Good-bye July!

Good-bye July!  Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

July has not been a good month.  It started off with me getting sick on the first. Right after I recovered from that, I had to take Charlie to the vet (on the 5th).  He had an infected anal gland that had abscessed and didn't show any signs of not feeling well until it was too late.  The vet started him on antibiotics but at his recheck on the 9th, it was determined he wasn't healing as quickly as he should and he was given an additional antibiotic and a pain pill.  It was during this time that my air conditioner broke-on what was at the time the hottest day of the year (7/7)-and the night I was to host bunco at my house with guests that included a woman 6 months pregnant with twins.  My guests were gracious about playing in my 84 degree living room.  I felt bad for my friend and for Charlie, who had to wear the cone.  The only plus in this month was James had the A/C unit installed after we moved in and it was still under full warranty so I didn't have to pay for the repair, which happened on the 12th and was just over $1,000.

The 8th was even hotter and my living room got up to 87 degrees.  I had a weekend trip to the coast planned and I decided to go even though I didn't want to leave Charlie.  He was on meds though so there wasn't really anything I could do and I was boarding them at the vet's office so he was in good hands.  I was to drop them off on the 9th, but it was too hot in my house so I dropped them off the evening of the 8th instead and sought refuge at the $3 movie theater ("Get Him to the Greek" was about what I expected and definitely a $3 movie). 

The temperature outside had cooled down slightly by the time I got back from the coast but not my house.  It was still 84 when I got home around 2:00 on the 11th.  I had a book club meeting that afternoon and it was 83 when I got home from that.  I decided to bring the dogs home even though I would have liked it to be a little cooler in the house.  What can I say-I missed them.  I was relieved to see Charlie seemed to be doing better with the additional meds.

But that didn't last long and I ended up taking him back for another recheck on the 14th.  The bottom line was something on the outside had scabbed over so the icky stuff on the inside couldn't get out.  I was to give it a few more days and if he wasn't any better I would have to consider surgery.  When I took him in for his appointment on Saturday (17th), the vet took one look at him and said "hmm."  It wasn't a good "hmm" and I ended up leaving my little guy there for a glandectomy.  I have learned more about anal glands in animals than any non-vet person really needs to know.  It turned out this was the right move to make as the infected gland had actually ruptured and the infection was spreading to other areas.  And it also turns out that I am a pretty strong person generally but not at all when it comes to something being wrong with one of my boys.

I was able to bring him home that night, but about 10 minutes after I got home, I took him back as there was a lot of discharge from the surgery site and that didn't seem normal to me.  (Luckily, I live close to the vet).  Charlie came home doing much better the next morning, but for the next several days, he had the hardest time getting comfortable, understandably so and between the heat, his infection and then surgery, I went 16 consecutive nights with little to no sleep and still have not caught up.

Charlie was given a clean bill of health when his stitches came out this morning.  He is doing a lot better-definitely acting like himself again, and no longer living in the laundry basket where he took up residency for several days.  I actually kind of liked him sleeping in the laundry basket as it meant he wasn't trying to sleep on my head.

While all this was going on with Charlie, my computer started acting up and ultimately ended up going to the Geek Squad on the 19th.  Nine days later, I was told it was toast.  I had a meltdown over that.  It was James' computer and I felt he would be so disappointed that I didn't take better care of it and killed it (most likely it would have died anyway but I still feel bad.  It's just another part of him that is now gone).  This is one of those rare times procrastination worked in my favor in that I never did anything with my computer after James died so I was able to hook up that one instead of having to buy a new one.

And then there is the continuing saga of NLNG, who resurfaced just as I was finishing my last post.  I think I'll save that for it's own post. 

If Sammy had a voice, he probably would have asked to move out partway through the month.  I would have if I was him!  Here's hoping August is MUCH better!