The Symptoms Have Hit

Oh boy. The nausea, the constant hunger, and the MOOD SWINGS!!! It's crazy! Come 9 pm, I'm absolutely worthless. My brain just shuts down. I used to try to find a nice way to say what's on my mind. These days, not so much. Thankd GOD for the internet when I can erease what I typed and retype it before sending. IRL, that editing isn't available. Sometimes stuff slips out before I mean for it to. With hubby I feel bad. With strangers, if I can't manage to clamp my mouth shut, oh well. I really don't like to be outright rude to people, but wow, everything annoys me! Especially all the cigarette smoke. It can be really tough walking through my neighborhood at night when all the guys are at the bars getting sloshed & smoking like chimminies. If I cover my face with a rag they make stupid comments about swine flu. Like I give a shit about THAT! The toxins they keep blowing out their mouth into the air I breathe is a far more immediate concern. Even when I was a smoker, I was more considerate of nonsmokers than most of these yodels seem to be. I just seem to have very little tolerance for any kind of bullshit these days. Not good when babysitting! I make a very strong point to be as patient as possible, though, with the kids. They don't need to deal with my craziness. Luckily the kids have all been very sweet for the most part. I do feel more maternal too, though, so that helps. My u/s was on the 28th, but the doc had surgery scheduled that day so I had to reschedule for the 29th. At least it's just one more day. 

In other news, my dog is crazy. She broke off one of her rear claws at the paw line. She doesn't seem fazed by it in the least. I got a call from the store around the corner from us the she was there. She was supposed to be in the back yard. Oh how I love sharing the back yard with a neighbor to whom it doesn't occur to make sure the back yard gate is closed tight. Fun times! I sure hope she didn't get into any trouble while she was out and about. She can be a bit of a punk with other dogs sometimes. At least she's safe and sound now! Silly mutt.

Not as Bad as I Thought

I took Bren in to the vet this morning so she could get some ultrasounds and x-rays to see if there were any more tumors. Apparently the bump I found on her head is not a tumor, it's just a normal part of her body. So it's just the one lump on her side. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. The surgeon said that depending on the actual size and shape of the tumor once it's removed, they will either send it to the lab to be analyzed or just throw it away and be done with it.

So the biggest obstacle is going to be the cost. We have managed to be able to pool some money together from a couple of different sources. My dad is helping us out despite his reluctance, which I appreciate. One of the families I work for advanced me my pay for the next 3 weeks to help pay for it as well. We were also able to get a health care credit card that gave us an initial limit of $500 but may approve more credit in the next day or so. We'll be able to pull this off, even though it will be awfully tight.

My Poor Bren Dog

I just found out yesterday my poor sweet baby girl has cancer. We have no idea how we're going to pay for the surgeries and stuff, but we'll do whatever we can. Yesterday afternoon I found a lump on her left side underneath her front leg. The lump is about the size of a quarter. The vet had an opening at 5 pm yesterday so I took her on. They biopsied it and sure enough, it's cancer. This morning I found another lump on her head right by her right ear. They're mast cell tumors and these tumors have the ability to release histamines, so we have to give Bren some Benadryl and also Pepcid, but I'm not sure of the reason for the Pepcid.

So anyone who reads, this please think some good thoughts for Bren Dog. She needs all the good vibes she can get.