Tag: chronic illness

Worry. Vacation. Relief.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Guys! Mom and Dad left us! Can you even believe your ears? It’s been like 3 days. Zuc and I love our Uncle Luke and his girlfriend Emily but they are not our Mom and Dad. On Sunday when Mom got home she, Dad, grandmom and grandpup packed some bags. Naturally Zuc and I got all hyped up excited because we get to go everywhere but then they said those dreaded words: “you’re staying”. It has never been a good day when we hear that. I started to panic. When I panic I have accidents. Brown puddle accidents. Can’t even help it..

Thank goodness for Emily though. She cleaned it all up so Uncle Luke didn’t puke. Then they stayed with us all night. I even got to snuggle up between them like I do with Mom and Dad. Zuc slept in Mom and Dad’s bed to keep a look out in the chance that they got home during the night.

We went to the park the other day and didn’t even play. It was our personal mission to find a way out for search and rescue Mom and Dad. We didn’t get too far.

And then, they came back! Mom was in high spirits and didn’t seem like she hurt too much. Dad spent the next day with us while Mom was at work. As soon as she got home we ALL got in the car and went for a ride to other grandmom and grandpup’s house!

Work. Exhaustion. Love.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

In my last post I mentioned Mom is working 12 hour nights. Well she works 2 nights in a row and then gets 2 nights off except for sometimes she has to work 3 and then she’s off 3. Sounds great, right? Wrong. All she ever does now is sleep. She comes home at 6am, sleeps. Wakes up around 3pm (when dad gets home) then goes to work at 6pm unless she has the night off. If she has the night off that means she goes back to sleep at 9pm with dad. Zuc told me she wakes up around 2am and goes into the living room until we all wake up!

I sleep too soundly to know when mom wakes up but Zuc knows all so I trust him.

On her weekends Mom tries to stay awake and play with us but she almost always has to take a nap around 11am until who knows when.

She tells Dad all the time how tired she is and apologizes. We can all tell how exhausted she is so we let her sleep as much as we can. She says her medications for narcolepsy don’t really help and is scared about if she can keep doing this job even though she loves it.

Sleep. Bark. Hike.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

I know I haven’t been on in a while but Mom started a new job.. again. This time she’s working 12 hour night shifts. Seriously. The woman is insane. But now either her or dad is home ALL THE TIME! I loooove it. Except when they should be home but go out together without us. Like why, why wouldn’t you bring us every single place you go ever?! I live for walks and car rides!

Speaking of walks and car rides, we got to go on one the other day! We went to this place called the Erie Canal and walked along this awesome long water. So many fish and birds and sticks! I tried to jump in a few times but Mom was seriously against it. I wanted to keep coming back so I listened like a good girl.

And speaking of being a good girl: Mom sleeps during the day now. Like allll day. Well I, being the good girl I am, cuddle right up next to her in bed and sleep my days away. Sometimes I get bored so I’ll go out in the living room and watch the field but I’m always quiet. Zuc on the other hand enjoys barking at stuff and pissing mom off. She gets upset so I bark and then nobody is happy! That’s when we stop and sleep again. It’s a weird life but we’re adjusting!

What’s a hospital?

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Dad came up to his parents’ last night so mom drove us over for the night! She’s been feeling a lot better now that she’s not out of her medicines. She was reeeeeally cranky on our way over though. She just kept making comments about me jumping in the pool on our way out to the car and how I was wet so I couldn’t get on the seats. If dogs could roll their eyes I would. How was I supposed to know that I wasn’t supposed to go swimming before we got in the car?! When we got there she kept telling me to go to anyone but her because she didn’t want to look at me right now. She’s so grumpy sometimes.

This morning we woke up and everyone was happy and talking about the wedding but then mom got a text from her dad that her mom was in the hospital! Dad’s parents’ live in the middle of nowhere so there isn’t any cell reception. Grandpup had texted her last night around 3 in the morning saying the ambulance was coming to get grandmom. Mom freaked out and told Zuc and I that we were staying with dad. I was just sooo in the mood for a car ride! I chased her down the driveway a little bit until dad called me bad and I am not a bad puppy so I stopped right away and went back with him and Zuc.

Mom’s mom had surgery on her gall bladder two days ago. I guess it’s a pretty routine thing and normal people don’t have much to worry about. When they go in laparoscopically they use a camera and tools to take the organ out in a bag through the belly button. So. Freakin’. Cool. When they use the camera they have to fill up her abdomen with gas so they can push other things in there out of the way to see and maneuver their tools. The next few days generally a person passes lots of gas (through flatulence and burping) to get that stuff out of their system. Grandmom was not releasing gas from her body. She was also in immense amounts of pain. When they called the ambulance she could hardly breathe at all she was in so much pain. Guess what. Fibromyalgia sufferers experience the environment around and within them differently than most people. In grandmom’s case she was experiencing intense breakthrough pain even on narcotics because of the hypersensitive nerves in her body. On top of that the natural movement of the muscles in her intestines were still sleeping from the anesthesia. The Cymbalta causes constipation in some people so she may have been starting out with a handicap and then they added the anesthesia and narcotics on top of it and doomed her. The build up of gas plus lack of mobility/motility plus hypersensitive nerves created a cocktail that landed her in the ED.

I haven’t seen mom all day. I hope grandmom is okay.

Panic Attack

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. 

Back At It! 

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! 

Help! Fireworks! 

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! 

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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

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!

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! 

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.