“Remoted” – Day 222 (Saturday)

Moose had a vet appointment scheduled for his annual checkup and some routine shots, which had been rescheduled a couple times due to my schedule, then the vet office schedule. The loose plan was vet office, maybe visit my sister or Mom, and possibly go hear my brother-in-law’s band at Hollis Hills Farm. 

I'm Winston.
Lately, I pee a lot.

For about ten days now, Winston has been draining entire bowls of water and discharging an impressive volume of pee much more frequently than his normal routine. His ribs have become easy to find, like they were in Tennessee, before he packed on some Yankee weight. The vet office was unable to piggy back an appointment for Winston with Moose's, but our earlier conversation resulted in changing the appointment to Winston instead. I dressed in layers for the day, and packed a dog bowl, water, and treats. Both dog beds were put on the floor in the back seat of the car, which is the best way I’ve found to keep the boys contained while I’m driving. We left the house packed for the day, and had not made it a half-mile before I could smell the familiar fragrance of poo. It was more than dog farts, it was real poo. Because I was driving, the source could not be immediately investigated. It would be an interesting ride.

We arrived in Fitchburg early enough to swing by the cemetery and stop to say “hey” at Mummu’s grave. I noticed a chip in the headstone – the center of a nine is missing in one of the dates. The source of the poo stench was determined to be my left boot. Driving through the cemetery was a trip down memory lane. My friends and I rode our bikes in this cemetery. In junior high I would sometimes cross the street from school with another friend and we would smoke Marlboro cigarettes on the hill before going to our respective homes.  Many years later, I often spent time there taking photos of the beautiful monuments.

We still ended up at the vet’s office early and I was able to complete a Finnish lesson (Kippis! 113 days!). With the COVID-19 protocols, at the appointed time, Winston was delivered to the front door, his collar was traded for an office leash, and he was handed over to the care of a very nice veterinary technician with blond hair, pretty blue eyes and a magenta face covering. His symptoms were reviewed and permission granted to perform urinalysis. I rejoined Moose at the car and he popped out for a potty break which included a big poo in the parking lot. Once it was bagged, no barrel was found to dispose of it, so now, in addition to the poo ground into the rug from my boot, there was a green bag of poo on the floor on the passenger side. Before too many Candy Crush games were completed, there was a call requesting permission for bloodwork.

The next call delivered the news that Winston will now be a member of the Insulin Club, and lengthy discussions about diabetes. He's lost four pounds since his visit in February. Beginning tomorrow morning after his breakfast and every day going forward, he will receive a shot. I managed to not cry. With years of practice holding back tears it is second nature at this point. It was a few more minutes before the office called to say I could some inside for my syringe technique lesson and to retrieve Winnie and his new daily supplies. The practice shot of sterile saline was not as awful as anticipated. 

Thank goodness for
wine and pizza.

The bill for the visit and the supplies was less than feared, but still an unexpected high expense. It had been barely 24 hours since reviewing my checking balance, noticing its healthy state, and wondering if I had forgotten to pay something, which is the usual reaction any time this has happened. Well, it’s not healthy any more, and the normal state of financial nervousness and stress has resumed. This is exactly how my world works. As soon as something good is acknowledged, something else usually comes along to erase it. It was a fabulous 24 hours of being able to breathe and not being conscious of every dime.

After all that, there wasn’t much desire to be around people and have to be sociable, so the pups and I headed back home. They napped like always, and I spent all afternoon mindlessly scrolling Facebook, playing Candy Crush, and eating all the chocolate candies out of a surprise Halloween delivery that recently arrived from work. Tonight, it’s leftover pizza from last week, which is why I always buy a large pizza and freeze most of it. There will be a glass or two of Grenache, maybe three, could be the whole bottle, we’ll see how it goes. Next Saturday, we’ll be back at the vet office for a check on how the Insulin dosage is working.