5C's Que Pasa

This morning was a stressful time for me, at least in my mind.  It was the last big test in my quest for a diagnosis.  I even took 1 mg of Lorazepam to try and calm my nerves.  Last Friday I took 3mg to try and help with my claustrophobia in having to be in the MRI machine for 55 minutes.  I was a tad loopy for a bit once that test was over.

Just as we parked today and walked along the sidewalk an 11 week old teeny tiny miniature dachshund bound out of a car right over our feet and proceeded to scamper down the sidewalk.  I managed to call it back.  Turns out that the puppy had just pooped and peed all over the lovely leather seats 🙂  The fellow only picked up the dog 5 days ago and it was obvious he had no idea how to deal with a puppy.

Sukki ( my spelling ) was so very sweet and relaxed in Colin’s arms.  She is a chocolate color with one tiny white patch on her belly.

The owner was in a dither trying to clean the mess in his car.  He was using a tiny napkin.  Colin handed me the dog ( I dropped my purse and jacket on the sidewalk in a heartbeat ) while he pulled three dog poo bags out of his pocket.  We are always prepared.  Then the owner asked us to look after Sukki while he looked for a garbage can.  None to be found.  So Colin showed him how to double wrap and the tie the bag, lift his truck and stick in the knotted end under the closed trunk so that the stinky stuff hung outside the car.

She was just the sweetest little girl who peppered my nose and face with delicious puppy breath kisses.

Within moments I had fallen in love and I wanted this cutie.  Her toe nails needed clipping and she needed a toy.  Who buys a puppy a huge Kong?  It was obvious the fellow had no idea how to handle a small puppy.  He planned to walk the dog down the sidewalk but had no leash.  How can you not have a leash for your new puppy who needs to get out and do its business?  Shortly after I put Sukki down she did her go in a circle routine and peed.  I explained the signs to him and told him to praise her for doing her thing.  I gave him some other obvious pointers but we had to rush in for my appointment.   Not more then five minutes later he came into the same office with Sukki.  Turns out he was waiting for his step son.  He asked me if I would please hold her.  Duh, of course.  She calmed in my arms and once again gave me lots of puppy love.  He and the step son were way over on the other side of the office doing something when I was called into my appointment.   I had to go find them to return Sukki but I was so very tempted to keep her.  Colin and I both thought that she was very sweet and contemplated getting a puppy for the girls but the time is not right for us.  Maybe in ten years or so.

With my mind filled with puppy cuddles and puppy kisses, I was undressed and prepped for a biopsy.  The freezing hurt a bit but I had Colin’s fingers to squeeze as I listened to him chat about getting a new puppy.  He was distracting me.  Soon it was over.

My doctor ended up doing two biopsy’s.  Now we wait for two weeks for the results.  I have a great team around me, she is specifically asking for the best pathologist to do the tests.

Thanks to a run in with a weiner puppy, my test was much less stressful.  However the freezing is now coming out and it hurts.  Colin had asked her what to do if I had pain, she smiled and said to have some wine.  Now that is my kind of doctor 😳

Going down to 41F tonite.  I am already shivering with the winds coming off the lake.

Sad news about the cherry crop.  We had a huge rain storm last night that may affect the cherry crop.  Fortunately it was followed by wind which helped stop the splitting of the cherries.  Details here.  I feel so bad for these orchardists who have worked so hard and it is almost time to get their fruition from the fruit 🙄  Such a difference in 24 hours.

Had a meeting in Kelowna today, ran a few errands, back home and then to a medical appointment.  Sadly it was a bone density that had been booked long ago but due to my MRI in Vancouver last Friday which used an IV contrast I could not have the test.  I really felt bad for someone who had to wait longer to have the test as I had wasted that appointment time.  Next open time is July 14th.

I thought this was funny, especially about leaving the credit card.  Aveda is a spa in Kelowna.

I wanted to pick up a toy for each of the girls and loved this sign in the pet store.

Caeli is not a toy dog but loved this one ( see the dead pale pink one behind her ) as it has a squeaker but also crinkle paper that she loves.

Of course Carmeh got one also, actually I got 2 toys for her and within 30 minutes all the squeakers were dead.  At thirteen she is acting like a puppy.

At the end of the day I bought myself a treat.

The weather around here is strange.  One day the A/C is on because we are breaking heat records and the next day we have the fireplace on.

We went for a drive yesterday to find some cherries among our local orchards.

Cherries are for sale south of us but ours are another 6 – 8 days away.

But we lucked out and found one cherries for sale sign at the end of the end.  Turns out that they have 2 early producing trees which are a mix of Raynier and Lapin cherries.  A pink outer flesh with a white inside.

These were picked about 4 hours before we came along. More expensive this year at $2.20/LB. We took the larger basket for $10.00. They are already half gone and each bite was luscious.

Colin played a joke on me.  I am the featured pet of the day 🙂

We found Carmeh cuddling her pal Conrad the other day.

We were driving by 4:10AM last Friday. The girls settled in side by side and slept the entire way.

The forecast included rain showers and we had our share but it wasn’t a bad drive into Vancouver.

The fog came and went for a bit but finally receded.

We did not want to be late for my 11AM appointment and being it was Friday rush hour we were concerned. Nice how they have these signs on the highway.  Traffic was perfect, not one accident or delay.  We were extremely fortunate.  We stopped at the rest area in Langley to feed the girls and to use the facilities.  The girls were so good the entire trip, they ate, did their business and were asleep five minutes after we started the final leg of the drive.

I had never seen a sign like this before. All about saving the trees, if you are a high vehicle move to the center lane.  Love this area of the city, old homes and old trees and fabulous flowers.

We got there early, scouted out the medical building and parking, then headed down to False Creek for a walk.  It was very damp and the bitterly cold wind just cut through you.  We didn’t walk for too long.

Colin and I were overwhelmed at the housing density.  In the last 13 years the city has exploded and it was busy way back then when we lived there.  The land were all those apartments you see used to be just be an industrial area and a lot of vacant space.  It was flat and boring. Then Expo 86 was built on the land that the City of Vancouver bought.  Eventually all the pavilions were sold to commercial businesses and moved out of the area.  That is when the landscape began to change.  So glad we don’t live there any longer.

The testing was intense and tiring and expensive.  My choice, as I would rather have a diagnosis now than wait 3 months, give or take, for the free health care tests. Fortunately I could afford private testing, so many can’t.   I was relieved to see some top medical people and to have used state of the art equipment for the two tests I did.  For one of the tests I was using the only machine of this caliber in Canada.  Now we wait for the reports.  Meanwhile I have a few more appointments this coming week and another really yucky test.

The girls stayed in the car while Colin went back and forth to check on them.  I couldn’t believe how good they were the entire trip.  They are always good dogs but they were almost angelic.

We hit rush hour complete with accidents on the way home. We stopped in Chilliwack to feed them and to pick up a fish burger for us.  Thank goodness we were able to use the HOV lane.

We are paying 123.9 per liter here in Kelowna and in the lower mainland it was all over the place. The lowest we saw was 109.9.

Saw this just before we reached Hope.

We got home in the dark about 9:45PM.  A long day indeed.  We were all happy to be home.  I had done a really stupid thing at 3:30AM while getting ready, slammed my hand down on the granite counter top reaching for my watch, guess I was so sleepy that I miss judged the depth.  Another big ouch, I hurt my left ring finger rather badly.  I kept it on ice all the way into Vancouver and home again.  At least I was allowed anti inflammatory meds after the tests.  So between the very sore finger and my burn still giving me pain, I have been a basket case.  My finger was extremely sore yesterday and I could not type hence the delay in this post.  I am so looking forward to a diagnosis in order to get on with things one way or the other.  I will let you know what is happening once I know.  It might even be nothing.  Heck I always tell you everything, don’t I?  Thanks for being there for me.

We went to 4 gas stations today before we found premium gas.  The rest did have regular but were sold out of the premium.  A first for us.  So many articles in the news about it and the why’s of it all.

Happy to have a full tank as we are off at 4AM, that is not a typo 🙄   We and the girls, as we can’t leave them alone, are heading to Vancouver.  I am having some specific tests done there tomorrow.  If we come back tomorrow, we won’t get back till 9PM or so.  Sadly we face rush hour both going and coming back.  It will be a real eye opener for me.  Glad me moved here back in 2003.  We hope to come home but if I am too tired we will find somewhere to spend the night.  It will be a very long day for my chauffeur, Colin.

If you are inclined to send a few positive thoughts my way, I would be grateful.  Sorry, no details at this time.