I had another great goal-tending month in February! In addition to registering for the RWA National Conference, I also averaged nearly 1100 words per day and am waiting to hear back on a partial request from an agent. And somehow I have managed to maintain my three times a week Pilates schedule as well.
More good news--my son's dog is finally responding to treatment for diabetes. After two months, blood sugar as high as 692 (no, that isn't a typo), and two kinds of insulin, yesterday he tested at 491 on 35 units of Novolin twice a day. The vet bumped up the dosage to 40 units twice a day, in hopes that may control his blood sugar levels. At $61 a bottle for insulin, I'm paying almost $200 a month for medication. Then there are the weekly visits to the vet, boxes of syringes, urine test strips, special food, etc.
I have decided to add another goal for March. One of my manuscripts has hovered near completion for several weeks, so this month I want to finish it. That will bring my total to four completed 90,000 word manuscripts!
Time to drag those words out of my mind and put them on paper, so to speak.
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With a Kick!
Showing posts with label diabetic dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetic dog. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Canine Diabetes
The first week of January my vet diagnosed my son's dog with diabetes. Our ten-year-old "puppy" had been drinking over a gallon of water a day. From his annual checkup in late October to his sick visit two months later he went from 78 pounds to 63 pounds. Yeah, that sounds like a lot. To be truthful, it's easy to overlook in a large dog. After a urine glucose test and an in-office blood test, the doctor put him on Vetsulin--the veterinary equivalent of insulin. Normal blood sugar range for a dog is between 80 and 120. Our poor guy came in at 406. So, I began giving twice-a-day 10 units insulin shots and checking his blood sugar level once a day with a urine test strip. Every three days we returned to the vet's office for a blood test of his glucose level. We have since gone up in dosage to 12, 15, 18, 21, and 25 units twice a day, and we've watched his blood sugar go from 406 to 606, 586, 604, 587, 583, and 612. The urine test strips show a consistent 1/2 reading.
Today our puppy spent the day at the vet's having blood drawn every three hours to check his blood sugar. It ranged from 496 to 512, a sign that Vetsulin is not working. We have switched to a human insulin--Novolin. Because this insulin is more concentrated, we are beginning back at 10 units again twice a day.
Canine diabetes is similar to human diabetes in symptoms, treatments, and side affects. Already suffering from cataracts before the diagnosis, they have advanced to the point of completely obscuring his vision in a very short time. At about $2500 per eye for cataract surgery, correcting the problem is not a financially viable option for us. Treating diabetes in animals can be expensive as I am discovering, but how do I put a price on my son's pet?
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With a Kick
Today our puppy spent the day at the vet's having blood drawn every three hours to check his blood sugar. It ranged from 496 to 512, a sign that Vetsulin is not working. We have switched to a human insulin--Novolin. Because this insulin is more concentrated, we are beginning back at 10 units again twice a day.
Canine diabetes is similar to human diabetes in symptoms, treatments, and side affects. Already suffering from cataracts before the diagnosis, they have advanced to the point of completely obscuring his vision in a very short time. At about $2500 per eye for cataract surgery, correcting the problem is not a financially viable option for us. Treating diabetes in animals can be expensive as I am discovering, but how do I put a price on my son's pet?
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With a Kick
Saturday, January 16, 2010
One of Those Days...
Everyone has one of those days (weeks, months, years...) from time to time. Mine started nearly two weeks ago and I'm hoping it ends soon. Luckily, none of the bad things has turned out terrible.
A suspicious mammogram took me to the doctor for a follow-up that came back clear. Phew!
The vet and I are working to treat my dog's recently diagnosed diabetes. Change of food, once a day glucose urine test, twice a day insulin shots, back to the vet every three to four days for a blood glucose test. Hopefully we'll find the optimal insulin dose soon.
Someone scraped their bumper against the side of my daughter's car (no, he/she didn't leave a note). Trying to get repair estimates for a car a hundred miles from the body shop has not been fun. Thank goodness for email and digital cameras! Now we have to work out when to my daughter will be home from college long enough to have the repairs done.
On the brighter side, I finally got my critique group started this week. I'm hoping for some helpful feedback on my contemporary with suspense elements manuscript. This story means a lot to me. Like my son who has Asperger's Syndrome, one of the main characters is an autistic child. I've added a links at the bottom of my blog page for the Autism Society's website and Autism Speaks to learn more.
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...with a Kick
A suspicious mammogram took me to the doctor for a follow-up that came back clear. Phew!
The vet and I are working to treat my dog's recently diagnosed diabetes. Change of food, once a day glucose urine test, twice a day insulin shots, back to the vet every three to four days for a blood glucose test. Hopefully we'll find the optimal insulin dose soon.
Someone scraped their bumper against the side of my daughter's car (no, he/she didn't leave a note). Trying to get repair estimates for a car a hundred miles from the body shop has not been fun. Thank goodness for email and digital cameras! Now we have to work out when to my daughter will be home from college long enough to have the repairs done.
On the brighter side, I finally got my critique group started this week. I'm hoping for some helpful feedback on my contemporary with suspense elements manuscript. This story means a lot to me. Like my son who has Asperger's Syndrome, one of the main characters is an autistic child. I've added a links at the bottom of my blog page for the Autism Society's website and Autism Speaks to learn more.
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...with a Kick
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