browser life

Lots of different stuff on my mind right now. I was already pretty brain fogged and am headed toward feeling overwhelmed. Very little is simple in life.

My primary care doc called me yesterday about the Mayo Clinic referral. They want the records and test results from my Denver rheumatologist plus some other stuff before they will even consider getting me set up, with the earliest available appointment being in January. They also want an ANA and sed rate, blood tests I haven't done in years because they're always negative, so I'll give myself up to the vampires on Tuesday and have the results faxed to Mayo's rheumatology department.

The increased neuropathy is getting aggravating. The right hand and arm are now either numb or burning/tingling nearly all the time. As a result, I am repeatedly dropping, flinging or knocking over things.

The vet called on Wednesday about Chip's hips. The best thing for the pup would be total hip replacement because the success rate for that is 95 percent, but nobody does canine surgery that complicated in South Dakota. Plus, to be perfectly blunt, the cost would be way beyond anything we could pay.

The second best option would be something called FHO, where they actually remove some of the bone. This mainly works on young, small dogs with no arthritis. Chip is nine years old, 50 pounds and seriously arthritic, so we need to think carefully before putting him through such an invasive procedure.

The cost for the FHO surgery could be about one-third as much as a total hip replacement. Most dogs get only one hip done, but Chip has to have both. At the moment, though, Chip is no longer limping, so the vet said we can put it off awhile longer if we need to as long as we can keep him comfortable (Chip, not the vet).

And my father in law just found out this afternoon that he has tumors on his bladder that are likely cancerous. They are doing a biopsy on October 3rd, three days before the family is scheduled to go to Florida to celebrate my husband's grandfather's 90th birthday. The recommended treatment if they find cancer is surgery.

I guess there is some truth to the statement "when it rains, it pours". Anyone got an umbrella?