Catching Up!

I’ve recommended Colin Cotterill’s fantastic Dr Siri books on here before and I’ve just read number 7 in the series, Love Songs from a Shallow Grave and for me it was one of the best yet. The characterisation is marvellous, the plots rich and once I start one, I just can’t put it down.

And don’t forget if you are reading a series of books, you can find their order on Fantastic Fiction. It’s a very handy site.

So how are the bugs? They’re thriving. The kids have all come down with a new one now – not a sickness bug this time, but a thoroughly nasty virus, their parents aren’t much better. The classrooms are running on half full at the moment.

And Indy? Well the curves haven’t been going well and he’s been steadily losing weight and still getting up in the night. Last week his curve was so haywire (more like a fork of lightning than a curve), that on Monday when I saw Tom, he said he’d like to have him in the surgery to do a curve using their equipment.

So he was booked in the next day and we arrived with the lumpy, hairy old bed he has down beside my desk and the blanket he has in my bed, his food and bowl and his insulin. I also took my glucose meter to be tested.

I went through with him, settled him in his “room” and met the lovely nurse who would be looking after him – and she really is lovely! I gave him his breakfast and his injection, then left with the nurse promising she’d make a big fuss of him.

I went back in the afternoon to take him for a walk and – get this – after his walk he pulled me back into the surgery, went straight through the reception and out to the back where his nurse and the receptionist made a fuss of him.

Then off back to his room without so much as “I’ll miss you, Mum!”

And I’m very glad to say that. It made leaving him so much easier. I think he knows the place so well now with our frequent visits, he feels quite secure there. His test results were just as odd though.

Next step was to speak to an expert who would know the latest about treating diabetes and Tom said he’d do that and phone me in the next couple of days. I was that worried, wondering what would happen next.

So - there is new thinking on the treatment of diabetic dogs and in the case of dogs like Indy who have these odd results, you should forget about doing glucose curves and tests and monitor them on how well they seem! I think it was Frances who said ages ago that surely all that mattered was that he was happy. And as Tom said, it is the common sense approach.

There'll be no more blood tests for a while and we’re going to try basing his treatment around how well he is and not on what his blood glucose readings are.

His sight is very poor now because of the cataracts. I bought some white tennis balls as he just couldn't find the green ones any more and he can sometimes see them IF I throw them at the right height and not too far in front of him. Watching him run down the stairs is heart in mouth stuff though.