Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Truthful Tuesday

Chaos. My life currently. Pure Chaos. My job is legit out of control. I've mentioned recently that the Coronavirus is having an impact on my job, but it's gotten straight up nuts you guys. China has been shut down completely since Chinese New Year which puts production about two months behind at this point. We're running out of inventory, and it's gotten to the point where we have to allocate what's left based on previous purchases. We have THOUSANDS of customers and products, so you can imagine what a nightmare this is. Orders are still rolling in like everything is fine. But ugh. Everything is NOT fine. If production doesn't resume in the next week or two... well. Let's not even think about it.
Me at work.
And then P had a UTI. Which did not in fact clear up with the first round of antibiotics. So that meant a second more expensive trip to the vet. Fortunately, that seems to be resolving now with a different antibiotic. But will also require another trip to the vet in a couple weeks to be sure.

Since my animals really like to pile it on thick, and not to be outdone by Pia of course, Artie started coughing on Thursday night and coughed so hard he PASSED OUT! Apparently, dogs can do this, and it's not all that out of the ordinary... But I've never seen a dog just fucking pass out. It's horrifying if you've never seen it. Pretty much exactly the same visual as when a horse gets put down standing. HORRIFYING! I thought he died. Right in front of me. Thankfully he did not die, so I rushed him up to the 24 hour vet hospital near me.
After waiting awhile (it was a busy night there) he got some x-rays and I was told it appeared he had heart failure. Best case scenario the vet said was about a year if the meds worked. Needless to say I ugly cried the whole drive home... and most of the night. Artie is only around 8 or 9 (he's a rescue, so we're not sure exactly) and has always been my healthy dog. So this news was out of no where for sure. He stayed the night at the hospital so they could run more tests in the morning and we could formulate a plan for him.

Looking at this x-ray, his heart appears  VERY enlarged. That is, if he wasn't a Pug. At our follow up appt with our regular vet on Saturday, she explained to me that what appears very scary on this x-ray is actually pretty normal for Pugs. I don't think the ER vet was as familiar with the breed as the specialist and our regular vet.
In a very rare turn of events, once the tests were run, it was determined by the specialists that he does not in fact have heart failure. THANK GOODNESS! He does have a heart murmur and we'll want to keep an eye on his heart as he ages, but definitely not heart failure. He also has a case of pneumonia. No fever so it wasn't obvious until the ultra sound, but it's definitely there. He didn't eat well this weekend, but I picked up some different food (back at the vets...again) and he's gobbling that right down. So I think he'll be feeling back to his old self very soon. He has a follow up in two weeks as well. Needless to say, between the er visit and all the office visits, the vets have gotten my entire pay check for the last two weeks. Sigh. The things we do for our fur kids! I'm just grateful everyone will be okay. I can always make more money (hopefully, assuming my job doesn't implode).

So yeah... Last night I binge ate Italian cookies and feel very little remorse. And that's my confession for today.

22 comments:

  1. Ugh, all of that is so stressful. Glad the pups are on the mend and it wasn't the more serious diagnosis for Artie!

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  2. Definitely don't feel bad about the cookies, they were deserved. And I'm so glad you got more encouraging news about Artie!

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    1. Cookies are usually pretty helpful. Thank you! Me too!

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  3. What a stressful week for you!!

    I'm glad things are a bit better now... jeez. <3

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    1. It was rough! Artie seems to be feeling better though, thank goodness!

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  4. I feel you on the vet bills. I paid a specialist for bloodwork, and X-rays, and an ultrasound, and then MORE X-rays, to determine that my 11-year-old lab has "an upset digestive system". My regular vet assures me that this is great, and I'm beyond thrilled my old lady is healthy, but SO much money for something that I already knew based on the amount of time I've spent cleaning up dog puke lately.

    Glad Artie is ok, though!

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    1. Ugh, right? Yay they're basically okay, but ugh, bye money...

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  5. Ugh! My house has been crazy lately too. BOTH of my dogs got a bacteria that needed antibiotics (and that took TWO trips to the vet to figure out). And now I'm in the THICK of baby planning which... omg I had no idea you had to have so many things PLANNED and PURCHASED. My entire house looks like an Amazon Warehouse!

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    1. Seriously! So exciting though! It's getting close!!!!

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  6. I hope the vets enjoy the mortgage payments on their vacation homes.

    Jokes aside, I'm glad Artie is going to be ok! I would freak out if I saw a dog pass out in front of me. Who even knew that was a thing!

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    1. Lol, seriously, right? When do I get my name on a wing of the hospital?

      I know! I asked my horse vet if he had ever seen a dog pass out and he had not. So while I guess it's not all that uncommon, I don't think it's particularly normal either.

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  7. Totally justified to eat cookies for dinner. I would have added a side of fries. I’m glad that your dog did not have heart failure.

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  8. Oh man.... what a rollercoaster. Ugh. So glad Artie doesn’t have heart failure tho! But man that’s stressful about work. I’d read headlines and stuff on the sort of impact coronavirus could have on businesses, but I guess I didn’t really think it thru all the way to understand what that really means for everyday companies, employees, and customers. What a nightmare, I seriously hope there’s a reasonable solution in there, and SOON

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    1. Yeah, it's still a nightmare. I don't think the issue is as big as the higher ups made it. And we would have coasted through somewhat easily had they not made a disaster out of it. So instead, everything is already a mess. Sigh. It was so much better when my dad ran this place!

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  9. Ugh - sorry to hear about all the stress! I'm so glad Artie is ok, hopefully the meds work and he is back to his regular self.

    And work stress is extra nasty - it doesn't sound like the virus is letting up any time soon either. And lol on the graphic - we use that one here at work a lot when things go boom.

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    1. Artie is almost back to his old self, thank goodness!

      And yeah, the work stuff is rough. But China should be getting back to shipping within the next two weeks, so hopefully things will smooth out sooner than later.

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  10. ugh glad the pups are going to be okay. But yes stressful beyond!! Eat as many cookies as you want. And this whole corona thing is scary beyond anything. UGH

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    1. I ate all the cookies. And then I bought more and ate those too.

      Honestly, it's not that scary if you weed out the actual facts. Most people will get a cold from it. If your immune system is particularly compromised, you should be scared. Most people will be fine. I think it's really going to turn out to be similar to the flu as far as death rates and what not. Hopefully they get that vaccine worked out quickly so we can at least have some protection from it.

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  11. Sweet boy!

    I have had Delilah choke on me (TWICE!) so I have seen a pug go down, and it's horrifying. (she' just doesn't chew her food, because she's a piggy). I can only imagine what you must have been feeling!

    I am so glad he is ok, even if he did give you a scare! Smooches to him (and P, too!)

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    1. So basically, that's probably how it all started. He must have choked on something (not enough to pass out, but enough to aspirate) and that is likely what caused the pneumonia. They think he passed out just from coughing so hard. Who knew that was a thing?!
      He's like Delilah though, definitely eats too fast and forgets to chew.

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