Life update

[urbpan]

My friends page is full of stories of sick pets, mostly on the mend. It's a rough time of the year for such a crisis. Charlie has been curled up and shaking lately, and very reluctant to use the stairs. Today's trip to the vet revealed "weak positive for Lyme," which is actually good, since there is a relatively inexpensive and effective treatment for it.

Meanwhile my dad had a fire in his garage this week, which destroyed his car and caused so much smoke damage to the house that he can't stay in it until it's fixed up. Tomorrow I'm going to pick him up and bring him here--a day earlier than planned--before we go on our trip to Puerto Rico. He doesn't know how long he'll be out of his house or how much stuff he is going to lose (it sounds like the cleaners are going to try to save everything, but honestly most of it isn't worth the effort) but hopefully the trip will take his mind off of it.

Remember about a month ago I posted a picture of the house that where my mother was born? A friend who lives nearby saw it and knows the current residents. As it happens, the neighborhood has a rotating party around this time every year, and this year was their turn. My friend facilitated some email conversations and long story short, I just got back from the party. I spent some time looking out the front windows trying to imagine my grandfather doing the same, 78 years ago. As I left I looked down the street and saw that a train was at the station at the end of the block. 78 years ago my grandfather walked down the block and rode that train to Boston to work downtown.

Comments

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

Your dad is like the phoenix.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

If the symptoms persist or return after the lyme's treatment, whisper the word "addison's?" in your vet's ear. It mimics any number of other conditions and is surprisingly common in dogs. My dog just seemed to be dying of nothing in particular when she was diagnosed -- four years ago? -- twitching and lethargic and just looking kind of awful. The adrenal cortex had just stopped producing steroids. She gets a twice-daily dose of replacement hormone at about $30/month, squirted on her food, and she's just fine all this time later.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

seems like addison's has a GI component.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

he is AMAZINGLY improved after just a few doses of the antibiotic so hopefully we got the diagnosis right!

[bosoxmom.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the fire and the sick dog. Hope all recover in time.
The story about the house where your mother was born is amazing. What a stroke of luck to actually be in it after so many years!

What a nice way to end a year!!!