Thursday, August 24, 2000

The intrathecal pump that I have is finally refilled with baclofen, and it seems to be working. We shall see. They shot 200 mics (sp) through the cathether to clear out the saline for 20 minutes, and then dropped it down to 100 mics for the rest of the day... I get 100 mics a day, with the baclofen being a concentration of 500. Once this baclofen runs out, I'll be refilled with 2000 concentration baclofen, which will last longer. :)

I had wanted morphine in the pump, but Dr. Stevenson doesn't do morphine... that's the job of the pain clinic. If I'd insisted, I'd been directed to the pain clinic, and done all the stupid paperwork and all that. I'm just glad the baclofen seems to be working... if it doesn't, I get to go to YET another doctor and get morphine in here.

I am able to move my legs a little bit without assistance (using my hands and such), which I couldn't do before there was baclofen in my system... maybe my body has had enough of a vacation from the baclofen to let it work again. We shall see. :)

My mom got to see the pump being refilled, and when I asked her what she thought of it, she shuddered. Seeing a needle getting pushed into the middle of your abdomen and then all sorts of stuff attached to it isn't fun. I don't watch when they refill my pump (I tend to pass out when I see needles enter my skin), and had enough trouble because they used something to spray onto my skin and make it freeze a bit. The nurse said it would numb the skin... yeah, right. I sure felt both needle pokes. She missed the pump the first time and had to stick me a 2nd time. Bit my lip while she was doing it. Once the needle was in the self-sealing port (under the skin), I was fine, it was having the needle getting in the refill port, that I didn't like it.

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/24/2000 12:55:38 PM ~*~ link

Wednesday, August 23, 2000

On the front page of today's Tacoma News Tribune there is a story about a woman who is blind and is going to use a miniture horse to guide her around. The horse will be trained by a school that just started up training horses for the blind, like there are dogs guiding the blind. You can read the story at the News Tribune's website, here's the link. I'm not sure I like this at all. I'm all for a person using a service animal, but even a miniture horse is going to be too much for businesses to swallow, I'm afraid. There's also the issue of allergies. My husband is DEATHLY allergic to horses. He goes into respiratory arrest whenever he gets too close, and that's probably about 100 feet. I know that dogs can be sprayed with hair spray to keep dander from coming off the dog, but what about horses? Also, what about the horses feet? It'll have to be shod and that may cause damage to floors in buildings. I bet businesses won't be happy about that.

There are just too many things that a horse does differently from a dog. The horse does wear adult diapers when in public, but I know there are a LOT of people that won't want to see a horse in public, even one that is the size of a Golden Retriever, which is what the newpaper says. I personally think the horses are larger than that, and I can't see a horse going under a table in a restaurant, and what about swishing the tail. I don't want horse hair in my meal! And I'm a service dog owner who agrees that dogs should be allowed in public, but you have to use common sense when using a service animal. I know I'll probably get blasted for my views, but there are other SD handlers that agree with me.

My main worry is that our state law (which is in line with the ADA) and that the ADA itself will be rewritten to exclude any animal, and basically take out the service animal section entirely! This could backfire on all of us, because if a business is getting damaged by a horse, you can bet your bottom dollar the law will be changed, and no, the change won't be small. I worked on our state law, and business owners do NOT want any dogs or other animals in their businesses!

There's also the issue of the horse understanding what you want it to do. Dogs are trained in "intelligent disobedience", which means they are trained to refuse a command if there is a car or obsticle in the way of the team. Can a horse do that? It's been proven that dogs can do this, and they do it well, Even my first dog, Tyler, did this, and he wasn't trained as a guide dog, but he did refuse to go through to another train car when we were on the train, because he knew it to be dangerous. He shoved me back into the oriiginal car and refused to budge. While I know it wasn't dangerous, I appreciate Tyler's thinking on this, so he would keep me on the sidewalk when pulling my wheelchair and never go out into the street when there were cars coming. Can a horse do that? That remains to be seen.

I think that the people training these horses haven't thought it out completely. Because of the hygene issue, and the transfer of diseases issue, and the fact that a horse is more messy than a dog will ever be. Also, like I mentioned above, the horses hooves will damage flooring, and such.

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/23/2000 01:32:15 PM ~*~ link

Finally, I got some pain meds last night! The last two days have NOT been fun. Was able to sleep, and get some real rest. I see my doctor tomorrow, and I'm going to tell her that she and my GP either come to an agreement, or else! Don't know what the or else is going to be, but I'm really frustrated. I think I'm going to have them put morphine in the pump, so at least the pain is taken care of... then in a few months we'll try baclofen again. *sigh*

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/23/2000 09:22:15 AM ~*~ link

Well, I'm learning more about graphics every day... and last night, it showed me that some friends are really great teachers. Domynoe spent a few hours patiently answering questions on ICQ that I peppered her with, while trying to get a graphic right. Some of the questions I should have known the answers to, but Domy never said anything about that, she just answered my questions. Thanks, Domy, for being patient, and for helping me learn more so I can make my own graphics... guess I'm not so graphically challenged anymore. :) For an example of what I'm working on, you'll just have to wait and see. *giggle* It'll be up for all to see, I'm sure, as I'm making plaques. :)

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/23/2000 09:15:18 AM ~*~ link

Monday, August 21, 2000

I'm busily making graphics for several committees on NetSisters, as well as doing graphics for the team I'm scribe for at TSF, D'Patriots. You can see the party pages for D'Patriots here. I've finished a Dedication set for NetSisters to use on their site. It'll be up at the Utility Committee soon, but you can see it, here. I'm making plaques for the Social Butterflies Gift Shop, which I am in charge of, and making them for all sisters to use.

Yep, kicking and screaming into the graphic design area. I've always said I didn't know how to do graphics. Well, friends like Domynoe keep shoving tutorial URLs under my nose, so I guess I can't say I'm that much of a novice anymore. *giggle*

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/21/2000 06:45:54 PM ~*~ link

Well, today hasn't been one of my better days. I've been in pain most of the day because I'm out of pain meds. And all Keith can say is, "Why didn't you call earlier?". Because if I did that, and this has happened, then the doctor wouldn't refill it because I still have pills left, or he thinks I'm using too much. And the big thing about all this, is that neither my rehab or my general practictioner want to prescribe pain meds, they think the other doctor should do it. I will have to wait AT LEAST until tomorrow to see if the refill has gone through. *sigh*

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/21/2000 06:37:38 PM ~*~ link

*sigh* Keith just came home and told me that he may be out of a job around the 1st of September. It seems that the Bremerton Shipyards decided they didn't want the new computers that CSE (who contracted for Keith) is installing, causing a breach of contract. Don't know what's going to happen about that, but now, instead of a job lasting 6 months (which is what Keith was told), and Volt Computers was told by CSE that it would last maybe 2 months. ARGH!!!!

There's maybe one thing that may save his job. CSE is up for the network contract for the government, against IBM. If CSE gets it, Keith may be hired by CSE. We'll have to see. *sigh* If Keith loses his job no cruise in September of 2001. I'm going to be really bummed if we can't go.

posted by ">DanaWheels ~*~ 8/21/2000 06:33:51 PM ~*~ link

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