Goodbye, Milo

Goodbye, Milo

 

 September 18, 2010 - January 16, 2025

 

I don't remember everything that happened over the last months of Milo's life or at least not the order everything happened in or exactly what month things really changed.

 

Sometime between mid-summer and early fall (perhaps earlier?), Milo no longer wanted his prescription food. We knew that, considering his age, he probably didn't have much longer to live. A year at most, but I knew that wasn't likely. (I figured spring at the latest.) So, we decided to let him eat whatever he wanted. (And I'm already crying as I type this.) We tried giving him some dry food and he seemed to like that, but he got tired of it after a couple weeks or so. 

 

Then we started giving him canned food and when we figured out what his favorites were (chicken stew, chicken with vegetables and gravy, a couple others) those were the ones I bought him. He really loved it for 2-3 months or more. It was good to see him wolfing it down, even though we knew it wasn't the best for his liver. But we figured it was better than him starving.

 

By late December (maybe?), it was more of a struggle to get him to eat. If I put broken up Club crackers in his food, that helped. He really liked those crackers. We tried other people foods as well, but as time went on, he ate less and less. He was getting really skinny and we knew he didn't have much longer.

 

There were about three or four vet visits in his final month - blood work and so on, appetite stimulants, medications, etc. The appetite stimulants didn't really seem to help.

 

Oh, he also started just walking around the house aimlessly (especially the living room) and it was difficult to get him to settle. Sometimes he'd get stuck at a wall or furniture and I'd have to redirect him. (His sight wasn't great and I think he was having cognitive issues.) He'd sleep briefly and then get up to walk around and around. We could also tell he was probably in pain. We would give him medicine for that, as well as something to help him sleep. Just walking around and around had to be exhausting for him.

 

I had taken him to the vet about a week or less than a week before he died for a pain shot and to have him checked. The vet didn't feel anything in his abdomen, but when it got to where he wasn't eating at all (you could tell he really wanted to eat - he would go up to his bowl, sniff his food, maybe lick it, and then walk away) and it looked like his sides were swelling/sticking out, I brought him back to the vet on January 16th. They did an ultrasound and/or x-ray and saw swelling on or in or near his liver. The vet commented on how fast things had taken a turn for the worse. She also said that he was a tough little dog to have lasted as long as he did with liver failure.

 

I was at home (his appointment was a drop-off) and the vet called me with the bad news and also recommended putting him to sleep. She said we could do it that day (a Thursday) or the next day. After crying, I texted Charlie at work and he said what I was thinking that even though we weren't ready to say goodbye to Milo, we didn't want him to go through another day and night of suffering.

 

Charlie came home from work and then we went to the vet to say goodbye to Milo. Charlie and I both did a lot of crying while we spent some time with Milo. I think it was probably about 45 minutes. He had pain medicine and something to calm him, so he wasn't hurting. When the vet came in to put Milo to sleep, I had to leave. Charlie stayed until Milo was asleep and then came out to the car before Milo took his last breath.

 

Gosh, this is so hard to write. 

 

I cried a lot those first few days after Milo died. Charlie took it much harder.

 

Some time in March or April, the guys who work with Charlie pitched in to buy him a beagle puppy (a boy), but Charlie said he wasn't ready.

 

I sometimes miss having a dog, but I don't really want another one. The barking, having to let them outside to potty multiple times, day and night, regardless of weather, the smell and having to bathe them often, etc. Cats are much easier.

 

I do miss Milo from time to time. Even though he only seemed to love me when Charlie wasn't around. lol Though he did act more excited to see me when I came home from somewhere in about the final year or two of his life and he would often choose to lay by me instead of Charlie when we were sitting on the couch.

 

Poor Milo didn't deserve the suffering he went through in his final weeks. He was so pitiful at the end. It hurt to see him that way. We really tried to get him better and the vet told us that we did a great job taking care of him and loving him.

 

After Milo passed, Charlie chose to have him cremated and his ashes are in a box with his name on it on Charlie's nightstand. The vet also gave us a card and several ink paw prints and paw prints in clay.

 

 

I gave Milo several nicknames over the years. I don't think I'll remember all of them, but these are the ones I do remember:

 

Julio, Meelo, Meatloaf, Meaty Loaf, Julio Mulio Bulio, Punk, Punkers, Punk Dog (btw, our cat Loki is the punk cat), Punker Dunker, Punks, Mr. Stinky, Mr. Dog. I can't remember what other things I called him. I also had a couple songs I made up for him. I do that for all my pets. lol

 

 

Milo loved being a dog. lol He loved barking at the neighbors and people walking by and people riding bikes. He hated the UPS truck. lol Just that one. He didn't seem to mind Amazon or FedEx. lol 

 

His favorite toy was Lamb Chop. We had bought him several over the years. We still have them. Our new kitty Effie loves playing with them - rabbit kicking them especially. He liked some dogs, but really loved cats. His first best friend was our cat Sam. When Sam died (January 2017), we got Loki (March 2017) and he became Milo's new playmate. They were so funny together - nipping, chasing, tackling.

 

Milo would get so excited when Charlie would come home. He had this high-pitched bark that he only did for Charlie. He would also jump up on Charlie a lot and when Charlie would throw one of his toys (usually a Lamb Chop), Milo would run to get it. He didn't do that as much his last couple years. He had arthritis in his hips and was getting too old for that.

 

If Charlie left, Milo would howl for him to come home. He absolutely loved Charlie. If anyone, even me, got too close to Charlie, Milo would growl and bark. He was protective of Charlie. But as I said earlier, he seemed to love me when Charlie wasn't around lol and started showing it even when Charlie was  around in his last couple years.

 

Milo also loved being outside, especially if Charlie was outside, unless it was raining or snowing. He got cold easy, so Charlie would usually make Milo come inside if he was shivering, even if Milo didn't want to come inside.

 

Milo loved going for walks at the park, but he no longer could handle all the walking a few years ago. When it got to where he was lagging behind, we'd have to pick him up and carry him. I'm not sure when the last time was that I brought him to the park. Maybe four or five years ago. I wish I could've brought him one more time, even if I had to carry him.

 

 

Well, this has gotten pretty long. We will always miss him. I'm sure especially Charlie. Milo was his "buddy".

New Kitty, Songs, Death in the Family

I've gotten behind again. I wanted my next entry to be about Milo. I always write an entry all about a pet when they die. But I haven't been able to bring myself to do it this time. I would get to thinking that I need to get that done for Milo, but it's going to be hard - I know I will cry. His last few weeks were so sad and pitiful. Just thinking about it as I'm typing this is putting a lump in my throat. I do need to get that done soon though. I've done it for other pets; I need to do it for Milo, too.

 

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On March 15th, Kelly and I went to Juliet's House's adoption fair at Petsmart on Bridford Parkway. They have an adoption fair every Saturday. Mostly cats, but there are also some puppies. We wanted to adopt a kitten. We had been to the shelter a couple weeks prior, but there were only a few kittens available (in the cages, anyway; they probably keep some in the back until they're ready to be adopted or until other cats and kittens are adopted) and I didn't feel a connection with the few that were available. The one I really liked was already being adopted.

 

So, anyway, we went to the adoption fair at Petsmart. There were lots of cute cats and kittens. But this one I fell in love with as soon as I saw her from a distance. (Her foster mom had named her Petunia.) I let them know that we were interested in her and they said that we could spend time with her in one of the rooms, but that someone else was coming to look at her and one of the other cats (Desiree, I think was her name). "Petunia" was six months old and so cute! Desiree was 8 months old, but much bigger than Petunia. We also spent time with her, but I didn't feel a connection to her and she didn't seem very interested in us. lol But she may have just been nervous.

 

After spending time with both kittens (both are torties), we then waited for the couple who were coming to see Petunia and Desiree to arrive and meet both kitties so that they could decide which one they wanted. I was so nervous. I really wanted Petunia. The lady helping us was rooting for us. lol She could see how much we already loved Petunia.

 

The couple arrived and chose to meet Desiree first. After spending some time with her, they decided to adopt her without spending time with Petunia. I was so happy! (For us being able to adopt Petunia and for Desiree getting adopted.) I immediately filled out the adoption form and after a couple hours of being at Petsmart (much longer than I expected to be there), we got Petunia and brought her home.

 

Kelly and I had come up with a list of names for a new kitten a few weeks before this and Kelly started reading off the girl names on our way home. I don't remember most of the names on the list, but we narrowed it down to Valkyrie and Effie (after Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games). Petunia seemed much more like an Effie to us, so that's what we named her.

 

Effie will be 9 months old this Saturday. She seems little to us for her age (such a sweet, tiny face), but she's healthy and very playful. She loves to play fetch and is so sweet! Loki tolerates her, but she often gets on his nerves. lol The pesky little sister.

 

 

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Lydia took her first steps on March 29th. Just a few at a time for awhile, but she's doing great now and is trying to run. I know I'm biased, but she is so adorable! I love her so much.

 

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Songs purchased for my iPod since the last time I included that in a blog entry:

 

I'm Walking by Donnie McClurkin

When All God's Children Get Together by Minister Keith Pringle and The Pentecostal Community Choir

Victory by Yolanda Adams

Holy by David Jennings and Shara McKee

Famous For by Indiana Bible College

No Other Name by Indiana Bible College

Better by Tye Tribbett

More Than Enough by Gary Oliver

Your Majesty by Steve Lawrence

Revolution by Kirk Franklin & The Family

That Name by Shara McKee

Holy by UPCI Music

Heaven on Earth by Indiana Bible College

Hallelujah to Your Name by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Bless the Lord (Son of Man) by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Still Alive by Kirk Franklin

All Things New by Tye Tribbett

I'll Sing About Jesus by Indiana Bible College

Heaven by Michael English

I'm Not Afraid by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Alive in You by Jesus Culture

The Anthem by Planetshakers

We Are the Free by Indiana Bible College

Take Me There by Chad Erickson

What a Beautiful Name by Indiana Bible College

But God by The Pentecostals of Katy

Send the Rain by William McDowell

Resurrection Day by Indiana Bible College

The Blessing by Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship

Let It Rain by Jesus Culture

Let It Rain by Anthony Evans

Let It Rain by Bishop Paul S. Morton

Excess Love Remix by J.J. Hairston

I Know a Name by Elevation Worship

Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher) by Israel Houghton

Holy Forever & Agnus Dei by The River Worship

Worthy of it All by Cece Winans

John 1 by Indiana Bible College

God's Been Good (The Church Song) by The Pentecostals of Katy

Cry Holy by Salvador

Mighty God by Clint Brown

 

Yes, Let It Rain by three different artists. I couldn't decide which one I liked best. But since getting them, I listen to the version by Jesus Culture most often.

 

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Some time between 11:30 PM, Saturday night, May 31st, and 2:00 AM Sunday morning, June 1st, Sean's father-in-law Doug passed away in his sleep.

 

Sean heard Doug's alarm going off around 3:30 AM, but it kept going. At first, Sean thought Doug overslept (he did that often), but after awhile, Sean went to check on him. He called his name a couple times, then tried to shake him awake. Doug was stiff and cold.

 

Sean called 911 and they told him to do chest compressions until EMS got there. It took them about 15 minutes to get there. (Including police and fire department. Sean said he didn't see an ambulance. He thinks it may have been the coroner's van or something.) Sean said they tried for about 30 seconds and then pronounced him dead.

Doug was 59 years old. Ashley is of course taking it very hard.

 

I can't believe he died that way. And I can't believe my son had to do what he did. He told me that the image of Doug dead and having to do chest compressions on him is always on his mind. He tries to distract himself and get it off his mind, but it's difficult. 

 

The funeral is today at 2:00. 

 

Doug left behind his mother, Fran, a sister, Kim, and his three daughters - Alyssa, Ashley, and Hannah, and five or six grandchildren. (I can't remember if Hannah has two children or three. Alyssa and her husband have two - a girl and an infant son. Ashley and Sean have Lydia.) 

 

I didn't see Doug much over the past couple years, but he seemed nice. I had done some work on his family tree for him. He thought the information I found was pretty cool.  

 

I'm dreading today. I know it's going to be so incredibly difficult for the family.

Brief Update

I don't think I've ever taken this long to post a new blog entry. (Except maybe for the time when my computer quit working.) I just haven't felt like writing. I don't really feel like writing now either, so I'm going to keep this brief. I'll try to write in more detail at a later date. Hopefully in the next week or two.

 

My car: Charlie is still working on it. Slowly. :-/ The major stuff is done, but he keeps re-sanding and repainting parts of it. And he still needs to add some trim pieces.

 

I've bought some clothes since my last entry. I'll probably write about that later. I'm currently trying to find something for Easter.

I got a jury summons, I think for some time in October. I told them that I couldn't because I watch my granddaughter Lydia, but instead of getting out of it, they postponed it to December. (19th, I think.) I didn't know if they'd give me a hard time about it if I told them I still had to watch Lydia, so I didn't try to get out of it again. Thankfully, when I called the night before, they said I wasn't needed. Yay! I despise jury duty.

 

Hurricane Helene hit the NC mountains (as well as SC, TN, VA) in late September after slamming into Florida. The devastation is unbelievable. All these months later and there's still so much destruction up there. :-(

A few weeks before Helene, there was a lot of flooding in and around Southport. 

Ancestry had a DNA update in October. 

 

My results:

 

England & Northwestern Europe 58%

Wales 12%

Cornwall 6%

Denmark 6%

Scotland 6%

Germanic Europe 5%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

Charlie:

England & Northwestern Europe 68%

Scotland 13%

Germanic Europe 11%

Cornwall 2%

Wales 2%

Benin & Togo 1%

Norway 1%

Eastern European Roma 1%

Sardinia 1%

Mom:

Scotland, Scottish Highlands & Northern Isles 44%

England & Northwestern Europe 36%

Wales, northern & western 11%

France 3%

Germanic Europe 3%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

An update on my aunt Wanda's DNA results. When I'd checked her results last March (because her DNA is the only one that shows where our African ancestors came from), it said 2% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples. Now it says 1% Nigeria. The rest of her DNA is England & Northwestern Europe 61%, Wales 15%, Scotland 14%, Ireland 5%, Cornwall 3%, and Iceland 1%.

Milo had a vet appointment on January 9th. We had to have Milo put to sleep on January 16th. That was very hard. I'll post more about that in a post just for him.

We had a few snow days this winter. More than we'd had in awhile.

Friday, December 13th, my car died on my way home. I had just been to the DMV/license plate agency to pay my vehicle tax and my car was sounding awful on the way home, so I pulled into a gas station on the corner of Holden and Vandalia. It was then I noticed it smoking from the front. I turned it off and called Charlie. It wouldn't start anymore after that. It was big ordeal that ended up with Charlie having to run jumper cables from my car battery to another battery in the back floorboard of my car. I think Charlie said it was the alternator or something, which he ordered a new one of and replaced.

Charlie got a raise in December, plus extra money (each month?) to keep his truck maintained since he drives it for work.

Lydia started crawling on December 26th. She started standing some time after that. She's not walking yet.

January 5th was communion at church and Lydia's dedication.

 

 

My aunt Kathy died suddenly Sunday morning, March 2nd. She was one of my dad's sisters. Her funeral was this past Saturday, but I was too sick to go.

And, of course, our 30th anniversary on December 17th, Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, Kelly's birthday, and Charlie's birthday. Lydia's first birthday was yesterday.

 

Again, I'll try to give more details later.

Baby Shower, Milo, Welcome Baby!, African Ancestry

Wednesday, March 6th, we found out that Ashley had a condition called cholestasis. This is uncomfortable for the mother (itching), but can be dangerous for the baby. Cholestasis can cause up to 60% of preterm deliveries, up to 33% of fetal distress, and up to 2% of babies die in the womb. So her doctor decided they would induce her at 37 weeks on March 22nd. They put her on medication to help with the cholestasis. They were also going to do ultrasounds once or twice a week and monitor the baby. Cholestasis usually goes away on its own after the baby is born.

 

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Friday, March 8th was a busy day. Milo had an ultrasound done of his liver, I ordered the cake for the baby shower (strawberry buttercream from Maxie B's), got groceries, bought gifts for Sean/Ashley/Lydia for the baby shower, and made chocolate chip cookies for the shower.

 

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Saturday, March 9th, was the baby shower. I picked up the cake from the bakery about an hour before the shower, brought it to the church, and waited for the shower to start. I had a few people helping me with decorating and food. (Rene, Kaley, Jennifer, and Kristin.) I couldn't have done it all myself. Plus, I'm not a party person, so it's not my area of expertise. They did a great job.

The shower started at 2:00. It was a lovely time of conversation, food (cake was delicious!), and gifts.

 

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Monday, March 11th, Ashley's water broke before dawn. Sean called me after 5:00 AM to tell me. Ashley called her doctor and he or she told her to go to the hospital. Ashley was 1 centimeter dilated. I told Sean it would take all day for the baby to be born. I waited for Charlie to get home from work and then we went to the hospital. We got there shortly before 6:00 PM.

They gave Ashley an epidural when she was about 3-4 centimeters dilated (I think around 4 or 5 PM). By about 6:45 PM, she was 6 centimeters dilated. She was fully dilated around 7:35-7:40 and began pushing shortly after that.

Lydia Jane was born close to 9:30 PM. 6 lbs. 5.9 oz., 20 inches long. She came out sideways and was very blue, but breathing and was crying soon after that.

Because Ashley was 35 weeks pregnant, Lydia had to go to the NICU and is still there. She had a breathing tube until the morning or afternoon after she was born. She also had a feeding tube for the first couple days and then they removed it, but they had to put it back in (through her nose this time; it was in her mouth before) the next day because she wasn't getting enough food from the bottle. She still isn't eating enough (though she has finally started gaining weight), so she still has the feeding tube.

I've been to the hospital a few times to see her and hold her. (I would go every day, if I could.) She is so sweet and so cute! She's so much smaller in person than she looks in pictures. Such a sweet, tiny face. She makes such cute noises, sometimes sticks out her tongue when she stretches (so freaking cute!), and loves to hold Sean's thumb. Right now, it looks like she has Sean's eyes, Ashley's nose, and mostly Sean's face shape, but I think she may have Ashley's jaw.

I love that little girl so much! People have asked me what I want to be called and I told them "grandma" is fine (I don't think I'm the Gigi/Nana/Meme/Nona/whatever type), but whatever she chooses to call me is also fine.

So weird being a grandma. I don't feel old enough to be a grandma. But, at 51, obviously I am. lol

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We got Milo's ultrasound results back this past Monday. Pretty much what they told us when we had an ultrasound done a few years ago. Liver is shrunken and nodular. Probably fibrosis. (I think that's what she said.) He's 13 years old, so we're not going to have a biopsy done. He's still not wanting to eat his hepatic food, but the vet said that the most important thing now is his comfort and quality of life - whatever he wants to eat and continue medications. He acts like his normal self still - loud, playful, happy, crazy, annoying. lol

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A few years ago when my aunt Wanda (my mom's oldest sister; passed away last January) had her DNA done, it showed a small amount of African - south central hunter gatherers (Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Tanzania). Last night, I was doing some things at Ancestry and went to the DNA section and then "matches". Aunt Wanda is my second closest match and I decided to click on her and check her ethnicity. (I had never thought to check hers each time there was an update.) It now says 2% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples for her African ancestry.

So that area of Africa is where the African ancestors that are in my family tree came from. This is on my mom's mom's side of the family. To be more specific, my maternal grandma's mother's mother's mother's side of the family. (My great-grandma Lessie, great-great-grandma Nelie Britt, 3x-grandma Penelope Ivey's ancestors.) It's cool to know a little more specifically where they were from.

Loss, Birthdays, Park, and Sick Milo

On January 21st, my aunt Nelie passed away. She was 90 years old. She was my maternal grandma's youngest sibling and the last surviving of her siblings. My grandma passed away in 2003 at the age of 78. The other siblings were James (1915-1968), Horace (1917-1972), Lester (1919-1994), Pauline (1923-2004), and Ruth (1928-1997).

 

 

Aunt Nelie is the one with the doll. Behind her is her mother Lessie. Beside her is her sister Ruth. Behind Ruth is my grandma/Nelie and Ruth's sister Doris.

Aunt Nelie and her husband Richard.

 

Left to right: James, Nelie, Lester, Grandma (in the back), Pauline, Horace, and Ruth.

I hadn't seen my aunt Nelie in many years, but it was sad to lose the last of my grandma's siblings. That generation of our family is gone and now we can't talk to them about times past and things they lived through and experienced. 

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On February 1st, the baby wasn't moving as much as she normally does, so Ashley went to her doctor. He or she then told Ashley to go to the hospital. Charlie and I arrived at the hospital awhile after they did. We were there for an hour or two while they monitored the baby. Thankfully, all was fine. They said she was probably sitting on/leaning against the umbilical cord and/or playing with it.

After leaving the hospital, we went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. I got the herb crusted chicken. It was delicious.

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My birthday was February 7th. I'm 51 years old now. I was 35 when I started writing in this blog. Hard to believe. For my birthday, I made a chocolate blueberry cake. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (not enough of a sweet blueberry flavor in it), but it was still good.

Charlie gave me money to shop with. I mostly ordered skirts. A few black denim skirts (two Lauren Ralph Lauren, one Land's End), a brown pencil skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), a green, flowy silk skirt (Calvin Klein), a green corduroy skirt (St. John's Bay), white denim skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), and a green Tahari cardigan. (My favorite color is green. :-) Red is a close second.) All for low prices off of eBay and Poshmark.

 

Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 24 years old now. She wanted strawberry pie instead of her usual cookies and cream ice cream cake this year. She doesn't like actual cake, except cheesecake.

 

Charlie's birthday was February 21st. He's now 55 years old. I made him one of his favorite meals - fried pork chops, macaroni and tomatoes, corn, and great northern beans. The cake he wanted this year was lemon cake (instead of yellow with chocolate frosting) - I put buttercream frosting on top.

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I had to renew my license by my birthday this year. Last time I got it renewed, I was able to do it online. This year I had to go to the DMV to renew it. I had to read the top line of some letters and get my picture taken (probably the worst picture that's ever been taken of me in my entire life). I went a day or two before my birthday and was there for about an hour or maybe a little longer. It felt even longer than that. :-/

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On my birthday, Kelly and I went to the dam at Company Mill Preserve and to Hagan-Stone Park. The temperature wasn't bad (about 51 or 52 degrees), but for some reason I was about to freeze. I wished that I had gloves with me, a thicker coat, and had worn boots instead of tennis shoes. I did finally warm up, but it took longer than I thought it would.

 

The gap in the dam wall is to the left of this picture.

Dam wall gap. Kelly took this picture for me while I stood in agony after falling. lol

 

Anyway, we went to the dam at Company Mill first. I took some pictures and short videos and then noticed a small open area in the wall to the left of the dam. I told Kelly I wanted to get up there. We found a stone wall about 3-4 feet tall and decided to climb up. There were gaps that made good footholds. Kelly got up quickly and then I tried to get up. Actually, the getting to the top wasn't hard. But I asked for Kelly's hand and when I got to the top (pretty quickly), I somehow fell and came down hard on a big, sharp, white rock that was stuck in the ground - right below my right knee. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to throw up. It took a couple minutes for the nausea to pass. The place where I hurt my leg quickly bruised and swelled up. It stuck out as far as my knee. I joked that it looked like I had two knees on my right leg.

When we decided that we were ready to move on, I said that I probably couldn't jump back down those 3-4 feet with my leg hurting like it was. So I found a very narrow, overgrown path that lead away from the lake and dam and back to the path. If only I'd seen that path before trying to climb the wall, but it was pretty well hidden.

We then got back in the car (because the walk to the next area we wanted to go to was about 2.5 miles away) and drove over to Hagan-Stone Park a few miles away and made the walk over to that side of Company Mill where the creek is. Such a pretty, peaceful spot. We saw a couple deer take off in the woods when we got to the creek. I didn't try to take a picture since I knew that with all the trees and them moving you probably wouldn't be able to see the deer in the picture.

 

 

 

It's been almost a month and my leg is still bruised and I can't put pressure on it without it hurting.

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About 2-3 weeks ago, we started having a hard time getting Milo to eat. If I added something new to his food (he's supposed to be eating prescription food for his liver - hepatic), like rice or corn, he would get excited about his food and eat most of it. But after 2 or 3 days, he would stop eating it and I'd have to find something else to add to his food. Eventually he was eating almost nothing. He had a regular appointment (yearly check up) on February 21st and I told them about him not eating. He had lost nearly a pound in those couple weeks. Nearly every test (blood, urine, feces) came back normal and his heart sounded good. The only thing that came back not so good was his liver values are elevated more than last year (he has liver disease), but not so much that he's in liver failure or so bad that he would stop eating. So we don't know why he wasn't eating.

Charlie started giving him boiled chicken tenders about a week ago and he's loved that, but I really wish he'd start eating his dog food again. Protein isn't good for his liver.

Last Saturday, he seemed kind of lethargic most of the day and hadn't had much energy in the weeks that he wasn't eating much (naturally), but he's back to full energy now - barking, running, playing.

He's supposed to have an ultrasound done this Friday so they can see his liver.

Milo turned 13 this past September. I think Jack Russell's typically live 12-15 years, so we know he probably doesn't have much time left. I'm praying he'll be with us for at least another year though. I saw my husband's eyes fill with tears a couple times when things were looking really bad for Milo. Not only am I not ready to lose Milo (not that you're ever ready to lose a pet), but I don't want Charlie to lose him. He loves Milo so much. That's his buddy.

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Other than the clothing items I bought with my birthday money, here are purchases I've made since my last blog entry.

Talbot's dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally $149. I paid $45.87 after shipping and tax.

L.L. Bean dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.

Food Search, Birthdays, and Music

January 3rd - Charlie tested positive for covid. He had been sick for a few days or so before taking an at-home test. His oxygen got lower than I would've liked (stayed between 90 and 92 for a few days after testing positive), but of course he wouldn't go to the doctor even though I told him he should. But he wasn't sick very long.

 

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About the third week of January, the prescription food that Milo eats (for his liver) was out of stock almost everywhere. He was getting very low and I looked at every store website I could think of (Royal Canin's, Chewy, Petco, Petsmart, Amazon, etc.) before finding a few bags at the Petsmart in Burlington. (We normally buy his food from the vet, but when I'd called to order his food, they couldn't get it because it was out of stock/on back order.) I ordered it and had to wait for them to get authorization from the vet. They didn't hear back from the vet in time and cancelled the order. So I reordered it the same morning it was cancelled. 

 

I got an email the next day (I think) telling me it was approved/confirmed by the vet. I went to the Petsmart in Burlington the next day (January 25th), but they hadn't heard from Petsmart headquarters about it. Thankfully, I had gone to the vet that day to get a written prescription in case I needed it and had brought it with me. They printed out a Banfield (the vet at Petsmart) prescription card and I was able to buy a bag since they had a few on their shelves. Whew!

So Milo didn't have to miss a day of eating his prescription food. On the 28th, Petsmart contacted me about his prescription being ready for pick-up that I had ordered from them online and Charlie picked it up that day. So Milo had/has two bags.

 

By the way, the people who helped me at the Petsmart in Burlington were helpful. I don't want to come across like they were being difficult. The store manager (James, I think) was very nice. 

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Clothing purchases since early January:

Lauren Ralph Lauren skirt. Bought from someone on eBay. (This is their picture.) I paid $30.95 after shipping and tax.

 

J. Crew shirt dress. Bought from someone on eBay. I paid $44.18 after shipping and tax. (This is someone else's picture.)

 

Lauren Ralph Lauren shirt dress. (I do love a shirt dress.) I bought this from someone on Poshmark. I paid $45.90 after shipping and tax.

 

Blowfish Malibu shoes. Color: cherry smoked. Purchased from Amazon. I paid $38.59 after shipping and tax.

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February 7th was my 50th birthday. Gah, that seems so crazy to me. 5-0! I feel like I should still be 25 or 30.

 

Anyway, Charlie made me a chocolate cake with no frosting. (One of my favorites.) He bought me/I bought myself a couple dresses and a pair of boots.

J. Crew dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (Some of the smaller photos are theirs.) I paid $26.33 after shipping and tax.

 

Banana Republic dress. Blue leopard print. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) I paid $49.05 after shipping and tax.

 

Black Remonte boots. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (These are their photos.) I paid $102.43. They're brand new, still in the box.

My mom gave me money. Sean and Ashley got me a box of cherry cordials from Loco for Coco. I love their cherry cordials.

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Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 23 now. She didn't want cake, so I told her I'd get her whatever kind of dessert she wanted. She considered cheesecake from Cheesecakes by Alex and then she remembered the strawberry cream pie she'd had on Christmas, but we couldn't find it. So she got cookies and cream pie.

 

Charlie and I got her a Squishmallow black bat (Emily), a Squishmallow black cat, a Squishmallow green dragon (Desmund) with two small hearts on its belly, a mushroom tapestry/wall hanging, and the God of War:Ragnarok video game. And maybe something else, but I can't remember.

I don't remember what Sean and Ashley got her. My mom gave her money.

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Music purchased for my iPod since my January 4th blog entry:

I didn't put all of the songs from the "Jesus at the Center" album on my iPod. I put these songs on it -  Rez Power, No Turning Back, Te Amo, More Than Enough, Speechless, It's Not Over, Your Presence is Heaven, and More and More. I had to buy the whole album in order to get some of the songs I wanted since they were only available as "album only" purchases.

 

One of my current favorite songs is Lion. We sang it at church a couple times last month (our singers did an awesome job!) and then I had to have it for my iPod. I listen to it a lot on YouTube as well. It's one of those songs that has to be played loud! :-D

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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