Me:

Well, I put creamer in the coffee machine this morning instead of coffee if that tells you anything. 0_o

Last week I finally broke down and went to the doctor. I don't really like going to the doctor and so I often just manage myself and self medicate to deal with things. The back issue has been dragging on forever though. It was getting much better, but I think having to carry Simon so much has made it go afoul again. I've been self medicating with ibruprofin and it helps but it just isn't helping enough. Plus, I needed a new prescription for my asthma meds and my reflux meds. So we go to a private physician that was recommended somewhat near to us. Great... I go see her. I explain about needing prescriptions because mine are running out. And these are prescriptions that I have been taking for years and will likely need to take for the rest of my life (or at least for the forseeable future). Then I explain my back situation and that the ibruprofin isn't helping as well as I'd like. I also explained that I don't like drugs that make me feel high or unsteady, but need something that would release that muscle. I know these drugs exist because I had one when I injured my shoulder a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name. Ok, so anyways... she tells me to try an arnica cream for my back and maybe acupuncture or pilates. WTF?!! And then as we are leaving, I realize she has only written the prescriptions for ONE MONTH. And for this I paid 145 pounds ($270)?! That is bullshit. I could see if I was asking for a narcotic, she might think I was a drug seeker or something. But I was specifically NOT asking for anything that was a narcotic. GRRRRRRR! I will not be going back there. So now in 28 days, I will be back in the exact same situation I was last week. No meds and stiff spasming back. So stupid. Now keep in mind that we have insurance, but it is an international insurance so we have to pay for doc visits and prescriptions up front, but get reimbursed. So even though we will get the money back, I just think it was a waste of money in general. For the price of the doctor visit, I could have bought 6 months worth of my prescriptions online.

David:

He has gotten a new job which is better for him in many ways: money, stress, etc. It is in the same place just a different department. He doesn't switch over until the beginning of next month, but at least he knows it is coming. He has been feeling a bit funky lately though. A few evenings this week and last week, he just feels drained and headachey like he has a flu or something. He has a mild cough too. No fever. So he goes to bed early and in the morning feels perfectly fine. The cough isn't too bad so I don't think that is the cause.  I'm wondering if it is just a combo of being overtired and overstressed.

Simon:

He has his good days and his bad days. Late last week I was convinced that he was getting better. He didn't seem quite as wobbley and his legs didn't shake as bad when he was going to the bathroom. Well... then he made an ass out of himself over the weekend. Remember the soft sided crate we bought him last week? Well, he doesn't seem to mind it too much. The first day he whined about it, but now he has realized that he can take his favorite bone in there and Allie can't take it from him. We have been avoiding putting them both in their old crate because we are afraid that Allie might walk on him or something. Not that she does this often, but she does sometimes. And since he likes his new crate... seemed like a good alternative. Last Thursday, I had a doctor's appt as I already mentioned. So we put Simon in his new crate and Allie in the old crate. When we returned, Simon had gotten out of his crate and was UPSTAIRS. Yep. He climbed all of the stairs. And he pulled all of the sheets and blankets off the bed too. He was a busy boy. When David put him in the crate, he had left both zippers in the down position (the door zips like luggage where you have a zip at each end). All Simon had to do was scratch at the bottom of the door a bit and the zippers unzipped. This weekend, we needed to go grocery shopping so we put Simon in his new crate again thinking that we would just put the zippers all the way at the top. We returned to find Simon out of his crate again.... he had ripped a hole in the door. Gah! He was downstairs but I think he had probably been hopping on and off the furniture. That combined with the effort it must have taken to rip open the crate, he was pretty shakey. On Monday, he was obviously worse. He didn't finish his breakfast because his legs got too tired before he was finished eating. Same yesterday morning. Last night, David had the bright idea to put the small bed we keep in the kitchen next to his food so that he could sit down. And it worked! He sat there and ate all of his dinner. And I did the same this morning and he ate all of his breakfast. We have gotten much stricter on the crate rest too. There will be no more shinanigans like this weekend. We are trying not to leave him for any extended time, but when we do, he will be in the old crate with Allie. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I was able to sew up the crate door. It was just a straight rip in the mesh. No biggie.

Allie:

Spoiled as always! We are trying to make an extra effort so that she doesn't feel left out because of all of the extra attention needed by Simon. We are also trying to keep her from jumping off and on the furniture. Not an easy task, trust me! But we are at least reducing how often she does it so hopefully she won't have the same problems Simon is having now.

We have also pulled out the space heater for the dogs. Now they are in hog heaven!

We went to the vet yesterday and the diagnosis is what I expected: he has a slipped disc. Disc disease hits one in four dachshunds so it is something we were aware of when we decided to have them in our family. And because of this, we have kept our dogs crate trained. That way they are less stressed out if they have to be put on crate rest to recover.

The vet said that he is in the very early stages and that the disc is just starting to bulge which has inflamed the area around the spinal cord. Simon hasn't been showing any symptoms of pain because he probably isn't feeling any pain. The doctor said that the inflammation is probably pressing on the spinal cord and keeping some of the signals from going between brain and legs. However, Simon was still aware of where his legs were and put them back into position when the doctor was doing the neurological tests. That is a good thing.

The doctor placed him on an anti-inflammatory. He gets it with his dinner in the evening. And it is a honey flavored liquid so no fighting to get a pill in him! Simon thinks it is yummy. He is also on crate rest for the next 2-4 weeks. The doctor is going to re-evaluate him in 2 weeks to see how things are progressing.

We didn't want to use the crate we put them in when we are away from the house. It is big enough for both dogs and is a hard plastic. He would be somewhat isolated in there. Plus we wanted to be able to have him in the living room with us. We went to the pet store last night and they had the absolute perfect thing! It is a portable crate which can be packed flat when not in use. It is soft sided with a hard frame and it is mesh on all sides so he can feel more a part of the room. We also bought a really soft bed to put inside. I wish I could find my camera to take a picture of it. Wait... found one online:

I like that it has the zipper part on top because I can give him some cuddles without him trying to get out. Today is his first time in the kennel and he isn't very happy, but he will get used to it. He has a hard time with change anyway. I keep telling him he is a good boy and Allie is laying on the bed right next to him and they are both right by the little heater. He has his favorite toy in there and the bone he likes to chew, so once he settles, he will be fine. He has to be because there isn't really any alternative. In the evenings, David and I put him between us on the couch because he won't jump down. And at night, he is still sleeping with us. He doesn't have to be in the crate 24/7, but just isn't allowed to jump up or down on anything or climb.

Oh good. He has settled down and gone to sleep. :)
 

Simon is showing some signs of hind leg weakness. He had a very short episode the other day, but he was very cold at the time so thought it was him shivering. This morning he very clearly was having a problem with his hind legs. He was swaying slightly in the rear end when he was standing still and seemed slightly unsteady when he walked. It seems intermittant right now so I am watching him. It has been really cold in the house lately, so I am keeping him warm and trying to keep him from jumpin off/on the furniture and keeping him off the stairs. I even pulled out the space heater (dang expensive electricity sucker that it is)! If he doesn't improve, we'll take him to the vet. Though even if he does improve, I know this is just a harbinger of things to come. One out of four dachshunds have some degree of back paralysis, but he is only 8 so we were hoping that nothing like this would be happening too soon. Of course, if he does go that route, it doesn't have to mean that he will have to be put down. David's mom's dachshund was completely paralyzed in his back legs and he lived for quite some time. He did eventually have to be put down, but it was more because of other health issues. As long as Simon isn't suffering, we'll make accommodation for whatever special care he needs.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, I think I just sit here with him and pet him and try not to cry. He's rolling on his back right now wanting his belly to be rubbed.

Here is a pic of him taken a while back wearing his little sweater:

I can't believe I forgot to mention this earlier. The neighbor who invited us to dinner last night, Ali, is a SEAMSTRESS!! She has the most magnificent workroom that I have ever seen. It is what I would imagine some of the big designers have for a workroom. She apparently does modern clothes and corsetry. I'm not sure if it is a business or something she does for herself.