About The Foster Zoo

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We have decided to blog our adventures again. So much has changed since we last blogged. Bella and Shiloh both went to their forever homes and they are in wonderful families. June Bug got adopted. We quit fostering dogs after those adoptions because Tanker's epilepsy got bad. We quit doing therapy dog work because Tanker's epilepsy got bad. Tanker passed away June 9th, 2013. We adopted a senior border collie named Shania Tankerbelle in his memory. We still have our two cats, Sweet Pea and Little Bit. Wes has started rescuing pitiful bettas from Wal-Mart and we currently have seven. We have a camper. We camp. We have focused on giving our animals the best lives possible. We are The Foster Zoo Crew and we like to have fun.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Just need to write

Writing is my stress relief.  It is therapeutic.  I don't always write to share with the world what I am thinking.  I write to keep track of my own thoughts.  I write to document how I feel.  I write to keep track of our lives.  I enjoy this new blog because it allows me to keep up with everything.  People don't have to read it unless they are interested.  It's not like Facebook where everyone will see it whether they want to or not.  I don't physically write well.  Fine motor skills are challenging for me because of my brain injury.  Sometimes I have a hard time just holding a pencil, much less writing an entire journal entry.  Typing is much easier.

I am really concerned about Wes.  I can't hide it.  I try not to make things look worse than they are.  I try to look on the bright side of things.  I am having a difficult time.  The doctors are worried about him.  Wes goes to Pentagon Flight Medicine.  They have some of the best doctors I have seen in the military.  He currently has three doctors on his case.  They have been seeing him on a daily basis, running tests, and giving fluids.  They still don't know what is wrong with him.  They are worried about him too. 

There are three diagnoses that the doctors are currently looking at.  Lupus (or another similar autoimmune disorder), Lyme Disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  Lupus can cause the joint pain, the nodule on his lung, the extreme fatigue, the butterfly rash on his face, the digestive issues, etc.  The rash that is on his arms, chest, abodmen, and legs is characteristic of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  The high fever is as well.  Wes has had a high fever of 101 degrees or above for four days.  It has been kept down with medication, but when the medication wears off, it spikes again.  Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can cause many of his symptoms as well, so until the labs come back, we don't know what we're dealing with.

Wes started taking doxycycline yesterday.  He has had two doses of it.  Doxycycline is a strong antibiotic that is used to treat Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  He felt a little better last night and his fever subsided.  He woke up this morning without a fever for the first time since Tuesday.  That gave me hope.  It appeared as the rash on his body had cleared up some too.  However, the joint pain has gotten worse.  Wes has a lot of pain in his right hand.  It spread to his left thumb yesterday.  This morning, both right and left hands were fully affected.  His left foot is now affected as well.  He can only bend his ankle in certain positions.  He is unable to open containers or bags with his hands.  This really bothers him.  Just this afternoon as he layed down for another lap, I noticed the rash had gotten worse on his arms.  He now has several red areas on his arms and abdomen.  I was not able to look at his legs because he had pants on.  His legs were covered in it yesterday.  He still has extreme fatigue.

Wes has had a little bit of an appetite.  He ate half of a panini for lunch.  He made coffee himself this morning and drank a cup of it.  I told him I would do everything, but he said he wants to do as much as he can.  Despite the pain in his hands, he made coffee.  It bothers him that he is so tired and that his joints hurt.  He was disappointed when he slept in until 10:00 this morning because he is usually up by 5:30 doing something around the house or studying.  I told him he needed to rest and get better, not worry about the house.  He is having a hard time with that.

Puppies and doggies are doing well.  It is beautiful out today.  I have blinds and the front door open to let in sunshine.  I went out and played with the dogs for a while.  I did a little training with them, but nothing serious.  They dug three new holes.  They are smart little boogers.  They now try to hide from me when they dig.  I found both of them between three trees leg deep in a hole.  They were covered by leaves where I couldn't see them unless I got right up on them.  They had a blast!  I was not mad at them.  Dirt is nothing that can't be cleaned up.  Life is too short to not have a little fun.


This is their new secret hole digging spot:





 This is under the bay window where they normally get in trouble:


You call it getting in trouble.  We call it having fun.



I made them sit and wait.  They listened pretty well.









4 comments:

  1. Oh Lindsay, my heart goes out to you. As hard as this is on Wes, and it has to be horrible for him to endure, you are suffering in a different way. I wish I could help in some way.
    The suddenness of this illness makes it highly suspect to be caused by a tick I would think. Wes was fine before you went to AL and he was fine when you first came home, wasn't he? I am so glad you have the best doctors caring for him. I don't pray much, but I am praying for his diagnosis to take place and for his healing to occur. Much love, Lil

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  2. Hoping for a dx soon so that they can be sure to treat with the appropriate meds....

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  3. Thank you very much.

    Lil-

    The digestive problem, which turned out to be the large bowel obstruction, started about a month or so ago. That was before Alabama. However, it may not be related to this at all. It may have just been a fluke occurance. The butterfly rash started when we lived in Spokane. He was out in the sun a lot because he worked on the flightline. The more sun he was in, the more the butterfly rash showed up on his face. He did not have it before moving to Fairchild. All the other symptoms: joint pain, high fever, rash on his body, started this week. It is a blessing that it all occured with the bowel obstruction, otherwise I don't know we would have ended up at the hospital and I'm not sure his symptoms would have been taken so seriously by the doctors. All of it occuring at once was alarming to them. If it is a tick related illness, the prompt attention by his doctors with starting him on doxycycline will help him not have long term effects from it. From what I understand, the longer the time between onset of symptoms to the start of doxycycline, the worse the prognosis. His doctors started him on it three days after the onset of symptoms. I am discouraged that all of his symptoms have gotten worse, with the exception of his fever, since starting the antibiotic.

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  4. Praying for both of you.

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