All Better Now!

What a week! Although for a while he seemed to be feeling better, Dakota's tummy issues continued through the weekend. And guide dog work does not mix well with tummy problems. At all costs we try to avoid what we call "dirty walks." (I'll just let you figure out what that is!) So, Tuesday found me driving across town to the vet's with, shall we say, a "sample."

Tests were run, and as it turned out, an antibiotic was in order to clear up Duckie's problems. By this time it was late in the afternoon, and Dr. Boggs was good enough to offer me an alternative to another cross-town trip through insane afternoon traffic by calling in the prescription to a local pharmacy. "You mean...what kind of pharmacy?" I wondered. "Oh, any pharmacy, a people pharmacy...they'll have it." Okay...

So, here I am at the pharmacy facing a tired clerk. "Prescription for Lord," I offer, hoping I don't have to give more detail than that. "Date of birth?" he wants to know. Oh bother...I wonder does he want the dog's birthday or mine? "5/28/08." Nothing comes up, so I tell him to try mine...now he probably thinks I'm crazy since I can't even remember within forty years when I was born! Throwing discretion to the winds, I admit: "Well...it's for the dog." "Oh, the guide dog? Why didn't you say so?" When I don't have Duckie with me, I kind of think people won't remember me, but nope. I am doomed to be "the dog lady" for life I think!

Now he's really trying hard to find it, but somehow the prescription just won't come up on the computer. We look for it under Dakota's name...my name...the vet's name...we try "Guide Dogs of Texas"..."dog"..."k-9"...no results. He gets another clerk to help him search the shelves. They really did try! But it's no good...maybe the vet called it in to the wrong pharmacy? At last I turn to go, and just then the pharmacist herself emerges. "Hey, is this it? We never filled it because we didn't have the patient's date of birth!" Sure enough, that was it. We went and did some shopping while waiting for it to be processed. Before long the loudspeakers ring out: "Would 'Dakota Lord' please return to the pharmacy. Your prescription is ready." Poor Dakota Lord is at home in his crate...suppressing a laugh, we pick it up for him.

On the way home, Charissa starts reading me the label. Not a good idea for someone as prone to worry as me. To start off, they gave him an arbitrary birthdate just so something would be in the computers. So now, according to Wal-mart, he's officially 8 years old. Amazing how an illness can age you overnight! Charissa reads, "'CAUTION: DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL with this medicine,' ...well, that shouldn't be a problem....'POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS: stomach upset' " Wait, isn't that what we're taking this to cure? "'...headache...'" I wonder how Duckie would tell us if he had a headache? "'...or a metallic taste...check with your doctor as soon as possible if you experience numbness, tingling, or burning of your hands or feet' ...or paws?...'may cause drowsiness. Use care when operating heavy machinery'"...or guiding a blind person, I should think!

But you'll be happy to hear that Dakota has been taking his medicine like a trooper, has apparently tolerated it well, and seems to be fully recovered.

If he has a headache, he hasn't complained.

"Oh, my tingling paws!"