Hello!

I would like to lie and say that I've not been posting for a few days because there hasn't been much going on. But, between the dogs and the PH, I've just not wanted to whine.

OK, on the dog front. Things have escalated to the point that when they "fight" Asa has actually been bit hard enough that he bled. We tried and tried and tried to get in touch with our vet. She didn't call back. Rod always ended up having to talk to Carl, "the doggy behavior specialist." Carl was helpful with the initial issue of food aggression, but things had progressed to where his "helpful hints" weren't at all helpful. Finally (after I called the vet's office and threatened to take the dogs somewhere else and finding out that our vet never got the messages because Carl kept intercepting them) we were actually able to talk to our vet. She was very, very helpful. The bottom line is that Haver is NOT being a bully! Yahoo!! It appears that Asa has some kind of anxiety problem and is very afraid of Haver along with some other things. Instead of walking away or being "submissive" he picks a fight with Haver, raising his back hair, curling his tail over his back, growling and making all kinds of weird noises.
This is Asa getting "geared up" when he sees Haver:


Then, this happens:



Asa barks at all kinds of noises we don't hear and things we (including Haver) do not see. Haver has never been mean or aggressive to any people or any other dogs except for Deeoje. But, as our vet pointed out, Deeoje did come into "Haver's territory," a territory that was already tense because of Asa's anxiety. So, we will be changing a few things around here and will be communicating with the vet on a regular basis. She assured us that this is not typical behavior at all and that Asa might actually need some medication for his extreme anxiety.

Just so you don't think it's always havoc and bloodshed around here, here is Asa when Haver isn't around:


And this is how Haver (AKA "Fatboy") thinks he should be getting his meals!



So, things are improving somewhat in the "doggy department." Keep your fingers crossed. I have no problems with giving this crazy little dog drugs, if it's what he needs. After all, "drugs are MY friend!"

Speaking of drugs...
I've been having some chest pain (PH-related) and some muscle and head pain (Flolan side-effects related). Sometimes if I increase my Flolan dose I can get the chest pain to go away, but then the Flolan side-effects increase. I was maxed-out on the pain meds I was already taking, so, I went in to see my PH doctor on Tuesday. He did some tests and checked some records and ruled out that the chest pains were heart related. He decided to switch my pain meds. So, hopefully this will help keep the pain under control. I don't want you to think that this pain is unbearable, it's just draining. It also makes it hard to concentrate. So, I'm not getting squat done around here. I'm not even doing a lot of reading. So, hopefully this new pain medication will kick in and make a difference.

I've also been frustrated with the difficulty of getting out and about. The cold weather is tough (even though my PH doc said that cold weather does not make pulmonary hypertension worse...it just feels like it), making my lungs hurt and tiring me out. But, it's also difficult with the extra weight of the layers of clothes I wear to help keep me warm, the heavier coat and then dragging the oxygen concentrator around. If I go out for one of these parties, or, like on Monday night it was two parties, then I have to bring along extra batteries so I'll have enough power to keep the concentrator working all night. That machine becomes quite heavy. Then if there are any steps, even a few, it becomes very difficult very quickly. I've gotten to the point where I'd really just like to stay home, all of the time. That's just not a very healthy attitude and I need to work through it. Maybe the new pain meds will help. Also, when we get the "boys" settled back down, that extra stress will be gone and that should also help.

So, that's about it. We won't be going to a movie tonight because we have a Med Center holiday party. We have another one tomorrow night. So no movie reviews this weekend. Sorry.

Thanks for letting me "get it all out" and thanks for reading.

Annette