The Healing Abilities of Doggy Daycare

Nothing beats seeing a bunch of cute dogs together. Our 2 year old beagle/border collie mix Luna goes to doggy daycare twice a week. She's very hyper so it allows her to release some of her energy and socialize with other dogs and be part of a pack. The past few days I've been having a very hard time, horrible dumping episodes with my sugar going down to 30 this morning. I was lucky that I was scheduled for hydration to help me out. My mom came home a little earlier than normal and asked if I wanted to go out to help pick Luna up from daycare. I was a bit nervous since it would be the first time going out while having my port accessed, but my mom thought it would be a good idea to get some fresh air. We arrived at doggy daycare and I was tickled to see our Luna who was so excited to see her humans and she ran over to give us kisses. Her pack came over and also gave us some kisses through the gate (except for two hilarious pitbulls who looked liked they were trying to spin each other on their backs). It made me forget for about 15 minutes that I had a tube sticking out of my chest and a backpack of fluid shrugged over my left arm. The owner was so sweet and noticed how it totally made my day and said I could come whenever I wanted to see the dogs. If I could drive that far, I would do it everyday. But for now, I'll enjoy chilling with my pup at home and visit when I can get a ride.

A Good Day to Hydrate

Because of my chronic illness I tend to lose most of what I eat, it's called chronic dumping syndrome (yea, no special medical names for my illness). Since I get sick a lot, I'm constantly dehydrated. So twice a week I have a nurse that comes to my house and sets me up with hydration therapy, which beats having to go to the hospital to have it done. It's not particularly fun and can be a bit uncomfortable, but today is pretty cool because my brother is home on spring vacation. We are watching a Die Hard marathon as I wait the four hours for my treatment to be over. Yippee- Ki- Yay.

Here goes nothing....

I have lived with a chronic illness for a decade now. My doctor's (the entourage that I have) tell me constantly that my case is unique to others and there is no easy fix. For 10 years I always held out hope that a new medication or procedure might help, but to no avail. My frustration and anger came to a peak when I realized that working at my job was something I was unable to do. 

The one thing I kept thinking over the years was "One day, I'll be normal." However, about 5 months ago my doctor came clean in saying that being normal wasn't ever going to be a possibility for me. I was devastated, but still hoped for that "magic pill" that would come out of the wood works and cure me. It didn't and it won't in the foreseeable future.

It took the new year for me to look at myself in the mirror and say "Wake up Kate! Things might be looking bleak, but life has issued you a challenge. What are you going to do about it?"

Accept it.