Alfredsson Jane

Panic Attack

July 8, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Do you know what a panic attack is? I’ve never had one personally but Mom and Zuc do. Have you ever been the one on the outside of a panic attack? They’re terrifying- for everyone involved. Mom says she used to have them all the time. In 7th grade, she used to lock herself in the car in the school parking lot until she had to throw up. Then she’d crack the door enough to not get upchuck inside and her mom or guidance counselor would have to pull the door from her before she could close it again. This happened every single day for almost the entire school year. It was bad. Now she doesn’t have them as often because she learned ways to prevent and control it. It doesn’t always work. She had one the other day. I didn’t know what to do it was so bad! Normally Zuc and I can make it better but this one was consuming her. Then she started talking about putting an end to her misery.

How about depression? Do you know what it is? Do you know how it feels? Have you ever been the one looking in at a person who feels like a shell? It is not a good feeling. Mom’s been seeming to do better lately. I can see her trying. She’s also been sleeping a ton more than usual. I guess she’s been through this before too but she doesn’t talk about the depression like she talks about anxiety and panic attacks. Depression scares me. Mom was saying really bad things until Brooke called and made her calm down. I still keep watching her and hoping she doesn’t say things like or feel like that inside anymore. Zuc won’t leave her heels. He had a really bad life before he went to the shelter and Mom and Dad saved him. I think he understands what Mom is going through more than I do. If Zuc is worried, I’m worried.

This weekend we went back to Grandmom and Grandpup’s. They don’t know about what happened but I think Mom needed a break.

FIREWORKS ON MY HEAD!

July 6, 2017July 6, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Indepence Day is an important day, I know this. My mom and dad make a big deal out of it. There are people everywhere and the smells of delicious food. Mom loves to decorate and set up the patio. We play games and drink and its all fun.

But then there are the loud bangs that come from nowhere and the crazy lights in the sky that show up after the noise or even with the noise sometimes! CRACK and then these shiny weird colors show up CRACK, SIZZLE, BOOM and there’s more! Then they’re raining down toward us and what seems like at the last second they fizzle away into nothing! INTO NOTHING! How do I know they won’t show up next to me and I’ll go boom! How can I make sure the next one won’t show up on mom’s head and then she’s gone forever. And where in the world is that BOOM noise even coming from? And why? And why does it have to be so loud!?

These past few days have been horrifying for me. I’m losing fur all over the place and my body won’t stop shaking sometimes. The only place I feel safe is in the bathroom because there are no windows! Mom wraps me in blankets and sits with me so I feel a little bit better but it’s still terrifying. I get these treats that taste kinda strange a few hours before it gets dark. Mom says they have chamomile and melatonin in them, they taste like fake beef. After a while I start to get kind of tired. If I fall asleep before the fireworks and other noisy things start I can sleep right through them. I like when that happens. If I don’t fall asleep before they start, it’s worse! I fight sleeping and stay awake but I’m even more scared and tired out. Zuc looks at me like I’m crazy, sometimes I wonder if his senses work very well. He’s a good sniffer but when it comes to sight and sound I’m just not sure about him.

On July 4th, Mom went to bed early with me. She gave me some of those treats and then we snuggled up in bed. I snuggled into my bed next to her. She pet me until I fell asleep. When the fireworks started the treats didn’t work all the way because they were so loud. I would wake up scared and then fall back asleep only to have nightmares and wake up again to more loud noises. Mom laid in bed while everyone else watched them. She held my paw and talked to me in her sweet voice to help me stay calm. I love my mom.

I’m curious, what are some ways others cope with fireworks? Mom has tried all kinds of things but none of them seem to completely work. I also do this with thunderstorms so any ideas could help us a ton!

GUESS WHAT!!

June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Mom has been feeling so much better lately that we’ve been going on walks everyday plus I get to play soccer in the backyard with her after dinner! The soccer ball is my favorite ball out of all of the balls I have! We do cool tricks where mom boosts it up in the air and I volley it with my nose. Mom and dad get so excited over that. The one I like most is when mom tries to dribble it passed me but I stop her. I can read her body like a book, she doesn’t stand a chance. I love love love playing soccer! Zuc always gets upset because he just doesn’t seem to get it. He only ever wants to wrestle. How in the world do you want to wrestle when there is a soccer ball in the yard!?

Volley action shot!

This ball is MINE!

Anyway, I still give mom annoyed faces because we basically wake up, go for a walk, do yoga, and then she sits down with like a million envelopes (which taste pretty good) and writes on them and puts little stickers in the corners. She’s been doing this ALL WEEK. Oh, and then after she does that for what seems like eternity she goes and falls asleep, sometimes with envelopes in her hands still! For like two or three hours at a time! That’s why she gets annoyed faces. I think she brings us outside for soccer to make up for sleeping so much. At least they work for something. She’s always slept a lot but never this much. It’s actually kind of strange now that I think about it. She is narcoleptic but she takes medicines that prevent her falling asleep like that. We also get tons of sleep at night. Bedtime is around 9 and then we wake up at 5 to help dad get ready for work but then we sleep in until like 8. That’s a lot of sleep for a human, right? Well, whatever is wrong with her it can’t be too bad because at least she’s playing soccer with us again!

The millions of envelopes that are tasty- even though mom says no..

Mom and I cuddling

IT’S FRIDAY! AH-WOOO WE’RE SO EXCITED!! (Dad gets to stay home tomorrow!)

Back At It!

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Mom brought us back home on Saturday. We were all ready to be home and back to normal again. Especially Zuc, he was starting to freak out a little bit being away from dad for so long. I missed dad too. Mom and her mom and dad, along with Auntie and her boyfriend, Uncle and his girlfriend all left as soon as we got back! It was okay though, Zuc and I got to cuddle with dad alllll night! When they all came home it was really late. I could smell Aunt Steph on them. I could also smell foods, delicious alcohol, and a yummy plant smell that sometimes wafts in from the neighbor’s house.

Mom neverrrrr stays out late. The next morning I could tell she felt bad but she was happy. It was weird. She stayed in bed almost all day! We did address a whole pile of wedding invitations but even just doing that she had to take rests. Monday she was still sore. We went for our walk but barely. She took all kinds of medicines but we still didn’t do much. Hopefully today will be different and she’ll be okay enough to play! Then again, I’ve been recovering from playing so hard with Flash, Sampson, and Bandit I haven’t done much other than sleep too!

Grrrandmom and Grrrrandpup’s House!

June 22, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

We went to mom’s parent’s house for the week! Mom wanted to be able to meet with her mom and dad’s mom to plan the wedding. She also picked out the most beautiful dress! I can’t wait to get dirt on it! While she was out dress shopping and whatever else you do for a wedding I got to play with Flash, Sampson, and the new puppy!

Flash and Sampson are sorta my age so we’re all big but Bandit is a new puppy. Mom says I have to be careful not to hurt him but he’s the same size as Zuc. I pummel Zuc all the time and he doesn’t hurt. Bandit cries a lot and is reeeally clumsy so I made sure I was careful anyway. We played every day! He even likes to chew sticks with me! First I make him chase me for it because he can’t catch me and it’s fun but then I always chill out and share.

Zuc doesn’t like him much. Bandit always jumps on his face and it freaks him out. I try to buffer the two of them. Sometimes I think I make it worse.

Anyway, dad had to go back home for the week to work. I miss him.

Engagement!!

June 16, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Sorry we haven’t been able to post in a while. On Sunday we went hiking. I looooove hiking! There was all kinds of water and even some waterfalls. Mom was supposed to go with us and dad’s sister Steph but at the last minute dad decided he wanted to go too. He doesn’t even like hiking so we thought he was crazy since it was 90 degrees out but we let him come anyway. On the hike back down the trail we stopped to see a waterfall for the second time. I jumped up on the rock wall so I could see better but jumped back down because I thought I’d get in trouble. Turns out mom wanted to get a picture like that so dad bent down to try to boost me back up. Instead of picking me up though he asked mom if I had a tick! A tick!? Can you believe that?! I don’t get ticks anymore, I take medicine for that. When mom bent down to check, dad held up the shiniest tick I’d ever seen! I’m starting to think it wasn’t a tick though since mom grabbed it out of dad’s hand to put it on her finger and was smiling and laughing. Dad asked her if she would marry him and mom was like “uhh, yeah”. I’m not really sure what or who marry is but they both seem excited and happy. Mom’s been wearing the tick on her finger everyday and now we’ve been planning something called a wedding everyday this week! She keeps saying we don’t have a lot of time because she wants a fall wedding but doesn’t want to wait more than a year.The pictures look boring but mom says it’ll be fun. Plus, I get to be in it!

Help! Fireworks!

June 10, 2017June 10, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Today was almost the best day ever. I mean it was a pretty good day just waking up because it’s Friday. That means dad stays home with us tomorrow! On our walk this morning it was suuuuper hot so mom let me jump in the stream and chase the little waterfalls. It’s my favorite thing to do on hot days! Sometimes I just lay down and roll around in the nice, cool stream. I got a little too excited this morning and may have pulled mom in a little bit. Oops!

When we got home mom gave us treats even though we already had breakfast! Mom did yoga in the sun while I watched (and kinda got in the way). Then I got to chase the broom around! Mom said she was “cleaning” and to “get out of the way” a lot but I think that’s just part of the game. We all took naps until dad got home.

That’s when the best part happened! We went to the big dog park!! The one where we have to ride in the car first and there’s always a whole bunch of friends to make! I even met the dog gods. They’re these great big dogs. Not to brag, but they totally accepted me. Mom ran around with us too. She picked up her increased dose of Cymbalta the other day and I think she’s ajusting to it well so far!

After the dog park we went to dad’s brother’s apartment for dinner where I got to play with squeaky toys. And then we got ice cream on the way home!! Zuc loooooves ice cream so we battled the whole way home to get more than the other. It’s fun but mom and dad make us keep it fair.

Now after that perfect day, there were fireworks. A LOT OF FIREWORKS. I was trembling scared. I even yelled at them to go away a few times. Mom had to hold me and cover me up in a blanket so I’d feel safe. It kinda worked.

Dogter Zuc

June 8, 2017June 8, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Dogter Zuc

Hello, I am Alfie’s older (and smarter) brother. I help mom do research and cool things like that online. Yesterday we spent a few hours looking things up about fibromyalgia. First I would like to explain what fibromyalgia is because I know some people don’t really understand.

Fibromyalgia is described as widespread pain. That’s a simple way to just sum it all up. It’s really a very broad and somewhat scary diagnosis, especially since humans don’t know what causes it or how to help those affected by it. Have you ever grabbed a fiberglass stick and immediately regretted it because your mouth stung like a million little bees were in it trying to escape? I think it feels like that in your muscles, all over, all the time- that’s what I’ve gathered from mom’s experiences anyway. So a fibro person suffers all day long in pain- that pain can only be tolerated for so long before it starts to effect other parts of the body. “Fibro fog” is a state where you just feel like you’re not with it. There’s like a haziness to your brain. You can’t remember where you hid your bone, or even if you hid your bone already. This happens from the fatigue. When you’re in pain your body has to compensate for that. It’s working in overdrive and before long you run out of the energy to do other things because your body has to focus on that darn pain and trying to get rid of it. Along with the pain and mental impairment things like anxiety and depression may manifest. We also see IBS, restless leg, and other types of syndromes. People with FMS have these tender points on their bodies- if you so much as touch these spots sometimes the person will yell out in pain. I always forget where they are and step on mom’s. It is not a good day when that happens.

Overall fibromyalgia is not an illness we can see. If we pay close enough attention we can see these people suffering and that is how we know for sure it is a real thing. There are so many people out there suffering, we need to help. I will help by making sure to always notice when mom is in pain and doing what I can to help her. We will also continue our home research and maybe someday we will be able to take it to the next level.

I Keep Getting Locked Up!

June 8, 2017June 8, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

So, on Tuesday, Mom and Brooke wanted to do something fun. It was raining. A nice, sloshy, drizzly rain that I loooove to go play in. Side note: guess who didn’t get to go play in it. Yup, me. Anyway, they decided to go to the mall to get pedicures and watch movies. (Uh, hello, you can do that here and still let me run in the rain!) Mom wanted to see Baywatch and Snatched. They both sound super boring to me. Brooke decided they would see Baywatch first and then Snatched all in the same day, but had to give up their pedicures because Brooke had to go home for work on Wednesday. They locked us up and went on their way. I obviously need to work on my puppy-dog eyes. They don’t seem to be working! I keep getting locked up!

Dad got home before them. Mom came running in from the wrong side of the house! I thought something bad was happening so I got up and ran to meet her. My fur was standing straight up! She started giggling and I knew it was okay so I tried to play with her. She loved it. She told dad she was trying to beat his friend to the door because she realized he was following her and drove super slow. Mom can be a meany sometimes. Brooke came in huffing behind her. She had lots of bags that smelled amazing. So many different smells! I shoved my head right in to poke around and got a swat on the butt. This always happens but I can’t stop myself. Brooke started complaining about how mom couldn’t tolerate sitting in those movie theater chairs for two whole movies so they only ended up seeing Baywatch. Mom smelled a little sick. I could tell her tummy hurt and she was stiff now that all of the excitement was over.

Mom and I cuddling

Dumb Baseball Games

Brooke had to leave right away so she would be home in time for sleeps since she had to work the next day. I was sad and waited at the window for her to come back in for a little while. Mom kept telling me she’d be back but not for now. So we went and made food for dad and his friends- his brother came over too. All they did was play dumb baseball video games. I wish they would go outside and play real baseball. The kind where I chase them is my favorite. But while dad, his friend, and his brother all ate mom didn’t. Her tummy was too upset and she was sore all over. So we crawled into bed and watched Chopped until dad and Zuc came in for sleeps.

Please! Increase the dose!

June 6, 2017June 7, 2017 by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Mom’s friend Brooke came to stay for a couple days. Zuc and I went sleeps before she arrived on Sunday so we didn’t even know she was here! When the bedroom door opened I burst out into the living room and rubbed my wet little nose allll over her! She smelled like my friend Briley and all kinds of yummy restaurant food! (She works at one) Brooke is fun. I like her. The four of us went for a walk and Mom seemed to be doing pretty good today. But then when we got back they locked us up and left! I could not believe it!

When mom and Brooke came back they smelled like diner food. DINER FOOD! And they didn’t even bring me any back! I pouted for a long time. They didn’t even care though. They both took a nap! When mom woke up I heard her call the doctor and ask them to increase her dose of Cymbalta. I hope it doesn’t make her too drowsy. When dad got home from work he made them go away. I think he knew I was upset with them. They came back with all of those plastic bags filled with food- none of it was for me though.

Mom’s groceries compared to Brooke’s beer. She found a lot of kinds that she can’t get at home!

After that, they all left again, even dad!! I couldn’t believe it. I did notice Mom took some Ibuprofen before going outside though.

Mom and her friend Brooke going to dinner

They did leave us bones and a Kong toy but those just aren’t good enough for me. I wandered around and found those dumb sticks that Mom puts in our mouths to clean our teeth. Zuc and I both HATE those sticks. So, I did what any puppy would do with a stick, I chewed it! I chewed ALL OF THEM. My breath can stink all it wants. I was proud. Of course, then they all got home and Mom found them and laughed. That is not a good sign. That means she has more of them. Then she did the most surprising thing everrrrr, she gave me her left over steak fat! Maybe I should chew those sticks up every time!

Stick #1 I made sure those bristle things wouldn’t work.

Mom and Brooke sat down on the couch and fell asleep again. I was so disappointed. I hope the doctor does what Mom needs so she can keep up with everything again soon.