Tekla and Samson

It has been FOREVER since I have posted anything! Not having a working computer at home is driving me nuts. We had one rigged for awhile but then the screen went out on my old monitor too, and everything is blue. Hopefully Creighton will make it over soon.

We had a really sad weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. Jeff, Evan, and I stayed at my parent's house while the wood floors in Evan's room were being sanded and varnished (which made the whole house reek). For about a month, Tekla, my parent's 12 year old westie/cocker mix (who I grew up with and all of us love to pieces) has had a little bit of a cough. On Sunday, when I went downstairs, it was REALLY bad. She sounded like a vacuum cleaner, and she was having a hard time breathing. I took her in to the emergency room with my mom and she had a lot of tests done. They discovered she has congestive heart failure. Her heart is VERY enlarged, she has a heart murmer, and she has a leaking valve in her heart. She stayed overnight at the hospital. After going to her regular vet the next day, she was put on an antibtiotic because she also had a lot of fluid in her lungs, Lasix (a diuretic my dad also takes), and high blood pressure medicine. They think she has about 6 months to a year if we are lucky. My sister and brothers and I are REALLY sad about the whole thing. She is everybody's baby, and it has been hard to think about.

Meanwhile, Samson, my classroom guniea pig, has been at the vet since last Thursday because he has a mystery illness that is causing his back legs to be paralyzed. He is on an IV, getting pain meds, vitamin C, and other things. I am hoping we don't have to put him to sleep. The kids would be so sad (and so would Mrs. Murphy and I!!) Before you think I am crazy for doing this much treatment for my guinea pig, the vet is donating her services since it is a classroom pet. What a saint of a woman! I cannot reccomed her enough.

What a sad week!!!