Working Through Lyme Literally

Today was a beautiful day! The sun was shining, Thane ate well, and we headed out the door for our first real serious work day since Thane collapsed. Though the first leg of the journey from home to bus had its flaws, from the bus on was mostly really good.

There are some issues to contend with- one being how quickly I got out of shape from not working Thane in harness. Oh my am I ever sore! There are the issues we encounter anytime Thane takes meds to contend with, but overall I would rank this day as a very positive one- one that is giving me hope. Oh there are the aspects that make me feel more like I am working a *green* dog as opposed to a seasoned one, but even the quirky curbs, we worked on perfecting this past spring, were performed in great form today.

I was a bit nervous about taking Thane on such a long errand, but made the decision that if he was not alright that we would just come home and I would return to do it another day solo. Though we needed to take a little rest each direction on the walking leg of the journey and the temperature was warm for Thane, he did really well considering what he has been through. Interestingly, he also has not chewed since we came home either- though I made sure to really wash him down well as soon as I removed his harness. I put his swamp cooler on him right away as well to help him in the cooling down process.

There were some not so great things that took place: one being a second unexpected poop that was still loose right on the cement (whoops). This pretty much tells me the loose additional poops are not Denosyl. We picked up a good supply of ground meat today so I will be able to use it instead of Tripett to see if it plays any role in that side of things. Chances are it's just about the long term antibiotics and in that case it will just become a *slippery elm to the rescue* scenario.

To me, Thane is smelly. I noticed him being horribly smelly when he was on Doxy, but once it was pulled and a bath done it disappeared. It just started up again last week, but not nearly as potent as before. To me, this smell reminds me of yeast, but when he had staph he also smelled like this only much stronger. There's no indication of staph so I am leaning towards the former cause since it's so common in antibiotic use- especially long term use. It's also possible that my bionic nose is at play here again and others may barely smell it, if at all.

This brings us to quite a predicament. Service Dogs need to be clean and not smell. We are only in month one of a minimum four month run of antibiotics. We have no shower until the replacement handheld shower unit arrives, and we have errands to be doing when Thane is up to them. I am brushing him daily which definitely has helped dissipate this odor. The couple times I washed him up with a couple drops of shampoo, it helped initially, but did not last all day. It would help long enough to pull off our errands though, if brushing and wet towel wash downs are not enough.

I am thinking more though about the impact for him systemically. I know how bad systemic yeast can get. I experienced it go out of control with Met and that is the last thing Thane needs. He is taking probiotics daily already, but may up them to twice daily if need be. It's a balancing act for sure as extra probiotics can also lead to loose stools- see the pattern here? shaking my head

But overall, the drug induced issues, harder harness pull at times, and miscellaneous issues associated with Lyme's and/ or its treatment- they are things we can deal with. It's just good to be back in the saddle even if it requires a day by day analysis of well being before the decision is made to embark on a trek out.

A Small Opportunity to Work Amidst a Diet Blunder

Today was going to be a special day. Our first errand since Thane's drug reaction. Though it was to be something simple in our town, it was still a big deal to me. It also had the added benefit of being a beautiful day with temps actually approaching closer to normal than they have been lately.

I planned this outing carefully or so I thought. I wanted him to get a nice walk but there were hiccups along the way. Most of the hiccups had to do with idiot utility companies and their vehicles blocking access- some so bad that I know it was against the law. I knew I did not have what I needed today to fight with them about moving though so I simply found us another route rather than letting one of us get hit in the process- good thing don't ya think smile

This walk was not going as smoothly as previous walks have gone. I started running off a checklist in my head to see if anything had been amiss in supplements and diet but nothing seemed off to me. After a time, I just put on the leader so I was not in this constant battle with Thane. He seemed to settle down enough when I did that so I made the decision to carry on with my plan. It worked out, but it was tougher than I anticipated as the store chose this time to re-arrange EVERYTHING!

Thane did fairly well, but he is really doing this *follow the edge* routine like he does after Capstar (without having been given Capstar).It's something I can work with using our *straight* command every few minutes but I best get used to it since he will be on these meds for months to come. I will admit after working so much without him lately, I felt very much like I was in training with him- forgetting to use commands and other important details.

Coming home, he was getting into this *race you to the door, mom* mentality and lets just say it wasn't gonna happen. smile I gave him a chance to change his way and then took the scenic route home instead of the short cut. Boy was he pissed though he settled down and walked nice the rest of the way. Perhaps the message was received- ya think?

We had been home for about a half hour when it dawned on me just why things were not as smooth as I had anticipated today. I had forgot that the Duck Tripett has fish in it. Whoops! I made a huge mistake, but thankfully I was giving him half and half of that and the beef formula so it could have been worse. When I recalled my blunder I decided to call this a pretty decent outing all things considered.

I'm still waiting on the Denosyl for Thane's liver. We are eating through the Milk Thistle supply more quickly due to this fact. I'm wishing that the vet could have just given it to us from her supply instead of this long wait. I guess its not really that long, but with his re-test just two weeks away, I really wanted to have that in his sytem and working for a time before the testing. Maybe it'll come tomorrow.

Thane has licked a lot less today. This is really good. It makes me think that his licking is more about boredom than anything else. His chewing has come down immensely since the antibiotics and increased dose of probiotics. This is really nice to see. After reading more in the book Healing Lyme (as I scan it), I am finding more and more things out in regards to symptoms he ahs had over the last almost two years. So much just makes sense now.

Depending on how Thane is doing tomorrow, we may take a nice walk before it gets too hot. Walks are good places to see how he is doing when I have made diet blunders- plus its just nice to get out when its nice and appreciate his improvements.

Tomorrow is another day and another step closer in our marathon towards better times.