Just Keep Swimming: sick

Showing posts with label sick. Show all posts

Friday, March 28, 2014

Feeling Green in Hungary (and not Hungry)

Why green? Well, within 12 hours of our arrival in Budapest for a long weekend, Scott came down with a violent stomach bug! Oh, no! Oh, yes.

Poor guy, he did not leave the hotel (bath)room for the next day and a half! So sad. Actually, I think I gave him the virus (oops), and I got it from Beau, because I was sick with exactly the same thing 48 hours earlier. And likewise, Beau had been 'off' 48 hours before me. Way to take a whole family DOWN FOR THE COUNT!

It was pretty miserable for all of us. Scott was out of town for work when I was in the throes of it so it was rough being sick and alone with the baby. Then it was equally bad for Scott because getting sick in a hotel is just no fun. The only saving grace was that we had unlimited ginger ale, sprite and water from the "executive lounge," thanks to Scott's Marriott "status." I was able to take advantage of the lounge at all hours because not only did we have stomach problems, we also had some baby jet lag issues. It was quite handy when Beau woke up ready to rock 'n roll at 4 am.

B and Me on a gorgeous first day in Budapest atop Castle Hill overlooking the Danube River and the famous Chain Bridge. Thank you, Mimi, for the great knit hat!

From what we did experience, I can say that Budapest is beautiful and the people are super friendly. It felt quite similar to Prague in that the city is built right along a river with two developed sides ("Buda" and "Pest") that are connected by a big pedestrian-friendly bridge, but more sprawling because there are some hills that add to the overall city circumference. Prague was spared from WWII bombings whereas Budapest was not, so a lot of the "old" buildings in Budapest are actually restored versions of the originals.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Our hotel was in a fantastic location, with panoramic views in all directions and within 5 minutes of a very nice pedestrian shopping street and lots of restaurants. As I mentioned, we had access to the very well-appointed executive lounge, which in addition to the free water and soda, offered great views, breakfast, happy hour and snacks all day! All those perks turned out to be a blessing because we spent so much time in the hotel and the free beverages kept everyone hydrated and slightly less miserable.

Here are some photos from the lounge balcony:

Looking in one direction from the lounge (Chain Bridge).

Looking in the opposite direction (Elizabeth Bridge). So pretty!

When we arrived, it was beautiful outside, only mid-afternoon and Scott was still feeling fine, so we did get to do a little sightseeing.

My usual shot of Scott with the stroller.

at the base of St. Stephen's Basilica

After a stroll around the hotel area, we decided to walk across the Chain Bridge. Directly on the other side of the bridge there is an old steam-powered funicular from 1870 that takes you to the top of Castle Hill where there are the best views of the "Pest" side of town. It was a gorgeous day and I'm so so glad we decided to take this walk because it ended up being our best and only sightseeing opportunity!

Scott on the Pest side of the Chain Bridge

Funicular (toward the top of the photo you can see the two train cars on the track, one going up and one going down).

Ticket stubs from the funicular

Pretty view of Pest from Buda Castle.

Beautiful Hungarian Parliament Building

You know, it's tougher than it looks to get a good selfie.

Proof of how nice the people were in Budapest? A woman saw us taking our selfie (above) and promptly offered to take the picture for us! Much better.

Scott and Beau squinting into the vitamin D.

By Monday afternoon, Scott was feeling a little better and we managed to take a river boat cruise on the Danube and a light snack.

Always smiling, this kid!

Elizabeth Bridge

Parliament

And finally, Daddy's feeling better!

And as I mentioned earlier, I spent A LOT of time in the hotel lounge because it was a comfortable change of scenery and there was free food :). I was even there at night because Scott and Beau were sacked out in our room and I was a little stir-crazy. Here are some cool shots taken at night:

Chain Bridge and festive river boat

Buda Castle lit up at night

Sparkling Elizabeth Bridge with Liberty Statue atop Gellert Hill in the distant background.

So it was certainly not our best long weekend getaway to-date, but at least we left Moscow's cold weather for a few days. Budapest remains on the list of cities we want to visit!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Pee on a plate part 3

The things I do for my sweet Siena. Collected her urine again this morning. I'm getting pretty good at the ahem, maneuver, at this point. Not something to put on the resume, unfortunately.

Crossing fingers for a clean report this time.

"Veterinaria Clinic 'Movet'"

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Pee on a plate part 2

This has really been a busy week for Siena. I used to think she was low maintenance!

Yesterday I brought another urine sample to the lab using my patented "plate collection" method (see previous post on this topic). Prior to the holidays they said we needed to retest for crystals to see if the medicine and new food are working.

My only observation this time around is that the vet clinic / lab where I went looks exactly how I envisioned a Russian [people] hospitals would look: cold, crumbling and not necessarily all that sterile. The people clinic that I go to is not at all like this, thankfully! And this vet was quite busy; I even saw two Goldens in the waiting room so they must be legit. The building is just kind of sad and worn out looking.

This is the door to the lab: "laboratoria" is what the sign under the 7 says.

Clearly they're not spending rubles on decor. The good news is it's only $10 for a urine culture. Unheard of in the States!

Cross your fingers that the results come back clean and that we don't need to continue the special, expensive urinary tract food and more importantly, that we don't need another ultrasound or more medication!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Siena's tail

Siena has started using it again! Very, very selectively, but the curve and perk are there. Such a relief to see even a few flaps of that happy-girl wag!!

Yeah!!

I'm so so relieved.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Siena update

We had the ultrasound today and there were no polyps, yay! So no surgery needed. They saw "crystals" in her bladder so she is going to take a week of antibiotics and some other anti-spasm medicines AND they want us to change her food for 2 months.

But no surgery is huge! I was so worried. Now we can leave the country with more peace of mind. I also think she will be feeling some relief from the infection / crystals soon so that is good too. Hooray!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

My fur baby is sick. :(

My poor Siena-girl. She has a bladder infection. No idea where she picked it up, but Moscow is very dirty and they are putting chemicals down now all over the street to force the ice and snow to melt. She also had a couple accidents in the apartment on Sunday (which is VERY rare for her) and yesterday there was some blood in her pee. :(

So yesterday I had to collect her pee to get analyzed at a lab. How do you collect pee from a dog, you're wondering?

Basically you scoot a salad plate underneath her rear right when she squats to go. Then pour whatever you capture on the plate into a plastic container and hope you got enough and that it's not contaminated. I did get some on my hand during the process, which was gross, but not horrible...and as Scott said, "urine is sterile!" Haha. Says the guy who doesn't have to do the collecting!

The analysis came back and the numbers indicated that she has stones and crystals in(?) her bladder, which cause irritation and inflammation, resulting in much more frequent need to go, uncomfortableness and some blood coming out whenever she goes. Poor thing, I wish I could make her feel better! When I take her out now, she pees like 4 times during the walk and still doesn't seem to get any relief.

So today the vet said we need to get an ultrasound to check that there aren't any polyps in there too. Not sure what they do if there are polyps, but we'll cross that bridge if we need to. So instead of packing tomorrow afternoon I'll be going to a dog ultrasound appointment. In Moscow. The only upside of having this problem here is that it's probably cheaper here than in the US because the "pet industry" isn't regulated here. :-/

We are leaving on Saturday for the US, so I really hope we can sort this out and have her on the mend before we go!