Saturday Update....

Lucky is somewhat better today because of that steroid shot the vet gave him. She said it would make him feel better (not GET better). He is eating and drinking water and trying to walk around a little bit. He is still very weak and walks unsteadily with his tail down. He has no spark in his eyes. He looks very sick. Today when I came home from somewhere he even walked to the door to greet me. He looks so sad though. He looks at me like he is saying "I'm trying to get better mom...I'm trying so hard."

I am so afraid that once the steroid shot wears off, he will go downhill again. I don't like the way the vet said "it will get him through the weekend at least". I know that because of the holiday they won't be open until Tuesday and I think she is trying to help him hang in there until Tuesday. And to help us adjust to the situation before we really need to start handling things. Today I started his meds and he took them okay with some food. If he can stay a little strong so he can get his meds down, then maybe the Prednizone on Tuesday will really help him.

Update on Lucky....

Okay...Lucky is a fighter and there is no way we are going to let him try and fight this on his own...he needs our help. So this morning my husband and I both took him back to the vet. I wrapped him in a soft blanket and carried him while my husband drove. The vet said she was afraid of this. She knew how bad he was yesterday. I expressed my worries that his kidneys have shut down because he hasn't urinated in a very long time. She advised that we do some blood work to see exactly what is going on in his body and if his kidneys are still functioning.

The blood tests showed that his kidneys and liver are still functioning which is good. But the tests also showed elevated levels of protein and immunity stuff and yet the white blood count is still at a normal level. If it was an infection, then the white blood count would be elevated. It wasn't. But the high levels of protein and the immunity stuff indicates to her that it is probably a cancer that the body is trying to fight. Which brings us back to his enlarged lymph nodes that we suspected two months ago, but the lab tests showed negative to cancer. I questioned her about his lymph nodes. She said that his back leg lymph nodes are very enlarged again and she discovered his nodes in his neck are enlarged.

When they tested his lymph nodes 2 months ago, the inserted a needle into the node and withdrew some cells to send it to a lab and have tested. This is the less expensive and easier way to do it, but unfortunately it is not a real reliable way. Sometimes only 'normal cells' get withdrawn and sent in, and the cancer cells don't get withdrawn with the needle. The only sure way to test is to surgically remove the lymph node and send it in for testing, and that is way too expensive to do.

The vet feels he has lymphoma at this point. According to what I read 2 months ago, if lymphoma goes untreated the dog will die within 2 months. If it really was cancer two months ago and we haven't done treatment, then it makes sense that he is going downhill now 2 months later.

Right now we are doing what may be a temporary fix. She put another 'water pack' under his skin to keep him hydrated. She gave him another dose of antibiotic, PLUS she gave him a shot of a type of cortozone. She said that the cortozone will make him feel a lot better for a few days. Maybe only through the weekend. I will start his meds tomorrow, and if he is still better by Tuesday then we can start him on "Prednizone (sp?)", which is a treatment for lymphoma. I don't know how expensive that is. Some dogs will do good on it and can get the cancer to go into remission for a little while. Sometimes it doesn't work.

Right now he seems a little better. I got him to eat a little bland food and a little water. He is very unsteady on his feet and just wants to lay down. Earlier, he was breathing very labored and his heart was pounding and he was panting. I think that may have been from the shots. He is more calmed down now.

So all we can do is watch him and hope he gets better. We are still hoping that maybe it still ISN'T lymphoma and that it is an infection that will heal. But we already did the antibiotic thing 2 months ago....and the white blood count doesn't indicate a normal infection.

We are hoping for a miracle....

Please everybody say a little prayer for Lucky that he has an easy journey to the "Rainbow Bridge".....a place where very sick little dogs go and become well again where they can run and play.

We slept in the family room last night to be near Lucky if he needed us through the night hoping for a big change my morning. The vet said that there should be a significant change within 24 hours. This morning he seems worse. He has not urinated for a very long time. We think his kidneys have shut down. He is just lying there breathing right now.

I think he's dying.

I don't know what to do.

I've been bawling all morning.

We need to do the kind thing, but it is so hard.

I can barely type this....

Poor Lucky....Poor Hubby.....

My dog, Lucky, is sick again. This time he is really sick. He started with that diahrrea stuff again. I had been giving him this medicine I bought at PetSmart and it seemed to be working. When we were in Caseville last time he started with the diahrrea again and I didn't bring the medicine with me cause I thought he was okay. So I had to drive all the way to Bay City to find a pet store that carried the stuff. So I started putting it in his food again and it seemed to help and he didn't get any worse.

Then he came home last Thursday with my husband and he was fine. During the weekend...Sunday, I think....he started having the diahrrea again. So Monday I started putting the stuff in his food. Tuesday he only ate half his food and just wanted to stay under the couch. Wednesday, yesterday, he wouldn't eat anything at all but drank some water. He stayed under the couch all day. I even tried giving him some bran cereal with a little milk. I even tried cooked carrots cause I read online that it is good for diahrrea, but he wouldn't eat anything.

This morning he was really bad. He could barely stand up. He tried to go outside and when he came back in he just collapsed on the carpet near the door and just laid there. He looked bad, and his nose was really warm. So I called the vet this morning and took him in this afternoon. He was so bad that he couldn't even stand up when I put his leash on him. So I just wrapped him in a towel and carried him out to the car and inside the vet. Then I laid him on the table so they could examine him. He didn't even move. That is so not like Lucky. Even when he is sick he can still walk in and be feisty. They always have to put his "party hat" on him to even examine him. haha...a "party hat" is what the vet calls the muzzle they have to put on him. But today, no "party hat"....he just laid there and didn't move while she examined him.

When I was holding him in the towel while we were waiting for the doctor, his eyes kept rolling back in his head and I kept telling him to look at me. I promised him that he would be okay!

Anyway, they took his temperature and it was 105! She said that is high even for a dog. She said she would get the doctor in there immediately. He was also very dehydrated. So they put those water packs under his skin to help hydrate him. His body will slowly absorb the water. And they gave him a mega dose of antibiotics. She also gave me two meds to start giving him tomorrow for 10 days. She said he should show a definite improvement by tomorrow or bring him back in.

Right now he is still just laying on the floor half under the couch. His nose is still warm. I suppose that with the fever and the shot he will sleep good for awhile. Hopefully, he will be his old self again soon. The doctor said that with older dogs they begin to lose their natural immunity and can get infections very easily that they normally would fight off. And he's getting to be an old guy...12.
_____________________________________

My husband had an appointment with the surgeon today. The surgery is scheduled for September 15. Would you believe, my husband also has jury duty on Sept. 23 and there is no way he is going to go. The doctor gave him something to send in so he can be dismissed this time.

Anyway, the surgeon looked at him and said that he can't do an in-office type procedure. He will have to go in the hospital for it. Apparently, he has to cut deeper in than they thought. Then it gets sent immediately to a lab where they can determine if enough has been cut out.....if not, then the doctor goes deeper. Yuckk....Hopefully, everything will turn out okay.

That was my day!

Wednesday.....

My son and his family went back home yesterday to North Carolina. He never saw his father while he was here. Apparently, everything was my fault. I'm a total bitch. It's my fault that his father couldn't see him. I ruined his whole trip. Nothing my daughter-in-law could say or do made any difference. She said that she thinks he's a sociopathic-type person from what she has been reading. I could have told her that. He has major anger management problems.

I even told her to tell him that it was important for him to see his dad before he left. I mentioned to her that he is having surgery after Labor Day but I can't discuss it. Hubby told me not to say anything to the kids yet. Apparently, that made no difference cause he left without seeing him anyway. My husband even left a message on his cell phone telling him to meet him somewhere. He ignored the message and didn't even call his dad back.

My daughter-in-law called and we talked today. She doesn't understand his behaviour except that he gets irrational like that all the time with her too.

We both feel that there was more bothering him. She said that maybe he thinks he didn't get the reception that he was expecting. He probably assumed that when he rolled in Saturday night, we would just drop everything and rush home. Even when the Cheeseburger festival ended on Sunday, he probably thought we should rush back immediately on Monday. Well, there are things that have to be done before we can leave. It was a hectic 10 days and I needed a couple days to unwind and get things done. The grass needed to be cut and weedwacked....I needed to clean the condo, change sheets, etc., and clean the cottage. So I drove back on Wednesday. He may have been upset with his dad cause he didn't come home on Wednesday....he came home on Thursday. But we had a major leak problem at the condo that needed to be dealt with. After I left on Wednesday, my hubby got ahold of the maintenance men and found that the condo above us had a leak in their bathroom. There was so much water on the floor, it took two towels to mop it up. The water was leaking down into our bathroom...bubbling our ceiling and wall and our wallpaper was peeling off. If we had just rushed home on Monday, we would have came back to our bathroom ceiling sitting on our freakin' floor!!

So things had to be done. I figured from Saturday to Wednesday it would give them time to see her family and their friends. Then they would still be there over another week when we would be there. I had planned to take the kids to the zoo, a barbeque on Saturday, then leave Mon or Tues for Caseville to show them the cottage and let the kids have fun at the beach. But none of that happened. And they are back in North Carolina.

My son thinks he is the center of the world. He isn't. Face it....nobody is. We have a life that also needs attention.

My husband has an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow. I can't make plans to even go back up to Caseville until I know when the surgery is going to be. Hopefully, he will know tomorrow.

My dog, Lucky, has that diahrrea again!! I don't know wtf his problem is and I'm getting real sick of it. I don't have the extra money to throw away at the vet, so I'm trying to give him that pet store medicine, but he won't even eat his food. He just lays under the couch. I bought some bran cereal to give him and sneak some of the medicine in it but he doesn't even want to eat much of that.

This weekend is Labor Day and I guess I won't be going to the cottage. I don't see how we can even do much of anything with Lucky being sick.

I sold the bed.....the one I had in the spare bedroom that they used for the few days they were here. I won't be needing it. If they ever come back to Michigan again for a visit, they better have a Plan B, cause there ain't no Plan A anymore....

Now maybe I can finally get the room the way I want it and I can put my computer back in there. I'm going to start ripping out the carpet and then my husband can finally put my computer desk together. It's been sitting in a box for over 5 years!

And life goes on......

Saw my little Jayden...!

Today is Monday and we have not heard a word from my son. My husband called and left messages...my youngest son called and left messages....I called my daughter-in-law and left a message...yet we heard nothing. Sunday my DIL's sister was having a big family barbeque at her house. We were originally invited, but was given neither an address nor directions so we didn't go. So last night her sister called to tell me that my DIL has not been able to call me because my assinine son took the phone, deleted all our messages, and has refused her to call us.

I called her sister today and told her that I would come over and bring the kid's backpacks and toys that they left here to her house, and they can pick them up there on their way back home to North Carolina. She called back and said that my DIL wanted to bring the kids over to her sister's so I could see them. So I drive all the way to Eastpointe with their stuff. Then I find out that they have been staying at a friend of their's house only about a few miles from my house. So I end up driving 40 mins and she drives there....and I could have just driven a few miles and dumped their crap at their friend's house!

So anyway, I drive there and wait and wait and eventually she shows up but at least she also has the kids! So I get to see Jayden and Hunter. She says that my son is being an a'hole and apparently he wants to leave for back to North Carolina tomorrow. He has no intentions of seeing us. My poor husband hasn't even seen them yet. Hubby is pissed royally...!!!!! He says that we are done with him. We will no longer be helping them out in any way. See, I know that even if my son does come around and be all nicey, nicey....it's only cause he's thinking ahead as to when he might need some financial help...cause that's the way he thinks. It ain't working this time!

Even when I saw them today, I was hearing how they don't have much money for gas...(boo-hoo) and how they have to go back early tomorrow cause everything is costing so much and they don't have the money to stay longer...(booooo...fuckin'....hoooooo).

I offered no help....

I took some pictures of the kids and got a kiss from Jayden and Hunter....

She said that son is suppose to go see a friend tonight and that she will call me so I can come over.....not really expecting a call...

Go back to NC....

See ya whenever.....

Zorro.....

Have you ever watched "Meekat Manor" on Animal Planet station? It airs every Friday night....and I just love it. A while back I was at a garage sale and talking with the lady how there ain't shit on TV anymore and she told me how she loves this Meerkat program. So I started watching it and I just love it!

It is about these little Meerkats....their tribes...the "Commandos"...the "Whiskers" and "the Aztecs". These little ferrit-type guys who exist somewhere in a desert are just adorable. They are filmed and narrated by Stockard Channing. It use to be narrated by Sean Astin who did a better job and everybody wants him back, but this season it was narrated by S/C and she does an okay job when you get use to her.

Tonight was the season finale and "Rocket-dog" almost dies from a snake bite protecting her tribe. But Zorro died....

So online I did this "which meerkat are you" test...and I was Zorro!!...but he freakin' died!!!

So I guess if I was a meerkat I would be dead....

Guess I should count my blessings that I'm not a meerkat...
__________________________________________

DIL was suppose to "try" and come over today with the kids....but never heard from her. She really needs to grow some "balls".....She puts up with way too much crap from son. My husband learned a very long time ago to not even cross the line with me....trust me, my balls are way bigger than his....LOL...

Unless he's a Meerkat....

The fun is gone..........

I'm back from the Cheeseburger festival in Caseville. As usual it was hectic but fun. There were thousands and thousands of people there. I had trouble getting our spot for the parade so we ended up sitting at the village park which turned out to be a pretty good place to sit. Would you believe...that people were putting their chairs out in spots the day before?? By 6:00 Tuesday evening the chairs were lined up on both sides of the street. The parade didn't even start until 6:00 Wednesday! I refused to let my chairs sit there overnight so I waited until the next day and then I couldn't get my regular spot. Anyway, the parade was over 1 1/2 hours long....it gets longer and longer every year. It wasn't over until almost 8:00.

My son and his girlfriend and her daughter came Wednesday in time for the parade and stayed until Sunday. They entered her daughter in the hula hoop and limbo contests. She came close in the hula hoop but lost out to another girl. They spent a lot of time at the pool and on the beach, which gave my husband and I more time to ourselves to enjoy the festival.

One of the vendors was selling designer purses and I was looking at this Coach purse and decided to 'think about it'...we went and got a cheeseburger and when I came back another lady had just bought it!!...boo frickin' hoo!! Well, I guess with thousands of people looking at things, ya better jump on things fast...no time to 'think about it'.
____________________________________________

Tuesday I went to the condo and noticed that the wallpaper in the bathroom was peeling away and I thought maybe it was from the showers being taken, so I bought some adhesive stuff and was gonna try and paste it back on. Then I noticed that it peeled off more and the wall behind it was bubbled and everything was WET! I got my husband to look at it and he said that something must be leaking from the toilet in the condo above ours. So I had to go into the office and have them tell the maintenance men to check the condo above ours. They did and sure enough, the toilet was leaking there. So now we have a wall and paper to try and fix. I left on Wednesday. Hubby said he did a temporary fix after I left cause the wall is still wet. Another thing for us to do!!
______________________________________________

So I came home on Wednesday and hubby got home today (Thursday) cause he had to give the grass one more cut and fix that wallpaper.

My army son and his family got here last Saturday and did their own thing until we could get home. Not too much collateral damage. The turn thing on my horizontal blinds in the family room is broken....my ceramic cat in my living room is broken....and when I got home they were gone somewhere and had the doors locked and when I went in, the DRYER WAS RUNNING! Good God....don't EVER EVER leave a dryer running when you aren't home!!! Especially MY dryer cause I have a very unstable vent system going on....and with a gas dryer. Whatever....I didn't say anything.

I didn't make a fuss over the blind thingy...I'm hoping hubby can fix it. No big deal about the ceramic cat cause it's just something I picked up at a garage sale.

We were having a good time...having a few beers....son gave me some nice 'army' gifts and showed me what he got his dad. I gave him a little hell for still doing his skateboarding thing after he broke his ankle badly and he is just starting his physical therapy for it. He still is limping on it. He had two scars on both sides of his ankle and a plate and pins in it. When he broke it, the bone shattered and his foot was twisted sideways. IT was a very bad break. But he is still skateboarding!! So I gave him some "mother" hell about it. Guess he didn't like that.

Then it was time to put the kids to bed. They basically just let the kids go to bed whenever they want to. It's not unusal for them to still be up at midnight. I don't think they even wear pajamas. Jayden is over 4 years old and he is still peeing in his pull-ups. Anyway, so it's almost 10:00 and I want them in bed, and they are going to put a movie (Camp Rock) in some DVD thing for them to watch. I got on their case about it. I told them that kids should simply go to bed....a story, then lights out. There is no reason for them to be watching a movie at 10:00 at night. I guess they figure it helps put them to sleep. So I simply said to my son....and I quote my exact words...."Fine...but all I'm saying is that when I'm ready to go to bed it better be fuckin' quiet and I'm not listening to some movie playing."....

Well the total shit hit the fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son got totally enraged and told Michelle to pack up the kids and they are going someplace else to stay. Apparently, her other son's father (her oldest son lives with his father) was going to be camping and had told them they could stay there while he was gone if they wanted to. So they packed up the kids and crap and left and went to Waterford. They are still there. Michelle has called me a couple times. She feels bad. She wants to be here. She said that I didn't say anything wrong, but my son flares up at stupid stuff all the time and she puts up with it. She might try and get the car and bring the kids here tomorrow.

My husband came home today and still has not seen our son. Apparently, he said that he is going to go back to North Carolina and if we want to see him then we can drive down there......yeah...like when hell freezes over!!!

Hey...I'm not use to having kids around. And I believe that kids should have a decent bedtime hour and they simply 'GO TO FREAKING BED'!!! They don't watch movies and play games after 10:00....at least not in MY house. I told him that they can do what they want at their own house, but in my house, they go to bed when I tell them to......Whatever....

I am so freakin pissed off right now I could scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how was your day??

Here's a picture that was taken last year at the Cheeseburger in Caseville Parade of Fools.....




I got my car packed and I'm ready to go. Did I forget anything?? Probably!!

My husband said that they were starting to decorate the town when he left last Friday. I asked him if the flamingoes have flown into town yet and he said "not yet, but they're coming". Just before the festival these big flamingoes come and roost on all the lampposts....






I'll get up there tomorrow and get all my Cheeseburger stuff down from the attic and start decorating for the festival. I can't wait to put all my parrots and flamingoes out. I even put flamingoes on the top of my car!

As ole Jimmy Buffett would say:

"I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer
Well good God Almighty which way do I steer for my
CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE!"

It's never as easy as ya think.....

My husband went to the doctor today to get that skin cancer thing that they took the biopsy from more surgically taken off, but the doctor didn't do it. He said that it hasn't healed yet and it should have scabbed over and healed by now and it's not doing anything. There were two other spots that he scraped off today and is sending those in for biopsies also. He said after those results come back and after Labor Day he will send my husband to a different doctor and have all 3 spots taken off. He said that there is more to do than what he can do in his office.

But he did say that there is nothing to worry about....that it is first stage basil cells and that it is 100% curable as long as it is caught in time. And first stage means it is caught early so everything should still be okay. We will just be glad when everything is cut out and GONE!

I'm leaving for Caseville in a couple days for the Cheeseburger in Caseville Festival which starts next weekend and will run through the following weekend. My husband will be up by the weekend and my son and his girlfriend will be up by next Wednesday for the parade. Then my army son and his family are coming here August 16 for a couple weeks. They will let themselves in the house cause we will still be in Caseville and then by around the 19th-20th we should be home. They have a lot of family and friends to go see so they will be busy when they get here. We haven't seen them since last July so it's been over a year. I'm sure the kids are a foot taller by now.

Then it will soon by Labor Day and summer will be over.....lets hope for a nice warm summery-like weather for September.

Saturday on the Lake....

Yesterday I drove out to my cousin's cottage on the lake. It think the lake is called Lake Lobdell, and it's near Fenton which is only an hour's drive for me. Well, it would be an hour's drive if it wasn't for ROAD CONSTRUCTION. I was doing pretty good with the directions and I'm flying down 23 and then I saw a sign saying that the left lane was going to be closed up ahead. Then all traffic stopped....cars creeping at a snails pace...sometimes just sitting there going nowhere. And of course I need to pee....so I'm looking at the bushes along the road. I'm starting to panic when I noticed some cars driving on the shoulder. I move over and that's when I saw my exit just up ahead...whew!! I was so happppppppy!!

They have been vacationing up there for a long time and have owned the cottage for 9 years. Their friends own the cottage next door. They have jet ski's, a canoe, a kayak, a paddle boat and a pontoon. The weather was a bit windy and the sun was going in and out all day, so we mainly just did the pontoon. We all went for a ride around the lake. I couldn't believe how big this lake is. I wish I had known about this place a long time ago and we could have bought something right on the water years ago.

She has a really nice cottage with a big deck that is right on the water.....



....and a view of the water from her deck.....



....and here's a picture of the lake....




Her neighbors in the cottage next door are friends so we ended up eating on their deck and mingling and talking and just enjoying what turned out to be a really nice day. The neighbors have two dogs and I didn't get a chance to take their picture because my camera started messing up and I gave up on it. Stupid camera!

I'm gonna have to get my hubby to go up there and check this place out cause it is so much closer than Caseville and there is so much you can do on the lake there. Well, I can dream anyway.....

THANK YOU DOROTHY AND SANDY!!