So

My laptop is on the fritz.

I have a UTI.

I have not a lot of money to feed myself this month.

Reba has no monthly flea meds (Surprise! I thought there was one more.), her shots are due, and she needs a haircut in the worst way.

I have a CfH (Cold from Hell) that allows me to hack GGGs (Great Gobs of Goo) all day plus bestows upon me mounds of head congestion.

I'm not getting the fellowship I needed for next year, so without an amazing miracle plan that will give me about $35K, I will have to drop out one year from finishing my degree.

In short, I'm a broke, sick failure.



How is your April?

I often wonder . . .

. . . what Reba sees when she wags her tail in her sleep.

Dogs and Pubs

Reba's ear is doing well. We had a check-up yesterday afternoon, so I decided to leave her at home for the morning. There was no reason for BOTH of us to freeze half to death at the office (the second floor of my building, where my office is located, has been at about 55-60 degrees for two weeks). When I came home to use the restroom before going to the vet, Reba met me at the door with her bandage hanging on by only a quarter-sized piece of adhesive. By the time I got back in my chair, she had lost the bandage completely.

The vet said everything looked great. He cleaned her ears and they were only mildly dirty -- light tan gunk and stink free compared to red-tinged black gunk and reeking last week. He put some powder on and we left. He didn't seem concerned that she hasn't really eaten anything in the last week, just nibbled, but I confess I'm a bit worried.

I finished formatting my manuscript to the requirements of the next journal to which I'm submitting. I emailed it to B (my advisor) and asked him if he could look it over by the end of the week. I'm anxious to get it submitted. I'd really LOVE to get my second publication! Come on, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences -- take me!

My poor little girl, part II

Looking appropriately sad.





Side view. Notice the shave job.

My poor little girl

I have not mentioned yet that I have a service dog. Reba is a golden retriever/standard poodle mix who has lived with me for almost seven years (will be a full seven years next month). My friend Naomi picked her out of the litter at a bit over two months, and I got her when she was seven and a half months old. Naomi helped me by getting her basic obedience on her (sit, down, off, stay), and Reba pretty much trained herself to get her leash, retrieve dropped objects, and take off my gloves (Winter gloves, not latex). You can see her in my profile pic, but here are a couple of others.

Two years ago, when my "niece" wanted to play dress-up:




Posing at my mom and dad's:




All this by way of telling you about our unexpected trip to the vet today. Reba has chronic yeast infections in her ears, and they seem to be getting worse and more frequent. When she has one, the pain and itching cause her to shake her head a lot. Last night, my PCA and I discovered a HUGE hematoma in her left ear -- her head shaking caused her to break a blood vessel in her ear, and the blood pooled under the skin. So this morning my friend Kim drove us to the vet where I had to leave her to have the hematoma drained. While I was there, I asked them to do her yearly heartworm test (so I could get more heartworm preventative) and do a fine needle aspiration of a lump on her side. The doc looked her over thoroughly and noticed from her skin that she appeared to have allergies. He said the allergies could exacerbate the yeast problem, and most allergies are from food. So long story short and $734.59 later, this is what happened:

-- She was konked out, her hematoma was drained and her ear bandaged, and her ears were thoroughly irrigated

-- I bought a small bag of prescription, hypoallergenic dog food (I won't bore you with the scientific details of how it's hypoallergenic) that we'll see if she eats. We'll probably keep her on it for 2-3 months and then introduce her to various foods (boiled chicken, hamburger) to see if she starts itching again. It may just be that she's allergic to one particular thing (like chicken), and then I can buy her regular (non-prescription) dog food without the allergen. She cannot have ANYTHING else during this trial period -- no treats, no peanut butter.

-- I'm to up her Benadryl from 25 mg 1X daily to 100 mg 3X daily. I also have to give her an oral antibiotic (because of the surgery) and an oral yeast treatment 2X daily each -- WITHOUT the aid of peanut butter! Just now, while talking to Mom, I thought about calling to see if the vet has hypoallergenic canned food in which I can hide her pills.

-- We go in for weekly ear checks for the next three weeks.

-- She's supposed to wear her bandage for three weeks. *laughs* If she doesn't shake it off before the next ear check, I'll be surprised.

So that was my fun day today, along with HEAVY rain (yes, I got wet) and lunch with another faculty job candidate. My mom as we were hanging up -- "Go get some rest."

I'll try. Good night, Faithful Reader, and I hope you have a great day tomorrow and a great weekend.