OKD update for 10/12/07

I called about Okie D this morning. The tech said she tried to suction her out during the night, but her stomach was empty and she's had no vomiting (yay)! She still can't thermo regulate, so pray for that. Don't know yet whether or not they are going to do the endoscopy.

update

Well, I took a cute photo of Okie Doke from our visit tonight to post on the blog, but it didn't save. She was much the same, though very sleepy as it was past her bedtime. As we were leaving they were giving her some pain meds so she could sleep. She is still bleeding in her stomach and hopefully they will go in with the scope tomorrow. Please pray for her as they will have to put her under for it (though the doctor said the risk would be no more than usual).

She let out a big sigh when we were there (though it sounded more like a cell phone buzz because of the tube in her nose), like she does sometimes. It usually signals a mixture of, "I'm glad your here" and "can't we get this over with." It is the kind of sigh she makes on long car trips, etc. The vet tech said she was really cute because when she was attending to Okie Doke she started to roll on her back a bit for stomach petting. If you know OKD, it's a good sign! That's our girl! Keep her in your prayers please :)!

It all started when...

About two days ago OKD started vomiting. We took her in to our regular vet across the street. I guess they see vomiting all the time, so they gave her some subq fluids so she wouldn't dehydrate and some oral medication (I have never understood oral medication for vomiting by the way). Overnight she couldn't keep the meds down, and she wasn't eating or drinking. We took her back in to the clinic the next day. They ran some blood work on her and found that she was terribly dehydrated. They took their sweet time shooting her up with more subq fluids and dextrose (to get her sugar levels up), then sent us to the critical care/emergency clinic in OKC. That is where she has been since yesterday afternoon. When she first arrived, she was a pitiful sight, she couldn't even lift her head to vomit or stand on her own. She was also freezing (she had a temp of 96 and the norm for dogs is around 100), and couldn't thermo regulate on her own. This made me feel like a horrible "dog mom," like I hadn't acted quickly enough, even though we took her in the first day we saw trouble. I guess she went downhill so fast because of her incredibly small size. She was so depleted that she required a 24 IV just to get her well enough for testing. They gave her the IV, 3 medications to stop the vomiting, antibiotics, and pain meds. Of course, all of these had to be alternated because her system is too small to handle them all at once. We have been visiting twice a day (which is rather draining since the clinic is about 40 minutes away), and it seems to lift Okie Doke's spirits each time. This afternoon she was looking much better, and they allowed us to take her outside, which I think gave her a much-needed break. When we got there, we found they had put a little tube in her nose leading to her stomach. They had suctioned her stomach a couple of times, and found what the vet described to be mass amounts of horrible stuff, much of it blood, in her tummy. They have been treating her with something that is rather like a strong version of Pepcid AC to control the bleeding in her stomach, and for the moment it seems to be working. The vet also told me that all of her electrolytes, sugars, etc. were all at good levels now. All of her organs seem to be functioning correctly at this point as well. She is still having trouble thermo regulating, even with her heated cage, IV fluids, and rice sock. And now that the tube is in and her stomach is cleared, she is not longer vomiting as far as I know. So, that's the story to date. Sorry if it made you queasy. David and I are going to go up and see her here in a little bit. Keep praying for her, she is such a sweetie and we love her so much!

Okie Doke

Well, we were all set for another big traveling adventure (this time to the UK), but we are still here in Oklahoma dealing with an adventure of another kind. The littlest member of our family (that would be Okie Doke) became violently ill day before yesterday. She is currently at the critical care hospital in Oklahoma City, and we have been visiting twice a day. She is doing quite a bit better today, and I will post updates and details later. For the moment, here are a few photos from David's camera phone from our visit!

Please keep her in your prayers!

Glad to be home

Things for which I am grateful for and far less picky about as of late:

Beds and sofas
My kitchen
Running water
My dog
My car
AC
Exterminators
Lentil Curry
Harry Potter books
Pavement
Drainage systems
Grass
Cell phones

to name a few.

Really, there's not much that could make me less than content with my environment at the moment. As a matter of fact, the first night we were home, the AC was out (and we are not exactly having cool weather at the moment). I was so glad to be in my bed, sleeping inside, that I didn't realize it was on the fritz until well into the next day! Really, I haven't gotten much to complain about, which is usual and refreshing for one like me who is generally such a whiner.

I have decided the difference between a vacation and an adventure is that a vacation is generally just a good time, and an adventure is a good time, but is also very difficult.

David has had two birthday parties since arriving to the States. One in Houston at P.F.Chang’s, and a small gathering here at the apartment. During his Norman party we discovered David’s freakish limbo abilities. He beat out Aubrey (though with far less style), who is a dancer at OU. And here is the strangest picture I've ever seen:



Though about 3/4 of our pictures from our trip are lost on missing memory cards or trapped in the broken computer, here are a few I have salvaged from the journey:


View of Taxco, advertised as the most romantic city in Mexico!


The lovely church in the Taxco town square.


Church in San Francisco. Bodies upon bodies are buried here because of the cholera epidemic around 1847. There was another cholera epidemic about 20 years ago in many of the villages, Oapan included. When it had passed, a doctor was sent by the government to examine. He concluded there had been a "stomach flu." Cholera is easily treatable.


Oapan lies on the banks of the Balsas River (though not at this particular point).


David with a "wei" cactus (sorry it is sideways-computer troubles).


Storm blowing into Oapan.


Of course, when we it's time to leave, an enormous bus gets stuck in front of us.


This sign in the Oapan clinic should be explanation enough.


Walking to class each day was always as adventure, one that did not usually stray too far from what you might catch on National Geographic. I am told by my classmates that this is the most mild pig picture mating picture of the bunch since Clips apparently captured a pile of four.

A post from this morning

U.S.A., land and of the free and home of high speed wireless internet. We are so excited to return!

We said our tearful goodbyes to our host family early yesterday morning, though not before they loaded us up with semi-perishable Nahuatl food, that which they would normally take when tekipanowah (they work the fields). They gave us some spicy corn digestive biscuits because when you eat them supposedly xtonxixas (you can’t poop), and they were very worried because they were not sure if planes had bathrooms. They half jokingly asked us if they threw the waste off the plane.

We are here in Mexico City for one last day. We planned to go to Xochimilco, but have decided to simply “hang out” and perhaps go to the artisan market and the Templo Mayor, which is near by. Frankly, I am just thrilled to have a shower and sleep inside on a bed. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all of the lifestyle differences, and I don’t think the Nahuatl way is in any way less civilized, but I have preferences based on what I am accustomed to.

I think the most difficult part of our trip (and I’m sure Mark and Laura know what I am talking about) was going from being someone who is educated and well respected at home, to someone who can communicate and partake in daily Nahuatl life at a level somewhere near that six year old. It is definitely a humbling experience.

We will post some pictures when we get home, though after I finish the new Harry Potter book, of course :o!

Pray for a safe trip home!

Cultural Differences

I don’t think I fully understood the cultural differences between us and our host family until this weekend. We have taken Jaunita to Taxco with us. We are having a great time, but I think she is experiencing cultural overload. She didn’t want to buy a swimsuit because she has never seen or been in a pool before. At home, they swim in the river in their clothes. She asked David if there are this many cars everywhere. She is mesmerized by the tiny T.V. in our room with 20 color channels. She has never used a shower or a bathtub, though I tried to teach her this morning it my broken Nahuatl/Spansih. It is just so crazy to me that seemingly every experience I grew up with as “normal” is so foreign to her. For instance, she didn’t grow up getting raisin fingers in the bath tub! Of course, she had her own experiences that I know nothing about. No wonder they laugh at us so much in the village, if we are as out of place there as she is here! This is what I mean when I talk about the difference in moving to another big city in a different culture, and moving to a village. The former is unarguably a huge shock, but living to a village, albeit only for 6 weeks—I don’t even know what to call it!

I will try to post a picture of Taxco later today if I can. It is a really beautiful city.

Home in about a week :)!