Be aware: May is MS awareness month

...so I may post fundraising links and whatnot.

I have no set idea of anything to talk about, so let's see what kind of rambling mess comes out, shall we?

First off, regular life business…(aka, Dog Ramblings)
Abigail has been cleared for more exercise! Swims! Walks! Let's hope it puts an end to the growing reactivity to every bump and whisper. Lately she's been barking at every opportunity. I've seen a little bit of progress this past week and hope for more in the weeks to come. I feel bad for her - she hardly sees anyone but us and come on - we're just plain boring. She did have little visits from a few friends popping by lately, so maybe that increase in exposure has been part of the increasingly good outcome. That and the new Freedom harness. We can't collar walk her yet, for fear of her lunging (see aforementioned reactivity) and neither of us has ever loved her EZ walk harness, so we bought the Freedom harness and it's fantastic! It doesn't change her stride or fit around her legs weirdly - it's just a great little body harness that she seems to like and feel much more comfortable in than the last one. 

Tangents, yes. I know. I ramble. You were warned. The surgeon said Abbey's leg has healed about 95% which puts her a little ahead of the game. The other yellow lab who had the same procedure the same day was also there for a follow-up exam and the surgeon said his leg is about 65-70% healed and that was fairly normal. Shocker - super dog makes impressive strides. Her weight is down slightly from our last vet visit during which we learned she had gained over 4 lbs in the 3 months of reduced activity, so it's nice to know the lower cal food is helping balance the lower amount of exercise. We can start building up her exercise again now (adding another 5 minutes every 3-4 days). At 12 weeks, everything should be back to normal and we can try some off leash walking and start introducing her to doggy friends again. This is only the 7 week mark, so we're being conservative and using a long lead on her waaaay before we let her off leash.

Are your eyes glazing over yet? I'm almost done with the dog talk…
So, as soon as we got home, we grabbed the long lead (30') and took Abbey for a little swim - her first in months. She was beyond excited. Grabbed her toy, ran into the water, ran out…forgot the point of fetch altogether, but we just let her do her thing to get the sillies out. Sidenote: people, if you're going for a little campfire next to a gorgeous lake, haul out your glass bottles. Tossing them into the fire and leaving the broken mess means people like me and many of my friends have to worry about our dogs stepping on it. 

Moving on...
Nance and I headed to the Fredericton market this morning to support Ange's new business. It was a chilly, wet day in Freddy, but worth the trip. We bought some delicious raw treats and a few muffins chatted with Ange and Greg some, and then wandered the city a bit. We had an hour or so to kill before picking up race kits for friends running the half marathon tomorrow, so we twacked. Had fabulous coffee. Walked the dog with her new sidekick, Sherman the sheep, of course. BTW, Fredericton marathon folk - your set-up left a lot to be desired - it was overcrowded, there was little direction, there was nearly a complete lack of signage for anyone not living in the city, it was terribly loud and far too warm in the main room - all in all, very surprising. I love race environments and the Blue Nose and PEI have spoiled me on what to expect, I guess. After pick-up, we headed on over to the poutine restaurant. We were both intrigued. I'm all for healthy eating, but now and then you have to try out something different and it's not often you find vegetarian poutine. So, I got a veggie traditional. Delicious for the first few bites, but I get near instant lead belly from fries and any type of gravy, so the joy was short lived. If you don't feel like you've swallowed an anvil when you've eaten fries, and you like poutine, I'd definitely recommend going there! Lots of options. 

The race environment took a toll on my head and I thought the grease might help fix it (waaay wrong), so I pretty much slept or tried my damnedest to sleep on the drive home. I started the day feeling groggy and struggling a smidge for proper word retrieval, a sure sign that I'm tired, so I'm not surprised that adding a lot of heat and noise created just the right blend for a migraine recipe.

Once I got home, I sought out my good friend Advil and settled in for a much needed nap.

Post-nap, I woke with one purrsome little guy tucked under my arm. I love this cat. He is one of the sweetest beings I've ever met. If you have followed the saga of Nik and Rings, you know that this was not always my spin on him. He used to attack me at every opportunity - territorial little bastard. But I adore him. Waking to find that he has snuck under an arm or behind a knee warms me - literally and figuratively.

Where was I? Oh, right. I woke from my nap and after I had a murmuring discussion with Ringo, I put my glasses on. Step one in the Get TF Up process. I blinked at the Roman blind in the window and noticed that the pattern was all blurry in my right lens. Between my own fingerprints and Abbey's dog licks I am forever cleaning these things, so I took them off, wiped the lens down, and put them back on to find…no difference. 

fawk. 

So, I am writing this with migraine-induced optic neuritis (gee, welcome back) in my right eye. The left is totally fine. The right is not. It's like manually focusing a camera lens. I look at something and I can sense the eye "dialling in" to become sharper. It is a completely bizarre sensation. I feel a little like the Terminator. 

Anyway, I'll consult the doc if it doesn't take care of itself in a week or two. There's nothing to do but wait or take steroids anyway, and I'm not big on anything that could potentially affect my bone density, so we'll see what time brings. At least it's only in one eye and the acuity is there after that initial readjustment. Bummed that the ON is back at all, but in the words of Pema Chodron, "It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens." 

It's the wee hours of the morning now, so I'm off to give yellow dog a neck snuggle (I love the feel of her ruff) and am off to bed.

I hope this May month brings you all much peace and good health.