This is Thanksgiving Week AND it’s OSU-Mich week. If you’re in to shopping, it’s also Black Friday week. Since I’m one of those people who hate shopping, there is NO WAY I would ever go to a store on Friday.
My family has reached the point where we must coordinate Thanksgiving dinners around other grandmas, other in-laws and other “might-be-in-laws-someday”. Bottom line, this year dinner is at my house on Saturday – the day of THE GAME.
This week will be spent getting everything ready … cleaning and planning groceries. My cupboards and fridge are mostly empty throughout the year because I nuke my food. That means I must buy fresh stuff like flour, brown sugar and spices. My girls always check the expiration date because they know I don’t cook or bake anymore.
We don’t do turkey, but prefer a ham from City BBQ. They are so good, we inhale the whole thing. I am also charged with fixing scalloped oysters for my sons-in-law and myself. One of my sons-in-law is a great baker of pies (as well as a great BBQ cook) so his job is to fix a pecan pie or two. My daughters will be fixing the salads, candied yams, and of course, green bean casserole. Naturally there will be other snacks and goodies as well. Hasn’t it been estimated that at the typical Thanksgiving dinner, people eat between 3,000-5,000 calories?
I’m sure this year the Thanksgiving prayer will include thankfulness that we have jobs, have roofs over our heads, food on the table and that we’re all healthy. Yes, like others, we have recent college grads that aren’t working in their profession and we have others that are working two jobs to pay all the bills, but so far we’re OK, and I’m thankful for that. The main thing is that we have each other. I hope your family can enjoy the holiday.
The “Best” Vets in Delaware County!
I took him to the vet. By this time his fever was over 105°. They decided he needed to stay at the hospital so they could check for ecoli, salmonella and possibly a tick infection. They did X-rays in case he had done something to his back – a real problem for doxies since their vertebrate is a little different from other breeds. They also took blood for a complete blood test.
After a couple of days when there was no improvement, they asked me to bring some chicken to see if he would eat for me, plus it might be helpful for him to see me so he would know I hadn’t abandoned him. He ate the chicken and since his fever was down almost to 102° they thought it might be best if he came home where he would be more comfortable.
The following day, we received the blood test results. His white cell count was extremely low and his platelets were so dangerously low that he was at risk of dying from internal bleeding. The Dr’s words became a blur after that but I heard “OSU, transfusion, marrow transplant, $5,000, might not work, euthanasia”.
The tests the Dr had done ruled out the ecoli, salmonella and ticks. We wracked our brains as to what changed in his life that could have caused this sudden illness. In late August he was put on phenobarbitol for some epilepsy seizures he had one day. This normally safe drug can have a side effect in rare cases where it can deplete the white cell count. Ah-ha!
He was immediately taken off the phenobarb and given a couple of types of antibiotics to protect him from infection since his white cell count wasn’t sufficient to do that. After about 3 days, I began to notice some improvement. Little by little he continued to respond. After nine days, he seemed well enough to have another blood test taken, although the bleeding risk from the needle was unknown.
That test showed that the platelets were back to normal so the bleeding risk was gone. His white cell count had improved but not yet quite to the normal range. The difference was enough to feel that the phenobarb was definitely the culprit. It’s now been three weeks and externally, he seems back to his normal fiesty self.
I began going to Best Friends in 1987 when I took my first Dobie there as a puppy. They cared for my next two Dobes throughout their lives. They’re now caring for The Murph in their new Powell location and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for totally caring group of qualified veterinarians. I especially appreciate Dr Riggs and Dr Latimer. I also appreciate their asking for people’s well wishes for Murph on their Facebook page. Just like their name, they’re the BEST!
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Posted in Central Ohio, Commentary, Delaware County, Dog Tails, Powell Ohio
Tagged "Best Friends Vet Hospital", Dachshund, doxie, Powell OH 43065