Poor Tessa

On October 28, 2008 · 7 Comments · In tessa

Does this little face look sick to you?

Well, not the best picture, so maybe she does. Haha! In real life, however, she does not look or act sick at all.

But she is. My poor baby! :(

On Sunday afternoon, when we got back from Charlotte, my brother and his fiancee mentioned that they had noticed a rather large lump on her neck, just below her jaw. We checked it out, and sure enough, there was a lump about the size of a gumball. It didn’t seem to bother her–I was rubbing it, feeling around it, etc. and she never acted like she was in any pain. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the massage.

Well, I did some Googling on Sunday night and of course, found that there were many possibilities. Lipomas (basically fat-filled cysts) seemed to be the most likely culprit, but upon asking around on a message board, I was told by a veterinarian student that the location of the lump led her to believe it could be her lymph nodes. I was encouraged to get it checked out by our vet (which we planned to do anyway).

So I took off work early (thanks to my very understanding boss) to get Tess into the vet yesterday afternoon. The doctor took one feel of her neck and said it is her lymph nodes, all swollen. He said it’s actually more than the one lump; there are four of them, and sure enough, all of them are swollen–the one we were feeling is just the largest. Once I felt around, too, I realized that she now had other lumps, too (the other lymph nodes). They must’ve developed overnight/during the day, because they hadn’t been that big before.

The vet did a full examination, checking her eyes, ears, mouth, and skin for infection. He took her temperature. Everything looked normal. However, he still believes that she has some type of infection somewhere in her body, he just couldn’t find the source from an external exam. So little Tess gets to take antibiotics twice a day for two weeks.

Lucky for us, Tessa eats anything and everything. All we’ve had to do is put the pill in her bowl with her dry food and she inhales it with everything else. She’s awesome.

My family dog (passed away in July 2007 at 14 years old) was so ridiculous about taking medicine. In the last few years of her life, it seemed like she was always on medicine for something, and she was too smart for her own good. Anything we hid it in (french fries, cheese, peanut butter, hot dogs, etc.) she would figure out in like 2-3 days. Couldn’t fool her for long.

We don’t anticipate having any problems with Tess. She loves food too much to even notice anything out of the ordinary.

Anyway, we’re hoping these antibiotics do what the vet expects them to do. He says that by the end of the 14 days, we shouldn’t even be able to feel the lumps anymore. Her lymph nodes should go back to normal. If they don’t, we’ll have to go in for a biopsy. He mentioned the possibility of lymphoma (so scary), but he said he would expect other lymph nodes in her body to be swollen (they weren’t), and also said she’s really young for lymphoma. So as of right now, we’re hoping for the best with the infection and antibiotic treatment.

In the meantime, we’re babying her just a little more than usual. :)

 

Ryanne

On October 28, 2008 · 3 Comments · In babies

Remember that baby boom that I talked about several months back? It has officially ended. Well, for now. I suppose we can say that “Baby Boom #1” has ended. I’m sure there’ll be others.

My best friend from college, Bethany, gave birth to a baby girl early Friday morning (2:08 a.m.!). We were in the process of traveling down to Charlotte. When we landed in Baltimore, I turned my cell phone back on and got the text message telling me the news. So exciting! She’s the first from our group of college girls to have a baby. I can’t believe she’s a mommy.

She lives about 2.5-3 hours away, so unfortunately, I won’t have the opportunity to go see her and the baby for a couple of weeks.

I finally caught up with Bethany on Sunday morning. I said, “So, tell me about it all. How was it?” And what does she say?–“That was the easiest thing in the world.” I think I nearly fell out of my chair. Definitely not something you normally hear from a brand new mother.

She started having cramps/contractions after her doctor’s appointment on Thursday morning, did some errands, relaxed with a friend at home, and then around dinnertime, she noticed her water had started leaking. She and her husband took their merry time–packed (she hadn’t even packed!), showered, etc.

Checked in the hospital around 7:30-8:00 p.m. She said she got her epidural around 11:30 p.m.-midnight, I believe, started pushing around 1:40 a.m., and out came baby Ryanne at 2:08 a.m. on Friday, October 24. Not only that, but Bethany and Ryanne were both discharged from the hospital at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

That’s right, folks. I officially hate her. I’m not sure whether we can be friends anymore. ;)

Little Ryanne weighed in at 8 lbs., 1 oz., and 21 inches long. She’s a cutie. Can’t wait to meet her!

 

Home Again

On October 26, 2008 · Leave a Comment · In birthdays, friends, vacation

A couple of hours ago, we arrived back home after spending the weekend in North Carolina.

I really wanted to post about it and a couple of things related to it last week, but we were there for a surprise birthday party and even though I know Dave doesn’t read my blog, I still didn’t want to take any chances of ruining it. You see, Dave didn’t even know we were traveling down to Charlotte at all! His wife, Lynsay, is very sneaky, and we had this booked all the way back in July.

So anyway, I’m going to go back and back-date a few posts to do a recap of the weekend.

 

Surprise, surprise

On October 25, 2008 · Leave a Comment · In birthdays, football, friends, vacation

The surprise party for Dave was a big success. He was genuinely surprised (Lynsay did a good job of setting it all up without him knowing), and a good time was had by all. It was great to get to hang out with a bunch of friends that we don’t get to see all that often, because we’re kind of all spread out along the East Coast.

Michael, Jay, and Mike, before the birthday boy arrived. We got to the bar probably 45 minutes before Lynsay was due to arrive with Dave, so we spent the time starting with a few beers and catching up with everyone.

Everyone was decked out in Buffalo Bills gear, and even though we were in Charlotte, we didn’t have to worry about getting beaten down by Carolina Panthers fans. Why? Well, because the party was actually at a Buffalo Bills bar! The owner is a Bills fan from Buffalo. Oddly enough, almost every single member of the staff that we interacted with (waitresses, etc.) were from the Buffalo area as well (and were obviously Bills fans, too). So we were with our own kind! :)

A banner that one of our friends made for Dave. It was pretty impressive.

I missed the opportunity to get into a good position to take a picture when Dave first came in (I was too busy trash talking Sarah Palin with a friend of ours that lives in D.C.–I know, shocking coming from me, right?). But, Dave’s mom–who had traveled down to Charlotte with us since she lives in our area–hid down by the bar until he had been there for a few minutes. She wanted him to have TWO surprise moments. This pic was taken when he first saw his mom. She hadn’t flown in like 15 years, so Dave was pretty shocked to see her there.

My Bills cookies! Hell yes.

Jay, Dave, and Michael with the banner

The very cool Bills cake that Lynsay had made. I really wanted to make one with my new skills, but there was no way that would have survived our plane trip. So I had to settle for making the cookies.

With Michael and Jay. Like my new Edwards jersey?

A couple of Dave’s friends bought him a Marshawn Lynch jersey. He was pretty pleased.

Dave and Michael with our gift. Michael is pointing out the different players’ signatures that we got for him. Back in July, when we went to the meet and greet, we took a football with us and got different players to sign the ball for Dave. Paul Posluszny actually wrote “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DB” on it before signing his name. So awesome. Anyway, I think Dave liked it. I caught him looking at it a few more times throughout the night, and even today. :)

The girls! Lynsay (the master party planner and Dave’s awesome wife), Sarah (Mike’s wife), and me.

Of course, we couldn’t go to a Bills party and not bring “Koch.” Don’t know the story of Koch? Check out this wedding recap blog post. Anyway, Jay had to try on the legendary Koch jersey for a few minutes.

With a friend from high school, Emily. Oddly enough, she lives in Charlotte now and coincidentally, is friends with our friends. It is such a small world.

Dave and Michael (now Michael’s wearing Koch, haha).

Great party. Though, we were all laughing because we were all more than ready to go home by midnight. We did get up early, but still. Lots of cracks about us being old now.

This morning/afternoon, we went out for breakfast at a little mom and pop place in town. The food was good, but the service was pretty awful. It took FOREVER (How hard is breakfast food? C’mon!!). But we made the best of it and ultimately enjoyed ourselves.

Today has been more low key. The guys played darts in the garage, and the girls have been inside watching shows on TLC. I even napped a little. In a little bit, more people are coming over and we have a bunch of food and drinks. Dave is going to BBQ later. We have to enjoy the limited time we have left with everyone, but we also can’t stay up too late–have to get up early again tomorrow morning (around 5:30) to catch our flight home.

Weekends are never long enough. Even LONG weekends!!

 

Unnatural

On October 24, 2008 · 1 Comment · In birthdays, friends, vacation

We had to get up wayyy too early this morning. Our flight was at 7:00 a.m., so we had to get up at 4:00. I snapped this picture as I was eating my breakfast:


It was brutal. I don’t think I fell asleep until around midnight last night, so it was definitely not enough sleep. I’m not a morning person to begin with, so for me, this is just completely unnatural.

Tess was up and at ’em, too. She was a little more bright-eyed than we were:

Little stinker. She is staying with my brother and his fiancee this weekend. Thankfully we have awesome family members who love our pup so much! She is well taken care of whenever we are away. Thanks again, Tyler & Marie!

Our flights went perfectly. We arrived in Charlotte shortly after 10 a.m., and went out to lunch with a group of our friends. Then, we went back to Lynsay and Dave’s house to hang out until the party. Dave is still at work, he’ll get home around 7:45 p.m. We need to get the hell out of the house (and leave no traces that we were there) by 7:15ish.

Luckily, we got a short nap in, but we’re still tired. I hope I can make it through the party tonight! I am really excited for it, but just overly exhausted. It should be a lot of fun, though. Lots of old friends, so we’ll be in good company, plus good food, drinks, and Buffalo Bills decor. What could be better?