Ethan’s Journey

​Paul and I have mastered working from “home” at camp. He has the back area or “garage” of the camper and the rest is free for me. I was able to sit outside most of the day. Bliss! At one point all the dogs were out. 3 sun bathing and Jiminy trotting around doing dog things for an extended period of time. The sunshine was helpful.jiminy was helping me work but was promptly fired by sleeping on the job. We went out to dinner at one of the favorite local places and sat out on the deck to eat. The deck overlooks Chaumont Bay. One of the bright sides is that after labor day the traffic of vacationers subsides. There is no wait for tables and always yddeck seating available. When we got back from dinner, it was chilly. Paul and I built a fire and hoped to stay warm. The fire was very warm and I had a blanket. I rotated through all the dogs and gave them time to snuggle with Mom. Ferguson was by far the best snuggler tonight. He wasn’t fidgety like the others. He stayed out until we closed d...

​is anyone else FEELING the days getting shorter and how that changes your sleep requirements? Summer, my favorite season, has slipped through my fingers. BOO!!!!!! I didn’t set an alarm this morning because I didn’t need to. I slept in almost an hour and a half. My body must have needed it but the days getting shorter does not help. I am hardwired to be awake during light and sleeping during dark. I would fail in Alaska.  I was packing my car up for camp. Moe got very excited. However, I wasn’t ready to leave. When I called him to go into the house he was very disappointed in me. He peered at me from around the corner of the house with disgust! He begrudgingly came in the house and laid on his bed pouting! When it was time to go, he rode shotgun (his choice). He navigated me to the lake! Dogs are funny. We stopped for gas mid trip and saw an Amish horse and buggy. He was going nuts in the car watching the horse closely! We made it to camp. Time for sleep!

​I waited the full 48 hours for a MyChart response from the kidney team regarding a kidney biopsy. I then called and spoke with a nice lady who is going to elevate my question regarding rejection to the doctor. I am trying to give the benefit of the doubt as she was out of the office last week. We all know the punishment of being out of the office and coming back to a pile of work waiting for us. The doctor called fairly quickly. We made a plan for Ethan. He will get his heart biopsy. If the comes back as there is rejection, Ethan will be treated and we will not do the kidney biopsy. Even if the kidney is also in rejection the treatment for the heart will also treat the kidney. If the heart biopsy comes back negative we will move forward with the kidney biopsy. I am satisfied with this solution. I think it is the most non-invasive solution to support Ethan and his health. So now we wait until next week to see what the verdict is.  Ethan has noticed he is having episodes of feeling ...

 I had an interesting situation today. I spoke to a lady who had been terminated from her position of 8 years. She worked at a previous position for 7 years. Total of 15 years experience. She had been terminated the previous day. Her claim is that she voiced concern over patient care and was terminated. Regardless of the details (each one with their own version), she was devastated. She was petrified of what was to come for her. She was terrified no one would ever hire her again because of this one thing. She discounted her patient care, her skills and her personality to this one moment. All valid feelings and fears that I would have if it were me. I stopped the interview at one point to give a pep talk. I evaluated her resume in real time back to her. It was a good resume. She could hold a job for many years. That is one thing not a lot of people can do in veterinary medicine. This blip in the road didn’t define her. I used my most valuable advice I received from another human bei...

​I sent a note to Ethan’s kidney transplant team inquiring about a kidney biopsy. I never got a response back. I did submit it as a non-urgent medical question so technically they have 48 hours to respond. Maybe the doctor turned her attention towards “more important things”. I am still holding a grudge over that! It was nice out today and I had all the windows open!  I did LOTS of laundry and washed as much as I could wash.  It was a pretty quiet day. 

​we made it home today. The drive was very smooth. The dogs rode very well without a peep. There weren’t any dumb dumbs on the road. Well there was one. But for a 3+ hour drive, that isn’t bad. I chatted on the phone with my mom and listened to a pod cast to pass the time. Once home I unloaded my things while the dogs watered the grass.  Ethan was home and the dogs went crazy. All 4 of them were excited to see Ethan. Jiminy was the first! He been-lined right to Ethan and used his doggy stairs to get up on the couch. He began flicking Ethan as fast as he could. I send Ethan text updates about how Jiminy is doing….mostly because he is so easy to photograph looking cute. I unloaded the van and unpacked. I got a jump start on laundry with all the dog blankets and towels we have gone through. This evening, I chatted with my brother to catch up with him. It had been a while, so we shared a few stories of how things are going and what we have been up to. Tomorrow I have a busy work day. I...