. . . in the distant, early morning . . .

(photo taken by Chris)

This morning Milton was his normal, energetic, happy, hungry self.

Around 3:30pm Milton went out for a minute (presumably to pee), came back in and laid down.  About 10 minutes later he got up suddenly and zoomed to the bedroom.

After 4:15 I started preparing dinner for Elka and Milton.  Elka came over immediately as normal, and I called Milton: nothing.  I checked the bedrooms and continued to call: nothing.  I opened the back door and called into the yard: Milton came jogging out from the bedroom.

So, he was hiding in the bedroom under the bed.  That’s Elka’s spot, but Milton does not normally venture under the bed.

I give Elka her food and give Milton his tug-a-jug.  He looks at me with a sad expression.  He loves that toy.  So I dump it into a bowl and he eats 2 small bites then lays down.  My super-duper fast-eating food-motivated puppy is not eating. 

Panic.

I call the vet and give a description of what’s going on; she asks for him to come in with the fear is that the zoom was a petit mal seizure.  That he got scared and hid.

Here I was worried about the not eating; I hadn’t even considered the “immediate wake from nap zoom and hide” as a symptom.  I just thought he was being my goofy Milton.  Thanks to Mali I’ve learned to give really in-depth descriptions of recent behavior as even the most minor behavior can be a major indicator of an issue - and that learning paid off for Milton today.  If I had just said, “Milton isn’t eating, should I get him in?” it would have been much harder to identify possible issues.

20 minutes later and we’re at the vet.  He’s lethargic for him, but not terrible.  Then he has a gas problem, so the doc thinks maybe his tummy is hurting: possibly he had a sudden pain and ran and hid from that. 

Two possible diagnosis’ based on his symptoms.  The doc grabs a fecal and has me wait while they process it.  While we’re waiting I hear a pop from Milton and 1 second later he has zoomed to my side for help - he had gas, probably had a tummy spasm, and got scared.

It looks like he may have some bacteria in his stool; so right now we think he did not have a petit mal seizure but instead has a very bad stomach ache.  He’s on Forti Flora and Metronidazole (2-4 hours apart) to help his tummy.  Tomorrow we’ll have a full fecal scan from the lab and will have more of an idea what’s going on.  It still may have been a petit mal seizure, but based on his symptoms and behavior at the vet, we think it’s his tummy.

We’re very, very, very hopeful it’s his tummy.  Seizures can be very difficult and complicated to deal with; tummy troubles are generally easier to get a handle on and clear up.

Anyhow, he seems to be doing great now; we had a 1h 20m walk this evening (well 30 minutes chatting with neighbors) and the dogs are now in the bedroom passed out - which is where I’m heading shortly.  Looking forward to the weekend and very much looking forward to the end of this damn heat wave.

... and really, really, really hoping Milton is ok and seizure-free.

-Lisa, on July 8, 2010 at 9:59 pm .::. Comments and Reactions

I ran today on my treadmill, using my Garmin Forerunner 305 (arrived today) and Footpod. 

First the bad: it was .1 -.2 miles off what the treadmill says.  When you’re running a total of 1.2 miles that’s kinda big.  But I think I can calibrate it and it beats the hell out of my iPhone solution which was .5 off.

Then there’s Garmin Connect.  I’ve read a bunch of negativity on this and I’m not sure why; I’m blown away by it.  It gives an absolute ton of information, graphs, and moving graphs.  It uploaded seamlessly from USB on OSX. 

If it manages to cool down some tonight I’m going to test out the GPS function while I walk the dogs around the neighborhood.

I’m psyched, what a nifty little toy! I mean, fitness device.  So it’s a bit gimmicky, but this ability to compete with myself over time and see my progress is awesome; and I’m betting that the accuracy and tracking that the GPS offers will make me fairly giddy with excitement as well.

By the way: I started running on June 4th.  Today is July 6th.  This is, so far, my longest running fitness routine that I’ve stuck with, and I love it.  I look forward to my run every day; though yesterday I did bike to give myself a break.  The biking helped an absolute ton with giving my legs a rest while getting my heart going.  I ran totally barefoot on the treadmill today and felt wonderful.  Had my fastest mile at 28 minutes as well; then cooled down from there on out.

I rock, yes I do.  Yes indeed.

-Lisa, on July 6, 2010 at 7:27 pm .::. Comments and Reactions

Today I woke up and I simply did not feel like running.  But I did feel like exercising.

So, I did 35 minutes on my bike.  8.1 miles.  It felt great!  I had some foot cramps in my right foot which has been an ongoing issue with my recumbent bike; I need to figure that out.

I did do 10 reps on each arm with a swing yesterday with the Kettlebell.  I haven’t been doing that as much.  As much as I enjoy the kettlebell it’s also a lot harder and keeps me a bit more sore, so I’m taking it really slowly and keeping my workloads low.  I’m happy that I did that first 1500lb workload so that I would know what my current “max” was, though.  It will increase with a slow and steady progression.

Tonight I will likely walk the dogs though they’re being really good considering we’ve stayed in all weekend.  They have a full day of daycare tomorrow, I think.  I have a busy day planned and just need some down-time from my wonders.

Speaking of which, they did amazingly well for the festivities last night.  They got LOTS of hot dogs and even played during the biggest bangs and loudest noises.  I was bursting with pride.

Back on track: So far I’ve been exercising every day; tomorrow I receive my KSO Treks and my Garmin Forerunner 305.  I’m really looking forward to these two items.  Might start finding some light trails to take the pooches on and hike for some fitness instead of just running/biking. Biking today did teach me that I could get a basket and do my grocery shopping on bike rather than by car.  That would be pretty awesome and I do fairly light shopping trips anyway.  I really would love to get a recumbent bike for the great outdoors though, I just find that so much more enjoyable.

Lastly I’m considering investing in one more pair of shoes - VFF Bikila or VFF Speed. Both get awesome reviews, but the Speed seem to get even better reviews as they don’t have in-seems and the like that the Bikilas have.  So far I haven’t raised any blisters with my running as I don’t run too far or over-do it.  But as my distance goes up I’d like to avoid any sort of “rubbing” that might cause blisters.

Still need to fix my diet so I’ll actually lose weight, though…. it’ll happen, and it’ll happen this week, I’m thinking.

-Lisa, on July 5, 2010 at 4:48 pm .::. Comments and Reactions