We had friends visit with us at Fox Point for New Year's. We started talking about our earliest memories and how difficult it is to remember anything real specific much before the age of 10. The five most vivid memories I have of life before 10 are:
- Almost drowning in a wading pool. I think I was three but I remember this pretty vividly, particularly the part where I was saying to myself (in toddler speak) "Hello? Is anyone else noticing that I've been underwater for a long time?"
- Having chicken pox (along with everyone else in the house). My poor Aunt Delores had to take care of all of us while my parents were stuck at the hospital in a snowstorm while Joanna was born.
- Having boils on my butt that kept me home from school for a week or two. Fun, right? This pretty much consisted of laying on the couch and taking Sitz baths.
- Almost drowning (again) while trying to show my mom how well I could swim when she came to pick me up at swimming lessons. I swam out to the middle of the pool, waved to show her how great I was doing, and then proceeded to sink like a stone. Can you believe I actually became a lifeguard?
- Getting "attacked" by a dog. Being underneath the dog was terrifying. I now realize that the dog wasn't really attacking me. He just jumped up on me to say "hello" and managed to knock my little body over. Then, he stuck his face in mine to continue his greeting and slobbered all over me. The whole thing probably lasted 5 seconds but it really did feel like an eternity.
The dog "attack" led to a pretty strong fear of dogs. Some of that fear is still there. But, Kim loves dogs and, several years ago, we got our first. Luke was a beagle mix with a wonderful disposition. He was the perfect first dog for someone like me. After he died, we got Ginger, another beagle mix. Ginger is a piece of work. I don't know what happened to her while she was out on her own, but she's wrestling with some serious demons. Still, we love her. In order to make her adjustment to life with the Bucci's a bit easier, we decided to get her a playmate after we'd had her for a year. That's how we got Wally. Wally's another beagle mix and he really is a fantastic dog. Having him come to the door to greet me whenever I come home from work really is special. Seems corny, but it is.
Two weeks before Christmas, Wally got real sick all of a sudden. He couldn't hold any food down and finally stopped eating. By Saturday morning, he was pretty lethargic and we took him to the vet. They ran a bunch of tests and found his protein levels were dangerously low. But, we took him home. By 10PM that evening, he was unable to walk, crying in pain, and on his way to the emergency vet. For the next 10 days, he was in and out of the hospital, without a true diagnosis. I think he had just about every test and procedure imaginable, including an infusion of plasma. The vets thought he might have kidney failure, toxic poisoning, Addison's disease, you name it. At one point, we were told we were going to have to put him to sleep the next day. But, in our own little Christmas miracle, he refused to quit and we finally got a diagnosis that seems accurate. He's got irritable bowel disease. Kind of ironic, given that Kim and Nick both have Crohn's disease.
So now we have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. And, after a couple of days of trying to get his meds right, we think we've finally got it figured out. In fact, Kim just brought him in from outside and announced "He pooped and it was good." That's progress.
