Wow, a brand new year! I had a week-and-a-half off over the holidays, and it was great! I didn't want to return to work, but then again, I never do. I can't wait to officially "retire" (defined as working only because I want to, not because I have to).
Anyway, I haven't been on a real bike in a couple of weeks. We've had sporadic snowfalls, and spinning, over the holidays, has been more convenient than outdoor riding. I'm hoping to get a couple of bike commutes in next week, however. I've been sticking to a more intense winter weightlifting schedule - I've added a set to most exercises (a total of three), have increased the weight in pretty much every exercise, and have added once-a-week lower-body workouts.
Our dog Jake has been having some health problems for the last week or so. First, we finally got around to taking him to the vet for an eye problem he's had for a while. We kept thinking it would pass, but it stayed the same. The vet diagnosed it as "neovascularization" (new vein), and explained that it is a new vein being created to supply extra oxygen while the eye attempts to heal itself. Unchecked, it could cause a problem. So (hang on to your seat), Jake got a shot in the eye! Along with this, the vet prescribed some special eye drops, and administered the first application. When he applied the eye drops, there must have been an obstruction in the bottle that suddenly cleared because practically the whole bottle shot into Jake's eye. The vet laughed and said "well, it's not supposed to do that", and got us another bottle to take home.
Over the next couple of days Jake got weirder and weirder. He wouldn't lay down for long. He was staring at us a lot, or just staring into space. He was just plain restless and weird. He sort of 'tiptoed' when outside walking around in the yard. We took him to the Animal Hospital and we ended up leaving him there overnight. His liver enzymes were reading way high, and he seemed to be exhibiting hip/back problems as well. He was given an ultrasound, which indicated no structural problems with his liver. MB had been doing research on the eye drops Jake had been given and was convinced that they were the genesis of his high liver readings. I didn't buy it, and neither did the vets at the hospital.
Since his life was not in danger, and there was nothing more they could really do for him at the hospital, Jake came home. Since then he's been getting better. He was prescribed an analgesic at the animal hospital for his back pain, and we continue with the eye drops.
An interesting part of the story, is that our regular vet - the one who'd accidentally filled Jake's eye full of these drops, admits now that it probably caused at least some of Jake's liver enzymes to read very high. So, MB was right all along about the liver thing. We think he'll recover from that just fine.
Unfortunately, we learned that his back/hip problem is neurological, and may worsen, over time, to the point that he may become crippled and/or incontinent. There's nothing we can do to make it better (or worse, fortunately). We just hope he suffers as little from this problem as possible. He seems to be suffering the most from this, at the moment. We think he 'tweaked' his back somehow recently, which accounts for some of his weird behavior, and that this will get better as he loosens up over time.
