what the level of education or socio-economic background, people are enthusiastic about having an opinion and making it known. They recognize the value of being part of the process and take advantage of the opportunity.

I don't know what the numbers are in other countries so I might be totally off base. But whatever -- there's no reason why we can't have a 100% voter turnout in our country. I'd love to see everyone get excited about politics. And more than that, to see everyone really get informed and vote for the right reasons, rather than what a 2 minute commercial tells them. My biggest fear this year is that too many people will get in that voter box, where no one else can see them, and give into that little racist voice in their heads that says a black man can't be president. Or, in California, that people won't recognize that Prop 8 isn't about a moral values but denying a minority group certain fundamental constitutional rights.

So I'm off now to vote for Obama and NO on Prop 8. I hope you do the same, of course. :) But more than that, I hope you take the time to read about the candidates' positions, the arguments for and against the ballots, and vote. Its not too late!!

Throwing countries a bone

I happen to run across this article the other day that had me wondering if we should be going to Iceland for our honeymoon in Feb. You know, throw some money around somewhere that actually needs it. I have to admit that this isn't the first time I've thought about this. After the hurricane in New Orleans, I briefly wondered if it was finally the right time to go to a Mardi Gras celebration there. Or I always feel bad when I'm haggling with street vendors while traveling. They obviously need the $ more than I do, and it usually doesn't amount to more than a buck or two for me anyway.

So basically, its pity travel. Particularly, in a case like Iceland where I've never thought about going to anyway. Who goes to Iceland in Feb? And what I want to know is, is it nice or just frickin' patronizing that I'm even thinking about it?

Anyway, its all just hypothetical at this point. We've already gotten tickets to go to Thailand for our honeymoon, where I'm sure we'll have lots of opportunities to help the local economy.

Gimpy

When my dog Mia was 6 months old, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Its a condition that 20-30 yrs ago, a dog would have been put to sleep for. Now, there are a several painful and expensive surgeries that you can do. I considered every one of them at some point. Basically, in a normal hip, the femur attaches to the pelvis at the hip joint. Its like a ball and a socket, fits perfectly -- I think that's the right expression, anyway, though I'm not sure what balls and sockets really have to do with each other. Anyway, in dogs with dysplasia (and humans), the femur starts slipping from the joint. And slowly, arthritis develops in the joint. In Mia's case, even at 6 mos., it was pretty grim. The femur was pretty far out of the socket and she already had quite a bit of arthritis, making her ineligible for one of the surgeries. The others she was still too young for -- they won't perform them until a dog is done growing. The most successful is a total hip replacement, which can run up to 5-6k per hip and involves a fairly lengthy recovery period.

Until recently, those were my only options. And as Mia is fairly functional, I was never quite wiling to subject her to surgery. Not to mention that I don't happen to have 12k lying around to spend on my pet. So instead, I gave her glucosamine, kept her well exercised, and made sure she stayed skinny.

But a few months ago, a friend of mine sent me this article that blew me away:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1817572,00.html?cnn=yes

Its a stem cell treatment for dogs! No surgery. They remove tissue from the dog's stomach, extract the stem cells, and reinject those cells into the hips. According to the article, the stem cells develop into healthy cartilage and tendon cells. It turns out that the article is a bit misleading about how it all works, but is on the whole, accurate. If it works, it results in a dog that's pretty close to normal. And the cost is about the 1/3 the cost of replacement surgery. So of course0, Gregg and I have been watching these developments with some interest. And a few weeks ago, there was an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about a vet in SC doing the treatment. Gregg called the vet, and we took Mia into see him yesterday.

At the end of the appointment, I was completely amazed:

1. Her joints have probably been inflamed since pretty much when we found out about her condition almost 3 yrs ago. Other than when I first found out (when she could barely walk), I have never given her anti-inflammatory medication.
   
2. Day to day, she probably experiences fairly constant pain. On a scale of 1-10, the vet guessed maybe a 4 or 5.
3. The x-rays showed that Mia's hips are so bad that its a miracle that she can walk. She has the dubious honor of having almost the worst hips the vet had ever seen.
4. And yet, she walks, runs, backpacks, chases rabbits, tries to climb trees. She won't chase frisbees, and she won't let dogs hump her, but other than that, she seems pretty normal.
   
5. I think the stem cells don't morph so much as block inflammatory molecules. This part is still a little unclear to me, but even if the treatment works, Mia's hips will look exactly the same. She just won't feel pain.
   
6. My dog is a horrible drunk -- she had to be sedated for the xray. Afterwards, she stumbled around the vet's office. AND she passed out again while we were paying our bill and peed herself while she was asleep! I swear, she doesn't get that from me! Well, there was a peeing on a curb incident in the city that ONE time, but . . .
   

Anyway, we're doing the treatment and I'm hopeful!

Drum roll please . . . .

Earlier this week, I got an email saying that my wedding dress had shipped! So I've been on pins on needles all week. And, yesterday, it arrived.

I was both excited and scared . . . the place where I'd gotten it is an online knock off place basically. I'd discovered it by accident and had many second thoughts while ordering. They do get rave reviews online. And their prices are unbelievable. But they're based in China. The customer service are definitely not native English speakers. Its all a little sketch. But again the prices are unbelievable!! And I didn't want to be one of those people that spent thousands of dollars on a dress that I'll wear only once.

I didn't want to order blind though. So about a month ago, Vid and Yi-ling and I went dress shopping, so I could get a sense of the different styles. I wanted to know what would look good on me before just ordering from a picture. Turns out, not that much looks that good on me. There was really just one or two types of dresses that I liked. So I went back to the website, and of course, they didn't have anything like I'd wanted.

So I probably should have just dropped the plan and bitten the bullet. But instead I found out that the place does custom orders also. So you send them a picture and they make you a knock off. Doesn't it get better and better? Totally freaked now, I sent them my pics and they got back to me almost immediately, saying they could do it. Actually, itwas kind of crazy. I wrote them late one evening, she got back to me early the next morning and apologized for the delay!! So they're definitely speedy, I have to give them that. And not just with communications, it took them 2 weeks to get my dress made. Dude you go to a bridal store and they tell you to allow 6 months.

Against my better judgment, I proceeded to give them my measurements anyway. THAT was actually an adventure in itself too but that's another story -- it just turns out that not many people order a dress online like this. Go figure. The website asked for a million different measurements and I went to a tailor to get it done right. They were totally baffled so that didn't bode well at all. So a part of me expected to open the box and find something that only a 6yo could wear.

The first thing I noticed is that it came in a little tiny box. All bundled up in there like a sweater. I'm guessing that's not how the better bridal stores send them. :) But I had known that'd be the case from the reviews. Anyway, I had about 15 minutes to try it on and then hide it before G got there, so I was running around like crazy with it.

At first glance, I was disappointed. The dress didn't really look anything like I'd asked for. The material wasn't as shiny as the satin I'd tried on. And there was no embroidery. I stared at it for a few minutes and then realized i had it on inside out!!

Then it was another huge production getting it off, and in it again with all the frickin fabric. I already got dog hair all over it too, cuz nothing touches my floor without getting hair on it. Plus the dogs were all curious to see me so exicted so they kept coming up and checking me out. And the annoying thing is that even when I managed to get it on right, I couldn't zip or button up anything. Its a 2 man job!! So all I know is that it seems to fit and its gorgeous!!

Ladies, you should definitely check this site out:
www.lilywedding.com
I'm so amazed!

Anyway, I was telling the story to our secretary here at the office, and she's going to help me put it on after lunch!