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Friday, July 20, 2012

B, Summer, Sparky, and Bike Fund

     Okay, wow it's been busy lately. I've been walking eight miles a day just to get B to her summer program, not including walking the dogs. I have to walk them separately, because the walks have been too long and too hot for Sparky. I've cut B back to just two days a week because it was too much for her as well. She became physical with me on Wednesday, which indicates stress. Her neurologist told me to keep her stress low to avoid seizures, but also, I have to choose my battles. A summer program was supposed to be something fun, not a chore for her.
     I also am not crazy about the woman running the program. I told her that B only manifested the behaviour issues last year, and she gave B a chastising look and asked her why she would do that. I was very taken aback. I told her to stop that and that B may have manifested bi-polar symptoms from meds, at least, that is what B's psychiatrist thinks. The woman said that it wasn't bi-polar, she knows bi-polar, and that the problem with doctors is that they think they're god. I was not impressed. She runs a summer program. I'm sure she has an expertise in that, but I can't imagine what kind of arrogance it takes, after only knowing people a couple of weeks, to completely dismiss their history, the opinion of the specialists that work with them, and substitute your own diagnosis without even being asked. I *like* B's psyche and counsellor, I have found them to be very conservative in their treatment and assessment, and they follow my lead on everything.
     I told her that I'm an atheist, I don't think anyone is god, and I'll thank her very much not to dismiss all the work we've done. This led into a discussion that her belief system makes her an optimist, and that miracles happen all the time, so B's brain injury could just, I don't know, spontaneously heal or something. Just like all those people that have regenerated missing limbs.
     It has been awhile since I've encountered this attitude so blantantly. But the importance of the program is for B to get out and do stuff and hang out with the kids in the program, so I haven't pulled B out. I will be looking for a different program next summer.
     We had a bit of a scare two weeks ago when we thought we might have to put Sparky down. He stopped pooping and was in obvious discomfort. I love that dog. We did everything to get him to poop, I even gave him two enemas. Seriously, I have never thought I would do that, but I did. We gave him laxatives, and olive oil, too. A visit to the vet, which was so stressful for him, he hates vets, revealed a mass under his spine. There's nothing to do about that, he's 14 years old. Even *if* he survived surgery, he'd never heal properly. But he finally had a poop on the day we had were going to take him in, and I almost did a happy dance of poop on the street. I'm sure he felt the same way. So we get some more time with him.
     And, on to the bike fund. I have to say, that I was really surprised at the response, and I am overwhelmed by people's generosity. As of today, there's almost $800 in the Paypal account, with more people planning to contribute. We discovered that if we have the bike shipped to Seattle instead of here, we can save $450, meaning the bike will cost about $1600, so it is firmly within our reach now. But I want to say a very sincere thank you to my friends and their friends for helping out, and a special thank you to Dot at Busted Button, who auctioned of a painting for B. That was unexpected and truly kind. Thank you.

1 comment:

  1. How you manage not to punch people like that lady square in the face is amazing to me. (((HUGS)))

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