Day from hell (long post)
Yesterday was the first scary moment of the pregnancy...I was on my way home from work. Meg and I arranged to meet at Pep Boys (she needed an oil change and her tires needed to be checked). I called her on the way and she didn't sound right. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was having a sharp pain. Immediately I started thinking the worst case scenario, but I was trying to stay calm.
I asked her what she had for lunch. When she told me she only ate a bagel, I started thinking that it was the pain that she sometimes gets when she waits too long to eat (amplified by the pregnancy). I told her I had a soft pretzel for her and would see her in a few.
Meg ate the pretzel and the pain decreased. We drove to Meg's parents' house to babysit her niece for the night. There, she ate a slice of pizza, some popcorn, and an organic oreo, but the pain was still there.
She wasn't herself. She looked exhausted and desperately just wanted to sit down.
After we gave Ryleigh a bath I told Meg to go relax on the couch. We watched some house hunters and closed our eyes for a little bit. We left around 9:30 (home by 10) and Meg went right up to bed.
She woke up feeling much better this morning, but extremely gassy from all the food she ate!!! Turns out I was right (sigh of relief!!!) I told Meg that we need to make more of an effort to plan her meals and make sure she's getting enough protein (even if it doesn't sound appetizing)
With Meg back to life, I thought today was going to be a better day. We went to the local farmers market and bought breakfast (and dinner). We sat down to eat our egg sandwich and Meg told me her chest hurt (like palpitations). She's a hot mess! I told her to take a break and so we packed up and headed home.
We only had about 20 minutes before we had to get the dogs ready to go to the vet appointment. Fast forward a little bit...it was the WORST vet appointment in the history of my life.
We usually see a male doctor. He's fantastic and the dogs love him. Naturally, we scheduled an appointment with him. When the office called back a few days letter saying that they had to reschedule unless we wanted to see a different doctor, I agreed to see another doc. BIG MISTAKE.
It was one thing after another. "Your dog (who is healthy, mind you) needs surgery and to be neutered. We need to do a blood test on both dogs or I won't give a prescription for heart worm pills. Oh, and they need this vaccine" (which I found out was optional!).
It was supposed to be easy. It was just a well visit. Here I am flat out telling her that I think she's trying to run up the bill and that I just want them to be checked out and go on my way. BUT, I had to agree to the stupid blood test because I needed the medicine. I tried fighting with her. I really did. I even pulled out the big guns and told her that I know for a fact that one of the treatments for heartworm is the heartworm preventative medicine (thanks Abbey!) but she belittled me and said she was going to note in the chart that I ignored her recommendations.
Ok, so now it's time to give Heineken the shot. (Keep in mind that Heineken, is 11 lbs and has virtually no fat on his body)...He was great (did I mention that it was optional???) but FREAKED out during the "mandatory" blood work. He actually punctured my thumb because he yelped and moved abruptly.
What made it worse, was that the doctor insisted on applying pressure to the area (to help it clot) while Heiny continued to squeal. It was at this point where I rudely stated that we had never done this before. I mean, come on, I would have remembered torturing my dog! She responded by telling me that she wasn't able to draw enough blood. Grr.
Anyhow, we left the room. Meg took the guys outside and I waited to check out. I saw the bill said $164 and I was okay with that, but then all of the sudden, the receptionist told me, "that's going to come to $484!" I almost died..."I'm sorry, what?!"
I started to freak out. I told her I was so disappointed and that I will never bring my dogs back. The office manager calmly asked me to step into her office.
She asked me what happened and I just started to cry. I told her how I felt that the doctor wasn't listening to a damn thing I said and just insisted on running up the bill. She told me that a number of patients have complained about the same type of issues. She then told me not to pay and she would talk it over with the owner. With tears streaming down my face I walked out to meet Meg. The office manager ran out to give me drops for Heineken's ears and told me not to give up on them. She told me I would hear back from her later in the week.
The doctor called on the way home to tell us that Heineken's heart worm test came back negative for heart worm and lyme disease. "That doesn't surprise me," I said. Click (we both hung up).
By the time we got home from the doctors, the dogs were fine. They cuddled up next to Meg while she took a nap. I think I was more traumatized than they were.
Fast forward a few hours...
Meg and I ran out to Target in search of Lotion and oatmeal bath. Her hives are out of control! They are all over her legs, arms, and stomach (I'm going to take a picture tomorrow).
I feel so bad. She's really uncomfortable and there is nothing I can do. She picked out a cooling lotion and I grabbed the oatmeal bath.
We then went to pick up her car (we left it at pep boys) Turns out she had a nail in her rear tire which needed to be plugged and a large hole in the front tire that required a new tire...and you thought I was kidding when I said it was the day from hell!
I told Meg to drive home while I waited for the car. By the time I got back she was dying to put on her lotion. I don't know what made her realize it, but she noticed that the lotion said medicated.
The label said it was steroid free, but when I looked up the active ingredient online it said to consult a doctor if you are pregnant, think that you are pregnant, or are breastfeeding. I freaked out and told Meg she needed to wipe it off! She decided to jump into an oatmeal bath. It seemed to help (temporarily).
We went to my parents' house for dinner and to play a game. It was the highlight of the day. Meg did great. She ate chicken, bread, a roasted potato and some bbq sauce.
As the night went on, she started getting itchy again. I grabbed her an ice pack and that seemed to help. Clearly, it didn't affect her game play. She kicked our ass at Mexican Train dominos! (dad says it's because she has two brains!) lol
Now that I successfully wasted more than 15 minutes of your life, I will leave you with this...tomorrow we will go in search of a different lotion (one without medication). If all else fails, it appears as though calamine lotion is safe to use during pregnancy. Who knew?!?!?
I asked her what she had for lunch. When she told me she only ate a bagel, I started thinking that it was the pain that she sometimes gets when she waits too long to eat (amplified by the pregnancy). I told her I had a soft pretzel for her and would see her in a few.
Meg ate the pretzel and the pain decreased. We drove to Meg's parents' house to babysit her niece for the night. There, she ate a slice of pizza, some popcorn, and an organic oreo, but the pain was still there.
She wasn't herself. She looked exhausted and desperately just wanted to sit down.
After we gave Ryleigh a bath I told Meg to go relax on the couch. We watched some house hunters and closed our eyes for a little bit. We left around 9:30 (home by 10) and Meg went right up to bed.
She woke up feeling much better this morning, but extremely gassy from all the food she ate!!! Turns out I was right (sigh of relief!!!) I told Meg that we need to make more of an effort to plan her meals and make sure she's getting enough protein (even if it doesn't sound appetizing)
With Meg back to life, I thought today was going to be a better day. We went to the local farmers market and bought breakfast (and dinner). We sat down to eat our egg sandwich and Meg told me her chest hurt (like palpitations). She's a hot mess! I told her to take a break and so we packed up and headed home.
We only had about 20 minutes before we had to get the dogs ready to go to the vet appointment. Fast forward a little bit...it was the WORST vet appointment in the history of my life.
We usually see a male doctor. He's fantastic and the dogs love him. Naturally, we scheduled an appointment with him. When the office called back a few days letter saying that they had to reschedule unless we wanted to see a different doctor, I agreed to see another doc. BIG MISTAKE.
It was one thing after another. "Your dog (who is healthy, mind you) needs surgery and to be neutered. We need to do a blood test on both dogs or I won't give a prescription for heart worm pills. Oh, and they need this vaccine" (which I found out was optional!).
It was supposed to be easy. It was just a well visit. Here I am flat out telling her that I think she's trying to run up the bill and that I just want them to be checked out and go on my way. BUT, I had to agree to the stupid blood test because I needed the medicine. I tried fighting with her. I really did. I even pulled out the big guns and told her that I know for a fact that one of the treatments for heartworm is the heartworm preventative medicine (thanks Abbey!) but she belittled me and said she was going to note in the chart that I ignored her recommendations.
Ok, so now it's time to give Heineken the shot. (Keep in mind that Heineken, is 11 lbs and has virtually no fat on his body)...He was great (did I mention that it was optional???) but FREAKED out during the "mandatory" blood work. He actually punctured my thumb because he yelped and moved abruptly.
What made it worse, was that the doctor insisted on applying pressure to the area (to help it clot) while Heiny continued to squeal. It was at this point where I rudely stated that we had never done this before. I mean, come on, I would have remembered torturing my dog! She responded by telling me that she wasn't able to draw enough blood. Grr.
Anyhow, we left the room. Meg took the guys outside and I waited to check out. I saw the bill said $164 and I was okay with that, but then all of the sudden, the receptionist told me, "that's going to come to $484!" I almost died..."I'm sorry, what?!"
I started to freak out. I told her I was so disappointed and that I will never bring my dogs back. The office manager calmly asked me to step into her office.
She asked me what happened and I just started to cry. I told her how I felt that the doctor wasn't listening to a damn thing I said and just insisted on running up the bill. She told me that a number of patients have complained about the same type of issues. She then told me not to pay and she would talk it over with the owner. With tears streaming down my face I walked out to meet Meg. The office manager ran out to give me drops for Heineken's ears and told me not to give up on them. She told me I would hear back from her later in the week.
The doctor called on the way home to tell us that Heineken's heart worm test came back negative for heart worm and lyme disease. "That doesn't surprise me," I said. Click (we both hung up).
By the time we got home from the doctors, the dogs were fine. They cuddled up next to Meg while she took a nap. I think I was more traumatized than they were.
Fast forward a few hours...
Meg and I ran out to Target in search of Lotion and oatmeal bath. Her hives are out of control! They are all over her legs, arms, and stomach (I'm going to take a picture tomorrow).
I feel so bad. She's really uncomfortable and there is nothing I can do. She picked out a cooling lotion and I grabbed the oatmeal bath.
We then went to pick up her car (we left it at pep boys) Turns out she had a nail in her rear tire which needed to be plugged and a large hole in the front tire that required a new tire...and you thought I was kidding when I said it was the day from hell!
I told Meg to drive home while I waited for the car. By the time I got back she was dying to put on her lotion. I don't know what made her realize it, but she noticed that the lotion said medicated.
The label said it was steroid free, but when I looked up the active ingredient online it said to consult a doctor if you are pregnant, think that you are pregnant, or are breastfeeding. I freaked out and told Meg she needed to wipe it off! She decided to jump into an oatmeal bath. It seemed to help (temporarily).
We went to my parents' house for dinner and to play a game. It was the highlight of the day. Meg did great. She ate chicken, bread, a roasted potato and some bbq sauce.
As the night went on, she started getting itchy again. I grabbed her an ice pack and that seemed to help. Clearly, it didn't affect her game play. She kicked our ass at Mexican Train dominos! (dad says it's because she has two brains!) lol
Oh, get this...if you read the post about the kitten under Meg's car and the crazy cat lady that lives next door, then you won't be surprised to learn that crazy carol leaves cat food outside for the strays...When Meg and I pulled up to our house tonight I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It looked too big to be a cat, so I told Meg to just sit tight for a second. Sure enough, out walks an opossum. I wish I had my camera because they are the most disgusting looking creatures. I didn't realize how big they were!!! Sidenote, Meg thinks they look like the creatures from the forest in the Princess Bride. lol
Now that I successfully wasted more than 15 minutes of your life, I will leave you with this...tomorrow we will go in search of a different lotion (one without medication). If all else fails, it appears as though calamine lotion is safe to use during pregnancy. Who knew?!?!?
She can also take benadryl - diphenhydramine. Our dr gave us a huge list of stuff that's safe to take.
ReplyDeleteSorry bout your crudy day! Atleast it's over now and maybe the next one will make up for it!
Natalie and Tommie
True story, but she can't take benadryl every day for the rest of the pregnancy. She won't be able to stand!
ReplyDeleteWe're leaving benadryl as our option on her really bad days...