Claire Update # ?*&

(watching the doorway for the vet to come into my exam room on Friday 7/29)

(having trouble staying awake but mom's got my back)

(here she comes--hello, doc!)

(aren't I your favorite patient?)

(relaxing at home--phew! that was taxing! gotta love the shaft of sunlight coming in the bedroom window that just falls on my crate too. yum-my.)

I can't believe it's August already. I had a job that took up the last two and a half weeks, so we've been out of pattern. I think it's been a bit stressful for Claire. She had a bit of a setback where she was yelping once on Friday and once on Saturday. She seemed generally tense again. I've not been able to take her to the vet for acupuncture or laser therapy while I was working, so that didn't help. But we went for both on Friday morning, and it did seem to relax her quite a bit--just not sure how long that effect lasts. She'll go back again tomorrow and we'll re-evaluate once more. The pictures above are from her vet visit Friday.

Claire's had a bumpy two weeks as I had a freelance job, so was gone for the majority of the day. While she's on crate rest, Claire requires close supervision, so the majority of the days she was dropped off at our favorite trainer's house, whom she knows well, and picked up on my way home from work. It's only about ten or fifteen minutes drive each way, and the crate rest was continued there. When we first went to the neurologist, even potholes made Claire shriek with pain. She's not doing that now, but as Claire has a spinal injury, I hate moving her at all. I travel her in a hard-sided crate, but she's so afraid to be left behind she really gets worked up into a state at the mere sight of the carrier. The new environment was exciting, and of course our return home was a big deal too, so it was hard to keep her as calm and quiet as the crate rest necessitates. Thinking practically, I can't stay home from work until Claire is better (I'm single with no other means of support and work in an industry with no vacation time on just a freelance basis), so we're learning to manage.

We also found another resource in our community. There's a dog walking/sitting service staffed entirely by vet techs, which is great for medical cases like ours. They're familiar with a wide variety of issues, and understand the need to follow schedules and instructions to a "T". L.A. Pet Tech is Kathleen Ashe. She gave me updates for each visit, came to my home several times a day, was a calming influence, available short notice ~ I really can't say enough about her.

I did a ton of research over the past few weeks and have added all kinds of links to the sidebar of the blog. Since my lunch period is short, when I found an article that looked relevant or promising from the intro, I bookmarked it by posting the link here, and am able to "read up" now that I have more time. I learned more about the type of laser used at Claire's holistic vet, where she's been getting laser therapy, found a lot of contacts on Facebook over the last few weeks, and have been researching supplements and meds.

Yesterday someone recommended a supplement to me called NZymes. If you use this or have experience with others, please leave a comment on this post!

We've doubled the number of "likes" on Claire's Facebook page in the past few weeks! We welcome the new friends and appreciate the support.

I approached Three Dog Bakery about placing a donation jar for Claire, and was denied, since they're a chain with a national foundation. Unfortunately, the Three Dog Foundation does not give to individuals. I also spoke today to the Zoom Room Hollywood location, and the manager is going to talk to the owner about us.

Some co-workers from my last job are working to set up a comedy fundraiser to benefit Claire's vet costs! The event may even be held at the House of Blues. Their target goal is to raise at least $1,000 which of course will help immensely. I couldn't be more grateful and am just heartened by the support whatever the outcome.

I had a visit from an old friend who lives in Texas but happens to be from Stillwater, OK. Oklahoma State University is at the forefront of treatment for IVDD, and I've been talking to my friend about setting me up as a guest with one of her relatives, if it proves to be best for Claire to fly there for treatment. Since it's a teaching hospital, it may be cheaper even with the cost of a flight, and there's no doubt that they're knowledgable. I still have more research to be done on this plan but it's a real possibility.

I'm sure there's more to report that I'm leaving out. I'll get back to daily updates now that I'm home and will be more thorough.

Fundraising Never Stops!

The first thing on the agenda this morning was to pick up another LA Breakfast Club Foundation application now that I have a nonprofit to back me. Thanks again to The Brittany Foundation! I filled out the app but want to add a photo and a copy of the surgeon's estimate, so it may be next week before that's turned in.

At a BBQ this weekend I offered to dispose of the recycling from the party if my friend would allow me to donate the proceeds to Claire's fund. My car now smells like old, hot beer, but Claire has $15 more towards her surgery!

I initiated the process of grant application with The Pet Fund via phone call as per their rules. I also completed the UAN application online, and submitted an application to Actors and Others for Animals via online form.

My neighbor kindly let me fax off the grant application to the Onyx & Breezy Foundation from her house. It was late in the afternoon, so I'll have to follow up with them in the morning.

I called the Zoom Room Hollywood location, but I haven't managed to hit it when the franchise owner was in. That's still on the follow-up list for now.

I figured out how to add a banner for Big Dog t-shirt company to the blog, so you can now shop to benefit Claire by clicking through from SponsorClaire.blogspot.com! Of course, these are people products, but I'm betting Claire would buddy right up to the Big Dog if she met him, so go right ahead and do so yourself! Please visit the blog and check out the sidebar for some more Claire-friendly shopping.

Chance got his monthly non-anesthetic teeth cleaning this afternoon at Pet Haven in Burbank, but for now I've had to discontinue that for Claire--she's so wiggly I'm afraid there would be further damage to her back. I'm still concerned about dental buildup, especially since Claire has had the root canal in the past. If you have an IVDD pup, how do you groom them, especially nail trimming? Please leave a comment with your suggestions!

I had a union meeting in the evening, and it was once again far too hot to be active in the daytime, so the dogs haven't seen much of me today. I think I'll go for some cuddles before crashing. Gardening to do tomorrow~

Claire's 2nd Acupuncture Treatment and the Zoom Room

Claire doesn't like camera flashes. She does like to be wiggly when getting acupuncture in front of mom, which causes the needles to fall out of her skin, which means they have to be re-secured. Mom hastily snapped a couple pictures before Claire went to the back of the clinic with the vet to get her acupuncture treatment in privacy, where she could sit calmly for the 15 minutes that the needles have to stay in. So these pictures don't show all the needles they use on her at once, but they show the size of the needles in relation to little Claire, and some of what it's like.

I expected our first visit to Dr. Grey to be a bit pricey due to the initial consultation. But I thought after we met and talked, the fee would go down since we'd be quickly in and out with only an acupuncture treatment. So I was surprised today when the fee was over a hundred bucks, and was told that though the receipt was split into office visit & acupuncture, that was simply "how the computer works" and the total was the actual price of acupuncture. Claire is supposed to have another session on Tuesday, but I left without making an appointment as I can't continue to spend this way. I'll have to call Dr. Grey tomorrow to discuss it with her directly and am hoping she can waive a portion of the fee.

I've started pulling back a bit on the pain meds. They seemed to be making Claire constipated, and that was just worsening the situation for her. I'm glad I have the prescriptions filled and at the ready, and if she starts yelping, I can react immediately. Claire's still on restricted rest, meaning I'm keeping her in the bedroom where she can't jump up on anything, and I'm trying not to pick her up. She's obviously not going on walks with Chance and me. She's eating the Dismuzyme pill Dr Grey prescribed a couple days ago, but the Traumeel, which is a dropper to be applied to the gums, isn't working well--Claire doesn't like anything to be squirted at her! I've also left Pedialyte in her crate, as I thought all the pain meds had been sapping her will to drink and leaving her a bit dehydrated.

My day started with receipts, taxes, and more receipts. I'm making progress and should finish up tomorrow, so we can start applying to private foundations for help with Claire's medical costs.

After several more phone calls, we finally figured out what's going on with PayPal & the ChipIn: I erroneously entered Claire's bank account as checking (it's savings), so the verification got rejected. It's corrected now, but we're back at the beginning of the process and have to wait another three or four days for it to go through. Ugh!

This evening to continue networking I contacted Jen's List, a Meetup Chihuahua doggy playgroup on the Westside that we've belonged to for quite a while, and my Compact listserv, which goes out to thousands of people daily. The word is getting out, and we're at 99 people on Facebook! I didn't want to waste raffle prizes when I didn't have a big group to appeal to but I think by next week I can set some of those up!

Thanks to a Facebook friend, I headed this evening to meet with David Essex, the owner at Zoom Room Culver City. Zoom Room offers itself as a space for dog training & canine social club. David kindly placed a collection jar for Claire at Zoom Room and is brainstorming how to help further. I wish Chance was a little bit calmer so he could enjoy agility! The dogs involved clearly loved it, and the handlers looked like they were having fun too.