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5/28/25

 “Get out of your butt!” Ethan said to Penny this morning. 

Penny is known for being the exact opposite of a lady, so this is not surprising. Ethan didn’t really appreciate her licking her butt in front of him. The noise itself is pretty foul.

Penny looked at him and continued to lick her button. What a gem!

Ethan left for work and a while later, there was Penny, smacking her lips as she was licking her button. 

“STOP!” I said to her. So nasty! 🤮 

I let the dogs out and did a few things while they did their “business”. We call it “business” because it makes them sound official in some way. Like they pay bills or something.

I heard what my mind painted as Ferguson being attacked by a hawk and raced outside. I called Mr. Ferguson frantically. I was squawking loudly as he is a bit deaf these days.

Ferguson was happily smelling flowers, unaware of my yelling and arm waving.

The noise I was hearing was Penny. She had to poop but was crying while posturing. 

I rudely violated her by picking her up and looking closely under her tail. One side of her tush was swollen and red. She had an infected anal sac. 

I put her on the kitchen counter as one does to express their dog’s anal sac. I threw on a glove and inbound I went. She had debris packed inside. We worked together as I gently tried to relieve the pressure for her. 

She got some antibiotics, pain medication and I had to put what we call “the muffler” around her neck so she can’t get to her butt. 

She was very sad and out of sorts. She napped the whole day wrapped up in her blankey. 




After all that excitement, we met with Ethan’s nephrologist. It seems that the biopsy did reveal that Ethan’s rejection medication is causing his kidney harm which is why his kidney values keep rising and his function is declining. 

Like a jerk, I thought “hmmmm hasn’t this been what I was saying all along?” I stifled my comments. No one wants to hear “I told you so.” Especially not a doctor. Also, I do understand there is a process in which doctors HAVE to follow to rule out everything else.

At least we are all on the same page about the cause and we can come up with a solution. 

Ethan’s kidney doctor said that now that she is aware that is causing the issue, we can reach out to the heart team in a few months and let them know. If changes have to be made to rejection medication, the heart requires more protection than the kidneys. The amounts of medications are different. A FEW MONTHS?!?!?

“What about now?” I asked “what would be the advantage of waiting a few months to reach out?” I didn’t get an answer that could support the benefits of waiting.

After some discussion we mutually decided that reaching out now would be more beneficial to Ethan. 

After the conversation, I reached out to the heart team and  gave them my interpretation of the conversation as a “heads up”. I feel confident the heart team will want to be proactive with this.

After the call with the nephrologist, I felt drained. These two  things (Penny and Ethan) were exhausting. Maybe I am getting soft. Ha!

The rest of the day was spent working. After work, I spent time at my Mom’s house. It was a nice evening of visiting. I like listening to the stories behind things. She shared a picture of her great grandma, who looked fabulous in her stylish coat. The frames these photos were in were original. It was just cool.

She gave me my grandpa’s belt buckle. My grandpa wore this belt buckle that said “Chuck”. His name was Charles but he went by “Chuck” or “Charlie”.  My grandpa always had this belt buckle. It was a blast from the past. I loved it.

It was a fun evening.

Comments

  1. what a full day - and with a nice ending spending it reminiscing with Mom. When I think of Charles and your family, I think of Charles Chips. You always had that cool tin.
    Great work as always navigating the doctors and updating the whole team with Ethan's updates.
    And I'm singing Adele songs now, too, after your Penny stories lol

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