December 27th 2008 3:04 am
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Tuesday, November 26th
While waiting for the shuttle, I alerted and wouldn't leave Mom alone until she took some meds. I couldn't get into her purse, so instead, I kept nudging it and pawing at her. We were going to get her third round of Botox.
We managed to catch the shuttle going home without having to wait an hour. It was one of those days where it was glaringly obvious that the next generation needs a swift kick in the butt. The bus was full of junior high and high school kids who have no concept of manners or common courtesy. Instead of doubling up (since each side has 2 seats) so that adults, especially adults with kids, can sit down, they all spread out then yell to one another. They are provided with bus runs between the schools and the housing area. If and when we have a kid, Mom swears it won't be allowed to act like that. She certainly wasn't. Mom decided we needed to get off at the commissary or she was apt to go postal. It was busy, but 100% better than a bus load of “Gimme” generation teens.
We were on the canned goods aisle when someone said, “Hello Scooter, I haven't seen you in awhile.” It was one of the ladies we met at the Air Force Ball. Mom had spoken with her at the end of the evening.
I did a really good job at hugging the aisles and the coolers. She was feeling a bit “off” from taking the meds earlier and totally forgot about my leash. We loaded up a lot of yummy stuff; I heard her mention lamb, liver, and beef heart. Yum!
We have a little cart aisle out by our building. Normally it has about a dozen carts that we can use to carry stuff up to our apartment. It was empty. Now, at that time of day, only one or two should be out. It isn't like you can leave one on a floor and it not be in the way; there is no place to hide on except IN an apartment. Mom had to carry all of our bags; luckily she had opted for the funny little green ones. I was glad nothing was dropped on my head.
Tuesday, December 2nd
The parents had honey ham for Thanksgiving along with sweet potatoes, butter beans, and apple pie. I did snag a taste of each, but lamb was my main meal. I've heard mention of Lima beans sometime this week; have to do something with the leftover ham; especially the stuff close to the bone. I like Lima beans.
Doc said Mom's head may feel heavy because he injected her entire neck. So far, it hasn't. It has just made her neck very, very spastic to the point her shoulders and the area in between hurt.
We had a “scheduled” power outage. That always makes things interesting. Today was a lot of work. Dad use to say Mom had hearing problems because you can speak to her and she will say, “Huh?” and before you can repeat yourself, it “sinks in”. She's had her hearing tested and it is actually fine. She's never really considered it a “processing problem” even though she's been diagnosed aspie. Today, it finally hit home.
We decided to go to DongDaeMun. Blue could use a larger tank and Mom likes to give him enrichment and she's been wanting to put some fish in with him. The ATM on the compound was down and the shuttle bus had just left. We decided to head out the front gate, over the pedestrian walk and had to pick the pace up the last 10 yards to catch the public bus. Mom actually got a seat; I sat between her feet. I was in “Rock Star” mode due to all of the stares. I got off the bus like a pro. (Got to be careful because it is a pain to get to the door while the bus is moving and then you have to be quick.)
It had rained last night, so Mom guided me around the puddles and carried me in the wetter spots. We got to base, got Won, and headed to the subway station.
On the way, we saw a protest on the other side of the street. There was about 30 protesters in this little sectioned off area and about 75 police officers lining the entrance to some government building. Mom took pics.
Mom had started feeling weird while we were on the way there. The subway station was a lot of work. In retrospect, it was the beginning of sensory overload and her trying to work with me as far as riding the escalators didn't help (but I did walk off of a couple by myself). By the time we got off the subway at the puppy district, it was pretty bad. (Yes, they have a puppy district. Store after store, most side-by-side, of Petland type places. If it is small, they probably have it in stock.) There is a supply store that Mom wanted to browse again. They don't sell puppies.
By the time we got to DongDaeMun, Mom was getting antsy. We had to walk past where they've tore down the stadium, so the sidewalk is about a foot wide and people were pushing (in normal Asian fashion). There was lots of noise and banging on the other side of the tin 'fence'. By the time we got past it, her nerves were shot and she was more or less just telling me to 'follow Dad' who was oblivious since he was walking ahead. He went through this food area without a backward glance. It smelled soo good, I couldn't help but to air scent a bit. With all of the noise, no one heard me snuffle. Plus a boy has to do what he has to do when trying to be a guide dog following someone through all of that.
Once we got onto the row of shops on the opposite side of the river as the fish and birds, Dad slowed down. I'm not sure if it was delivery day or if they just get in stuff before noon daily, but it was still pretty busy. Mom needed a drink and I needed a tree. I got my tree on the other side of the river.
Mom's plant place was closed. When Mom and Aunt Sharon had trekked here before, they found this fish store even further out of the way. At the time, Mom was impressed with a couple of their tank set ups and diversity of species; it had a “Mom and Pop” feel. We decided to find the store. We ran into the little black dog that bugged me before. She's had puppies since the last time I saw her. We also had a run-in with a little sweater wearing shaved ankle biter. Mom picked me up and Dad ran interference.
We found the store. The “Mom” was a trip. She showed my Mom the new betas she had just gotten. Crowns are new over here. Dad was content to let the women folk attempt a conversation. Mom asked about Plaquets (the plain-finned true fighting betas that look nothing like what most people are accustomed to seeing). They don't get them, but she asked her son if he knew where to get them. He spoke some English. You could see him wondering why Mom would want them since they are rather plain compared to the Veils and Crowns.
Mom bought some neon tetras and some more plants. At 500 won ( @ 38 cents at the current rate) each, it won't break the bank if Blue eats them. We went back and walked the row. Mom saw a tank she liked, but Dad didn't want to carry it home. (It would be an awesome cray tank. It was at least a 20gallon long. Area is more important than volume.)
The store where Mom bought Blue had some new crays. They were rock lobster size. Mom fell in love and really wanted that bigger tank so she could take the giant blue home. She needs to find out the Latin name; she wants one when we move back home. It was blue, but it had iridescent almost purple shades on its tail. It was big enough to eat.
Mom hit overload saturation and told Dad that we could just get a regular 10 gallon complete set on base. At that point, she just wanted out of the noise. At the time, she didn't know why she was feeling that way and she wasn't going to tell Dad that she really needed to hop a taxi.
Mom was really going on auto-pilot on the way back. The street noise just rubbed her the wrong way so Dad suggested her MP3 player. It helped a lot. She was able to concentrate on reading the subway LED sign to see the stops. I was still doing a lot of guide work going back to the subway and in the stations. Once we got back towards base, and we had wide open sidewalks, it was better.
We went to get the tank and the stock man said someone was complaining about me being in the store. Mom asked who (specifically) complained and he pointed them out. The younger 20-something chick actually approached us and starts with
“It's not fair. I can't have my dog in here.” to Mom.
“He isn't a pet.;he's a Service Dog.” Hello, I'm wearing a bilingual vest announcing it to the world.
“I don't care. I'm going to get a store manager.”
“Why don't you do that. Federal law says he is allowed in here.”
She stomps off. Go Mom.
We finally get home and the lights are still out (but we had running water). Dad washed the new rocks for Mom while she put Blue in a bow, pulled the filter and light, moved the tank out of the way and floated the Tetras in that tank. That water and rocks went into the 10 gallon since it had some sort of good bacteria going. Mom decorated it with the plants and Blue's “house”. He also got a golf ball. Mom had read about using it as enrichment. The goldfish got one as well.
We laid down once the lights came back. Mom was feeling icky and I was tired. I made her get up to feed me. Dad made sure she ate, then we laid back down. We didn't get around to looking through the spare room for my stocking. Dad suggested they each have one as well.
Wednesday, December 3rd
It was a down day for Mom. The sensory overload gave her a headache and the numbness in her face (cheeks) came back. She's also noticed that she's getting the pins and needles fire feeling in her hands, arms, chest, and back if she is late on her one med. She's not a fan of it and going off it in the past was bad. I can tell when some of it is happening. I tend to sniff her more. She's been really nauseas again. She and Dad had this long talk about him taking an active role in telling her when she's letting her headache go too long or when she goes down too fast.
Dad had to take her a couple of weeks ago because she had let things go WAY too long. She was to the point she passed out and hurt to the point she didn't want anyone near her. I stayed home; Dad couldn't handle both of us. Mom had a reaction to another IV nausea med which made things worse. At that point, she told Dad she needed me. He did his best to be her Service Person, but it isn't quite the same. When they finally got home, Dad fixed her some soup. Mom got sick again and I thought she was going to have to go back. She finally slept it off for the most part. I actually went to Dad when I needed to go potty.
December 24th 2008 10:23 am
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Friday, November 14th
Ok, so Mom hasn't been updating my diary (she's been slacking off on typing) because she's felt soo craptastic. She's not sleeping well on the nights Dad works which messes with her headaches. We missed the air show, so no Black Hawk pics. We are determined to make it to the next one.
Mom had her outside Pain Management consult. It was one of those things where she had to leave me at home (which didn't help). She had to be at a building by the base hospital by 8:20 AM (when the bus schedule calls for a 7AM run). A van took her to the appointment. She hates not knowing where she's going (and since she didn't know which outside hospital it was, she couldn't map it out). Mom is weird about knowing where the closest subway station is located; she wants to be able to find her way home in case she decides to bail. The ride into the underground parking garage was like a roller coaster ride.
The specialist glossed over the medical records she took, did some poking and prodding that just about got him punched in the nose, then told her what he “thinks” is wrong. His cure-all consists of injections of the same thing she had an allergic reaction to when the neurologist did them (with the difference that the specialist wants to do them in between her C2 and 3 vs the occipital area). If he had bothered to READ her records he would have seen that. She tells him she's allergic. He wants to put her back on meds she's already tried (extensively). Again, if he would have bothered to read. She points that out. He says he has nothing to offer her after he tells her that her allergic reaction to both the steroid component of the injections and the NSAIDs isn't “life threatening”. Maybe not, but it isn't worth the pain of feeling like someone has beat you within an inch of your life and it isn't worth the hives or difficulty breathing either. Mom was like, “See ya.”
So, Mom was having an anxiety attack on the way back to base because she's tired of hurting and the crazy Asian driver wasn't helping. She's not depressed, just mentally and physically tired. She's equated it to making an eraser burn then keep on rubbing it, and rubbing it, and rubbing it. Pretty soon you just want it to stop hurting.
Mom sent Bretta back to the US. She got to the point that she didn't want anything else on her “plate”. So, Bretta is living with a friend who is into Schutzhund and is going to sessions with my old trainer. She will either eventually go help someone else or David will keep her, unless Mom decides she wants her back when we move home.
Dad has been getting us out to the movies. It is good for Mom and anything that makes her laugh works for me.
We've been back to DongDaeMun. The weather was nice; one of those days that wasn't too hot nor too cold. Nice enough that we could walk up the long sweeping low rise to the closest subway station without breaking a sweat. The sidewalk is nice and wide. I was ready for the challenge; it had been awhile since I had rode the subway. We had to change lines once and I was really good about laying parallel to the seat out of the way. People were smiling at me. There was some pointing and talking. Dad said it was the usual; small SDs aren't the norm.
We went down towards the fish and bird row. There are a couple of stores that Mom likes to shop. She can “haggle” even though she doesn't speak the language and they have sold her healthy fish and plants. The one store is off the main drag so we hit it first. Mom was looking through some live plants when a little dog came running at us. Dad and the lady who runs the place blocked so Mom could pick me up. Better to be safe than sorry. Telling it to “Git” in English was useless; it understood the Korean equivalent. Mom was having a hard time getting up really quick (bad knee) so it was good practice for my “Behind” command. Mom is considering a walking stick (to ward off dogs that are bigger or aren't easily scared off) but has to check out the local laws.
Mom got some more peace lilies and some short grass. Then we headed over to the other place. He has the healthiest crays of the two or three places that sell them; he's also got good prices on his tanks and lights. We got another 2.5 gallon rectangular tank and light. The goldfish need more area vs the tank they had. Blue climbed out and went AWOL, so Blue IV was chosen. (Remember, Blue I & II were bought together. They got into a fight and both died.) He had some bigger ones, so IV is huge. Mom was hoping that the saw grass type stuff she got would be impossible for him to climb. III climbed up a lily.
Mom's doctor appointment last week was funny. I broke a down/stay in the waiting area to greet the Korean nurse that always fawns over me (the one who wants kisses). I did stay on my mat, but I play postured at her and wagged my tail soo hard my butt was wiggling. She didn't take Mom's vitals; a different nurse got the job. She was full of questions; she had seen me greet my friend and couldn't get over how reserved I was with everyone else. I also took the opportunity to “speak” to the doc half way through the appointment.
I told Mom to pick me up. I laid down in her lap while they talked. Doc starts with calling me “Lassie”, so I showed him. I started “talking” (various vocal sounds, but never louder than a conversational tone; I don't yell indoors). He decides to play along and asks “Has Mom been sick?” I nod and start telling him all about it. “Where is she hurting?” I stand up and touch her head and keep talking. His eyes got big. Then I leaned forward towards him and gave him a piece of my mind before laying back down and giving him one of my looks. He asked if I was always that “articulate”. “Yep.” He's now a believer in my communication skills.
We made it to see Madagascar II. Mom figured I'd watch it with them since I like the first one. The penguins need their own feature. We were going to go see Quantum of Solace, but Dad wasn't feeling well. Mom thinks it is a sinus infection. We'll catch it later.
It has gotten too cold to go tracking so we've been working on off-leash heeling. She started by letting me loose in the elevator and then down the hall to our place. From there, it was from right before we got on the elevator to come upstairs, progressing further out to where now I come off lead on the breezeway. Some days Mom tells me to take the ramp, others the stairs. I have to wait until she tells me I can enter and exit the elevator (she holds the doors open). We have even done the 4 flights of stairs. With the number of kids in the building, there are tons of distractions. I've always been good about heeling if Mom drops my leash, but completely off-lead has always been taboo due to location and being a Beagle.
December 24th 2008 10:22 am
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Sunday, September 21st
Wasted Day. Dad 's sinuses are bugging him and Mom is going to have a really bad migraine. She's fighting it. We laid around and recouped. Mom did try to upload pictures before her head went to the depths of despair.
Monday, September 22nd
Mom was soo sick that she forgot it was Dad's birthday. She could barely get up to take me out. We snuggled. Mom went through all of the ice packs systematically; nothing helped. It finally started to ease off around 3PM leaving Mom feeling drained. She and Dad discussed the Neuro giving up and Mom's real options when it comes to the Korean idea of a pain management clinic. Mom has some , concerns with the language barrier reining as number one. The biggest concern is over what this backwoods country calls palliative care when the most she's ever seen is them treating Motrin like heroin. And very concerned that Biofeedback is going to be a large part of it. Mom has another massage appointment. Hopefully, it continues to work.
Tuesday, September 23rd.
Mom left me at home to go to her massage appointment. She came home, fed me early, then we went out to catch the base shuttle and hit the movies (without Dad). It wasn't crowded. Mom let me lay in her lap which was cool. I could see the screen and keep Mom awake; “Get Smart” wasn't that great. Dad had texted Mom that he was on his way back to base, so she called him and we headed to the Dragon to meet him. When we got there, he was standing with Casey and a bunch from work. They have the bus drop them there since the always miss the last bus.
When we got home, I curled up between them on the couch and started talking. Mom is always trying to get me to say, “I love you” and “Momma”. She has learned my secret weakness, freeze dried liver. I didn't break, but I did meow like a cat.
Wednesday September 24th
Mom and I slept in. We didn't really make plans, but we definitely needed to go to the Post Office. We caught the shuttle over and went to the PX. I had an embarrassing moment. All of the liver made me a little loose and I got a little on my butt. Mom pulled out the baby wipes and wiped my butt in public. We headed to the mail room. Dad was with, so we waited in the cab. We had a notice for a package that the other mail room. A short ride over, and Mom and I went to get it while Dad waited in the taxi. We had a bunch of boxes. Dad was acting like a little kid because his PS3 arrived. Mom and I walked over to the mini-commissary while Dad did a happy dance over his new toy.
Wednesday November 1st
Mom put me in my sling to carry me out of the building because they were waxing the floor. She didn't count on having to get off the elevator at the 2nd floor then carry me down a flight of stairs and step carefully to get out of the stupid building. Mom had a neurology appointment. We had a bit of a wait because the doc had an emergency. I was in the mood to anticipate every little move or thing Mom was going to do. That meant Mom had to stay on my butt, but not in a bad way; just that I acted spring loaded. Mom thinks the cool (but not cold) weather may play into it.
We were going to hit the aquarium earlier this week, but Dad didn't feel up to it. Mom wants to take me to the Osan Air Show in a couple of weeks, Dad won't get to go due to work. I'm still not completely down with his schedule. We don't get to spend much time with him during his actual “work week”; he's either gone or sleeping. He does understand my need to greet him when he comes home. He picks me up and lets me talk to him as soon as he walks into the door. I literally jump into his arms.
Today is Lola's birthday. She turned 11 today. I miss her a lot.
Thursday, November 2nd.
Mom needed some stuff from the PX, Dad needed a haircut, and we all needed to go check the mail. We hit the PX first. Mom and I went back to get something and she decided to test me. Silly Woman. She asked me to “Find Daddy”. When I found him, I started talking. Mom thought I was about to bay which would be bad. I held it in, but I did have to tell him that she sent me to find him.
We hit the food court for lunch. Mom and I went through the line and ordered the sandwiches while Dad arranged our stuff in his backpack at the table. Afterwards, he went into the barber shop for a haircut while we ran into the 4-Seasons since it is in the same building. When we were done, we went into the B-shop to wait on Dad. The waiting area is in the middle of the room. I was standing with a foot on Mom's chair so I could check her out when this grumpy old man comes in. I popped down and moved under Mom's legs (to be out of the way). He tries to pet me as he walks by. Mom isn't big on people messing with me and certainly not when someone invades her personal space. Her “Please, don't pet him; he's working.” gets Mom told she has a “bad attitude”. I guess she's supposed to let random old grumpy men pet me while I'm trying to do my job.
So, I pop up to finish checking Mom out, then give her a kiss on the cheek and the “All Clear” sign then put my feet on the ground and got back under the chair. The old guys just glares and says it doesn't look like I'm working. Dad comes long about that time and scrtiches me on top of the head (which really pissed the old man off) and calls me “Little Man”.
The bus ride to base was tedious. The brat sitting in the seat in front of me kept slamming himself back into the seat. The seat was shaking. Mom laid my seat back as far as she could. The brat was noisy too. The wait for a taxi was worse. Another demon spawn with a parent too busy smoking a cigarette to be bothered to parent their child. Darwin will claim that one if it's mother lets it stand up in an umbrella stroller very often.
We did get one of the better taxi drivers. He kept Mom laughing. Dad had to take a nap since he's doing midnights. I did sneak in and to wake him up. Mom and I headed to the mini-commissary while Dad was in the shower. His new thing is to tell me I'm in charge while he's gone; well, DUH!
Mom gave me some yummy beef for supper. Then we curled up in the big bed and watched NCIS on dvd most of the night.
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