what???

a lot to think about...

what a difference a month can make. one day you're fine. going on about your sniffing, your wagging, your general walking, occasional barking, shedding, eating, etc.  life is good.  everything is fine.  you have a blog, you have a few special friends (who follow your blog), you have florida and a bus and people who feed and love you.

then a bomb drops.  well, not in america so much, but you know.  something big happens that changes your life.  you even stop blogging for a month while you figure things out or not.

here's the scoop.  One Day a month ago, i walked into the doctor's office and everyone was smiling and telling me how cute i was.  oh, those receptionists are always all smiles.  then the vet techs were all cuddly and lovey dovey.  they did the routine looking in the ears (mine are perfect), and when the official vet came in to meet me, i pleased her so much that she actually kissed me on the cheek.  i mean--how cute does a dog have to be to be kissed on the cheek By A Vet??  so on we went and i was fine with it.  "let's check her toenails. oh aren't they cute, let's trim them."   i don't like a pedicure that much, but those canine professionals were crazy about me.  they checked out every which thing (all of mine are perfect), and then just because they ran out of ways to keep me in their office, they said "let's do one more routine test--for heartworms..."

i spent my ten minute wait running to each corner of that examination room, looking for my fans, picking up and eating anything left on the floor, entertaining my proud peeps, licking, wagging, jumping, you know the routine. now i look back on that 10 minute wait and wish i could return to oblivion.  but no; finally the vet came back in the room. she had wet eyes. that's never a good sign with peeps, vets or not.

drum roll, confusion, then she said:  "Tidbit tested positive for HeartWorm."  she held me tight. her eyes leaked.

we're all depressed, not just me...

the VetWithWetEyes said, "It's not a death sentence..." well thanks for the good news.  and she went on to say how there are worms, actual worms in my heart.  Excuse Me???   these are like tapeworms but they're not eating my food they're eating ME!!!  they are starting with my Heart!!  Oh My Dog, she can't be serious.  but the VetWithWetEyes continued explaining all the expensive things she may be able to do to kill the worms and try not to kill me, and i'm sitting there thinking Oh My Dog.  they will shoot what painful caustic killer?? into where?? and hope i don't suffer paralysis?  or cough up a chunk of a worm??  and the embolism does what to my lungs?  and how many days (did she really say 30) in a crate?  unable to run?  no excitement??  crated for 30 days????  but wait.  then another shot into where?  and the paralysis issue again?  and what about that pain?  for another 30 days?  in a crate?  you have to be kidding.

now, i've heard of worming one's way into another one's heart.  as a matter of fact that's what i did to my peeps,  but this gives new meaning to the old phrase.  

i'll tell you one thing.  i'm never going to another vet. that happy joyful moment in the reception area and even the Vet Kissing Your Cheek is not worth the outcome.  i'm not going back. no way, Jose.  this whole Vet thing has confounded me for the last month--just trying to figure out what the heck this means to my (lack of a) future.  my blog has suffered, but my peeps and i have suffered more, just trying to make sense of this shocking news. i guess when one (that would be me) is born in florida, and one is found running down a busy highway with a child's belt too tight around one's neck (that would also be me), one might expect to have been bitten by a mosquito. apparently mine carried the parasite, Heart Worm.  who knew...  

but i continue to put on a good front. i say, as always "Onward!"  i'll figure this out, just like everything else. thanks for being there, friends...