the truth never stands in the way of a good story.
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september 14
rather than retype the latest, i'm just going to cut and paste from an e-mail: Well, on to ME! (I am being funny, I'm not THAT self-centered!) I had yet another doctor appointment. I have to have a liver biopsy. The results of the numerous blood tests showed that several of my liver function levels are pretty high, but not high enough to cause alarm or really point to a specific problem. What is making her want to look closer is that there are so many of the tests that are high. The biopsy will help form a diagnosis by taking a closer look directly at my liver (or pieces of it, anyway). The procedure is outpatient. I will go in in the morning and be prepped. I will be numb in the area she is going into, but I need to be somewhat "there" enough to follow some simple instructions ("Breathe out. OK, hold it. Breathe in."). She said I will feel like I had three beers. OK, maybe 4 beers. Groggy and happy and sort of out of it. It'll take about an hour to get things ready. Then she uses a very long needle, inserts it into my right side, sucks out some tissue, and it's done. They put a Band-Aid on it and I have to lay on my right side for a few hours to apply pressure and stay in bed in the hospital for the rest of the day. They will keep me in to make sure they didn't hit something they shouldn't have (lungs, spleen, blood vessels) and to make sure I don't bleed to death. Yes, I'll be in the hospital for a whole day for a ten minute procedure. I guess I'd rather be there where they can keep an eye on me than at home bleeding to death. I have to do this before the end of the year. No big hurry. Other bad news: Karma has a slipped disk. I first noticed it last Thursday. We were leaving for our walk and she bumped into the fence post and let out a little yelp. Later, I picked her up and she screamed out. Friday she seemed fine, maybe just a little mopey. Saturday she screamed out again when I went to pick her up and limped and whimpered when she walked. I called the vet and went in that day. I thought, at first, it was a splinter or something wrong with one of her back legs but the vet didn't find anything wring. She told us to give her baby aspirin and see if it continues. The aspirin made her puke all over the place (but not on the new carpet, thank God!). Monday she was fine, but slept downstairs most of the night. Scott said he heard her cry out a couple of times. When we got up this morning, she was shaking and panting so I beeped the vet at 7:30 this morning. Scott brought her in this morning and saw the same vet we saw on Saturday and she figured it's a slipped disk. Karma is on steroids and we have to watch that she doesn't drag her feet or show any other signs of paralysis. If it doesn't heal, she'll have to have surgery at MSU's vet school. Hopefully it won't come to that. : yesterday : : today : : tomorrow :
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