S*T*R*E*S*S

As you may have guessed from the title, I'm feeling a bit stressed. No, I'm feeling a lot stressed and I'm about to share it with you.

Let's start last week. After not having a seizure since January, Mackey had one. Then six days later she had two more in the same day, about an hour apart. We had hoped that her condition was getting better, but now we think she may be getting worse.

 Since Noah's eye exam last month we've been treating his eyes with two different ointments daily, but I was getting frustrated because they didn't seem to be getting better. They were both still red and in the morning they were goopy.

 We had sent another sample off to the lab for Fudge to see if the 'killer' antibiotic had cured his e-coli infection but we hadn't heard from them yet.

Then on Friday we had yet another thunderstorm. At 1:00 there was a lightning strike and the power went out. Then the real fun started!

The power stayed out for 22 hours. No lights, no air conditioning, no telephone, no internet, no hot food or coffee. For dinner we ate ice cream because it was melting. I sat up until 3AM reading on my Kindle because the dogs wouldn't settle down. We all finally got a couple hours sleep while I worried about the food in the freezer and other things.

Now it's a new week. We have electricity and air conditioning once more.  Mackey has had no more seizures, but Dr B and I did have a conversation about her. She'll probably be starting some medication because her seizures last from 12 to 15 minutes and having two in one day is a big concern.

The news about Fudge did nothing to help my stress level. The culture came back positive again for e-coli. We can't seem to get this infection under control. Dr  B was worried that it might now be a drug resistant strain, so he had the university do another test. Yesterday it came back and there are several drugs that should kill it, so we're trying a strong one for the next two weeks and then we'll test again. Keep those paws crossed because Fudge really needs some help with this. If this drug doesn't work, he may be in serious trouble. The vet says he can live with e-coli, but not for long.

Then there's Noah and his funky eyes. Monday they actually looked better, no pink and no goop. On Tuesday morning he went for a recheck and the news was excellent. The conjunctivitis is gone. We did another dryness test and that was better, too. The number we shoot for is 12. His right eye was up from 10 to 14 and his left eye was up from 4 to 10. Dr B was pleased and said there is no sign of permanent damage and his eyes look comfortable. Noah will need his ointment for the rest of his life, but at least it's still working for him. We think the recent problem was a reaction to a new medication he was taking. I know you're all asking, how do you even know Noah's eyes look bad, we can't even see his eyes.

Well, here's a picture of Noah with his happy, comfortable eyes.

So there you have it folks, my stressful week. I'm still not sleeping well and I feel as if I've been dragged behind a bus, but at least we have light again.