Tag Archives: dog

Feeling Jet Lag Without A Time Zone Change (or Back To Home)

Posted on November 21, 2013 | Comments Off on Feeling Jet Lag Without A Time Zone Change (or Back To Home)

After my 24 hour visit home, I was back to my usual routine in LA. But everything felt off.

It was weird that on Thursday night I was sleeping in my own bed (with no visitors), on Friday night I was sleeping in my own bed (with my dad sleeping in the living room on an air mattress), on Saturday night I was sleeping in the guest room at my parents’ house (my old room is now a gym), and on Sunday night I was back to sleeping alone in my own house.

I felt jet lagged like when I was in Hawaii earlier this year. When I woke up on Monday, I was really confused. I couldn’t figure out what day it was or what time I had to be at work (I’m lucky that Monday is a late shift day). And then when I got to work on Monday, my boss wanted to know how my visit with my dad went. So I ended up telling him about Dante and how my dad and I went home.

I tried to be totally normal at work, but just after my lunch break at 4:30, I checked in with my mom. I wanted to know how Dante was, and of course I ended up crying on the phone. I spent some time calming down after the phone call, but my boss and co-workers had noticed that my eyes were red and my mascara was underneath my eyes. While I’m still looking for a new job that is better for me, I’m very grateful that my boss is sympathetic to what’s going on right now and he’s told me if I need any random days off that I can take them off with no question.

I’ve also got the film festival that I’m running coming up this weekend so that’s been keeping me busy (and making the days seem to blend together and not helping with the jet lag feeling).

Today, my parents are taking Dante to the dog oncologist. The appointment is around noon, and I’ve asked them to call me as soon as the appointment is over. We will have a better idea of what the future will be like for Dante then. So while I’ve asked so many times for positive thoughts already for my mom, if you can send some positive thoughts to my dog as well today I’d really appreciate it.

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Default Thumbnail24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family) Default ThumbnailWhat Will Happen In A Week (or Why I’m Excited And Scared To Go Home) Default ThumbnailTaking A Break To Be Sick (or Hitting A Road Bump) Default ThumbnailSo Grateful To Work From Home (or Just Getting Through The Day) Default ThumbnailNot Feeling Like I Belong (or Way Out Of My Comfort Zone) Default ThumbnailJet Setter (or My Weekend Away From LA)

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24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family)

Posted on November 20, 2013 | Comments Off on 24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family)

The original plan for my dad’s weekend in LA was for him to stay until Sunday night. We had a full weekend planned with the concert on Friday, spin class on Saturday, and we were going to check out a couple of museums on Sunday.

But the night before my dad flew down here, he called me with some bad news. My dog, Dante, was diagnosed with a blood vessel cancer and it was pretty advanced. The vet wasn’t sure if Dante would make it that much longer, so my dad wanted to see if I wanted to come home last weekend. After some debating, it was decided that my dad would come down here and then he and I would fly back home on Saturday after spin class and then I would come back to LA on Sunday evening so I could make it to work on Monday.

On Thursday, my dog had a surgery on his leg to remove blood clots (the blood vessels in his leg burst and made his leg very swollen). He wasn’t eating after his surgery and was not really able to walk. When I picked up my dad on Friday, the situation was seeming very grim. Dante still had not had food and he was acting pretty out of it.

But by Friday afternoon, one of our neighbors brought over some wet dog food for Dante to try (my mom couldn’t leave Dante alone to go to the store) and he finally ate something. Later on Friday, my mom emailed me this picture of Dante looking a bit more like his usual self.

photo

He still wasn’t really able to walk too well, but that probably had a lot to do with the giant compression bandage on his leg.

On Saturday, before my dad and I got home, Dante got his big bandage taken off. His incision still has a bunch of stitches (that have to stay in until Thanksgiving), but he was able to walk a lot more. Once my dad and I got home, he was walking a little bit through the house, but since he had just taken a pain pill, he was a little drugged out.

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On Sunday, we took him for a little walk outside in the neighborhood to help stretch his leg and to make sure that he stays strong. We usually take him around this one particular long block near our house, and when we got to that corner, he tried to turn the direction that we usually go. So even though he was still limping and walking funny, I felt better seeing that he wanted to just do what is normal to him.

It was tough to leave Dante on Sunday evening. We really don’t know what the future holds for him. My parents are taking him to a dog oncologist this week and we should have a better idea of what we will do then. And even if the oncologist says that he doesn’t have much longer, that doesn’t mean it’s true. There are miracles out there. One of the dogs that is part of the pet therapy program that my mom runs (and Dante is practically the mascot of) had a form of bone cancer and his owner was told that his dog only had 6 months left. That was over a year ago.

But for now, my family is focused on making Dante as happy as possible and giving him the best quality of life we can (which for now means only wet dog food and people food, no more kibble for him). I’m hoping that I will get to see Dante again when I go home next month, but for now, I’m just grateful that my parents paid for me to go home for one day just so I could be with my dog.

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