Until recently.

I came down with a kidney infection, that hit me like a ton of bricks. One minute I was sitting here editing photos I took of Borias at the beach, then suddenly I was shivering uncontrollably with chills. I had been drinking the night before, and my kidney was feeling a little tender, so I chalked it up to excess, and went out and got some cranberry tablets the next day. But I had only a brief respite until I felt even worse.

So a friend of mine, who has Leash Your Fitness, Dawn, works at UCSD Thornton in La Jolla, and told me to come there, as I wouldn’t have to wait. So I left Borias at home, thinking I’d only be a few hours, get some antibiotics, and be home. Well, that’s not exactly how it went down. I was given some pain meds, and had to submit to an IV- which I hate, because my veins suck. It took several tries, and a different person had to be called in to finish the job.

Then I got the bad news, I needed to be admitted so I could get fluids and antibiotics.

They wouldn’t let me go home with the IV needle in me, so in order to go get my dog, I had to have it removed, and put back in again somewhere else. Argh. But, had to go get my boy, so at 3 am, he and I went back to the ER, where I was to sleep til morning and a private room was made available. They wouldn’t let me stay with Borias unless it was in a private room. Fine by me. Except they kept bothering me every hour on the hour to “check on me”, so it was hard to rest. I also had to get an CT scan, and get wheeled there on the gurney. That kind of freaks Borias out, not knowing quite how to walk along with it. So the nurse suggested he get on the gurney with me, and lowered it so he could get on. It was SO cute, Borias riding in front of me down the hospital hallways!!

Thankfully some great neighbors bought some kibble to feed Borias, and would feed my cat for me while I was there. They even brought me some photography magazines to read. I was so grateful for this…my whole family was in Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding. So nobody in my family was around to visit or help.

I felt like crap, and with the pain meds I think, got a really bad headache- which ended up lasting the whole time I was there, 3 days! The fluids also made it hard for me to breathe, since they overdid it. Had a big scare where I felt like a fish out of water, not able to take in any air. They gave me a diuretic to ‘fix’ that. Sheesh. The hospital wasn’t very happy about me taking out my own dog, and said I should have an ‘assistant’ do that. Um well, that’s kind of what my dog is for? So I blew them off, and would take Borias downstairs to relieve himself on the grounds.

He did great. Probably got quite bored, laying around in the room all day without much of a walk. But being 9 years old probably helped that a bit. I entertained him at one point with a tiny paper pill cup, which I would toss for him to bring back to me. He knew I felt bad, too, and would come check on me, looking deep into my eyes with his soulful gaze. He’s such a great dog.

So after three days, I felt better, and they decided it was OK to go home. Boy, was Borias happy about that! My cat was sure happy to see us, too. He’s an independent fart, but I know he’s distressed to be alone that long. Sure wish I could get him a buddy for situations like this. I’ll have to work on that…

So, it’s clean living for me. I make sure I feed Borias the healthiest foods, and supplements, and yet I wasn’t taking care of myself. Dumb. No liquor, and a LOT more water for me, and back to a plant-based, whole food diet. A week later, and I’m already feeling a lot better