Well, it has been a trying time for me and my family this past month.  Beginning in April around the 10th I think my female dog, Charlotte, came down with a rare, strange condition called Myositis.  If you are interested in the details the link below does a good job of describing the condition. http://www.vetspecialists.co.uk/06_Animal_Welfare/Neurology_Facts/Myositis.html

 

Charlotte is on steroids, which has several very unpleasant side effects of its own.  Poor thing has her muscles wasting and drinks and pees a lot more than normal.  She is tired all the time and I am sure wonders what happened to her.  For the umpteenth time I wish dogs could understand humans and vice versa.  We are finished with one month of steroids at full-strength and are into our 2nd week of a reduced dose of the steroids.  She also has developed a urinary track infection.  More peeing. 

 

In addition to all that has happened with Charlotte my mom is in the hospital.  She went in for a procedure on her heart a month ago and has had continuing problems since.  She has a pace maker, which they have had to replace and she has fluid in her lungs and a staff infection.  They can't seem to tell us why exactly she has the fluid, they drained it once and it came back.  If her body doesn't take care of it on its own they will need to put in a chest tube to drain the fluid.  My mom is 76 years old.  She is in relatively good health otherwise. 

 

I have a planned trip to see her at the end of the month, but now I am debating whether or not to move that up.  It is such a difficult decision given that my little Charlotte is also sick.  If anything would happen to her while I was gone, I don't know what I would do.  On the other hand I worry about something worse happening to my mom and that would also put me over the edge. 

 

It has been a very difficult time, trying to take care of Charlotte, the house, working AND worrying about my mom.  I keep waiting for life to get easier...I don't see that happening.

 

We lost our first dog and my father five years ago around this time.  I am seeing some scary, strange parallels to that situation now.  It was a very dark time in my life...please Lord don't make me go through that again.