It's been two weeks since our return from England. And maybe the hardest two weeks of my life. Certainly up there. In some ways it feels really dumb...ignorant...to be talking about this but y'know reality doesn't always give us global perspective. More often it buries us under the mundane and ineffectual. Lest this comes across as vaguebooking on an epic level, if you aren't an instagram follower, I'm talking about Stella. Stella is my dog, a Jack Russell Terrier who has spent every moment of her life right beside me. Almost. And perhaps the most intense relationship I've ever had. Am I making excuses? Maybe. Probably. Doesn't really matter. It is what it is.
Anyway. We literally hadn't been apart for 4 years. Oh. Okay an hour or two here and there but never overnight. Never two days in a row. So to say she was stressed from our 10 day UK trip is not overstating it. I came back to her in full allergy flare and exhibiting all those anxious traits...ear thwapping, paw licking, butt scratching. Couple that with two horrendous thunderstorms (a stressor in their own right) nearly back to back, well she ended up with Canine Vestibular Disease. Again. If you haven't heard of it, I hope you never have to experience it. It sucks. Big time. Think vertigo for dogs...no balance, lurching from place to place whilst not comprehending what's going on. Bad for them. Worse for their people I think.
Talk about feeling helpless. And exhausted. And overwhelmed.
We've gotten some meds which I hope will help. But it's a long game. A month or more for them to fully kick in. Meanwhile the thunderstorms continue (we got meds for that too) and we live one day at a time. One hour at a time. She's slept through my typing this. YAY! She hasn't tried to annihilate her paws. WooHoo!
Small victories. I'll take them.
Also. Our trip to the UK to watch our daughter get married? Still worth it.
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PS I hope to get back in the studio in the days to come.