Our boy, relief and Friday's "high"

Dear Readers, forgive me for not being more constant in my posting. It was a tough weekend, but ended on a happier note.

Friday night, our wonderful boy, Merlin, pictured here, was in terrible pain. He was pacing, panting, could not get comfortable in ANY position, and was clearly greatly distressed. At 10:00 pm, I took him to the emergency pet clinic. He was examined, given a mega-dose of pain killers (an opiate) and we came home. He woke up at 3:00 am, wheezing, even more distressed, and unable to walk. DH and I took him back to the clinic, where he was admitted to the hospital for pain and medication monitoring. The internist saw him early Saturday morning. He called to tell us that Merlin had either a disc condition or serious soft tissue injury, that he was doing better (this was around 9:00 am), and was up walking. Praise God for answering our prayers! We agreed that he should remain in the hospital until 6:30 pm on Saturday night when we brought a very different looking doggie home. He was walking and even smiling. He was so happy to see his human parents (especially his Dad).

Yesterday I took him to our regular vet. She agreed with the diagnosis and added another medication because when she was palpating his spine, he actually turned around and snapped at her. Very unlike this mellow, happy fellow. He is now on four different meds, but is doing much better. The challenge will be the three weeks of total rest he needs. No jumping, no running, no walks. Yikes! Merlin LOVES his walks. As my vet said, right now it will be easy, but wait until five days from now, when he is feeling better. That will really test my ability to keep him rested.

Seeing one's pet in pain is so horrible, as many of us know. Merlin was actually crying (I do mean like human crying), with tears flowing from his eyes down his nose. It just broke my heart. I felt so helpless and scared. But to see him so much improved now is wonderful. Merlin, DeeDee and I spent the day yesterday in my quilting room. He sleeps quite a bit due to the meds but this is exactly what he needs. Please keep him in your thoughts and prays. He is such a sweet, old guy and we want him around for some time to come.



As for skating, Friday was a fantastic high! I had my ice dance lesson with Coach Chris. We worked mostly on the European Waltz, finishing the lesson with the Ten Fox. We had originally planned to test this dance in November, but I told Coach C that I wanted to wait until January, so I could be certain (as one can be in these ice dance matters) I would get a "pass" on the dance; I refuse to be given another "retry" on this one. While I only tested the dance once - when I was "invited" to retry - until I pass, I will not be a true Pre-Silver dancer. I am SO tired of being in the Bronze category. We did two really fun patterns around the ice. Coach told me that I was a completely different dancer than when last we had done the dance. "Yes!" - this is what I was waiting to hear. My best skating buddy and another skater were watching us do the dance and even asked us to do a reprise for them. The second time was as good as the first. This is progress. Let's hope it sticks.

Lastly, Sunday afternoon and evening I attended my college reunion. What a trip to see my old buddies and college sweethearts! Boy, we have all gotten really 'mature.' It was a nice party but my mind was really on Merlin, so I probably missed good chunks of conversation.

The first fall storm has arrived, complete with rain and wind. This is absolutely my kind of weather. The fire is going, the doggies are sleeping in front of it, and I will spend the day quilting (of course). Wednesday is a skating day and I am looking forward to it and seeing my best skating buddy. Oh, another skating friend passed her Blues dance test last weekend at the Ice Dance Weekend in San Jose. Congrats, Suzee! You are one awesome ice dancer.

Onward we go with Merlin in improving health.