Last month, Hiro’s Heartworm Journey came to a close–he had to go in for a final blood test for “adult” worms that may have been missed in the prior test he had for microfilaria (“baby” worms). Both tests were negative, so he is now Heartworm-Free!
His physical fitness recovery is continuing, and the vet advised that it may take another several months for him to get back to his former fitness level. The systemic inflammation from both the worms and the treatment, combined with 5 months of being sedentary, as well as my less-than-routine walking schedule with him has taken away his stamina.
When he was first diagnosed a year ago, he would pull me through 5 mile runs, several times a week, with no problem. At this point, he can only join me for the warm-up, about 2 miles of walking, before he is visibly fatigued. I just take him home and continue the run by myself. He does NOT like being left behind!
I was surprised to discover that my average time per mile does not improve much when I run without him, because running with him means tripping over him a bunch of times and several drink and potty breaks. Yet, it turns out that he manages to improve my pace, even after I trip over him multiple times, pick up poop,and give most of my bottle of water to him. Also, when he comes with me, I get to look down at happy face reflecting the “joy” of exercise at me–I will take motivation wherever I can find it!
It turns out that I don’t like leaving him behind, either.
Hiro has now had all 3 immiticide injections and is recovering at home. We still have to restrict his exercise for another 60 days or so, but the most difficult part is over now.
Sadly, he is no longer so keen to go to the vet. When he went in for the first shot, he was curious:
But on the next visit when masked Vet Techs came to get him from the car……
He tried to climb into my lap. I had to get out of the car to get him to come out 🙁 Then, he managed to pee on one of the vet techs that held him for that third shot–he was that scared 🙁
When he came home from the Immiticide treatments, he was a SAD PANDA:
Call Sarah McLachlan!!! I’m THAT sad!This ice pack is not quite the worst thing that happened to me today!
Some observations I made during this process:
The first Immiticide shot appeared to affect Hiro more than shots 2 and 3. He came home from that first shot very lethargic, stayed that way for about 2 days and also wasn’t interested in eating during those first days. Even though shots 2 and 3 occurred on consecutive days, he didn’t seem to feel as ill after those. I was able to stop his pain meds the evening after shot 3 (a day earlier than after shot 1) and he never lost his appetite.
The injection site is likely to be hot and swollen. I found that laying an ice pack across the area for about 15 minutes (or however long he would tolerate it) really helped bring down the swelling. I did this once a day for the first two days. The vet advised that after that, daily warm compresses could provide additional relief if needed.
His appetite has been…well…out of control, thanks to the prednisone he’s been taking for the last couple months. He’s always STARVING. When we had to start restricting his activity 3 months ago, I cut his feed ration by 20%. Yet, he has still gained enough weight that he can no longer lick his butt and the vet has advised me to put him on a diet….definitely not STARVING as he would have all of us believe. Although I already had put him on a diet, Hiro is resourceful and he can spot a sucker…..he’s been scamming bacon and other tasty treats from my husband all this time! I have had to shut that down, because while my husband is the “fun parent”, I am the “fun police.”
“P” is for Prednisone….and a lot of pee. We had to take a lot of extra potty breaks, at all hours of the day and night. The prednisone made Hiro extra thirsty, which resulted in frequent, urgent urination, particularly after shot 1. He had a couple of accidents in the house, and he looked really confused as it was happening….it was THAT urgent. This side effect was definitely more prevalent a month ago–he does not seem to be experiencing this as intensely after shots 2 and 3, thankfully.
Next, he’ll have to go back in for a microfilaria test in a month. (This blood test detects the presence of baby worms). In 6 months, we’ll test for adult worms again to make sure that this treatment worked–hopefully we will not have to repeat it.
I’m relieved that the most difficult part of this is over now, and I am really looking forward to being able to take him for walks. He is looking forward to going to daycare, playing with other dogs, and being able to lick his butt again after he loses a few pounds. In the meantime, we’ll just keep giving him lots of snuggles and keep reminding him, “No Running in the House….or Anywhere Else!”
We have made it through 28 days of twice daily doxycycline in preparation for Heartworm treatment, and now we have a month-long break before the next phase in the treatment plan. This antibiotic pre-treatment we just completed targets a strain of bacteria harbored inside the heartworms, Wolbachia. The loss of this symbiotic bacteria is not going to be enough to kill the heartworms, but we hope that they will be weakened, and as a result, more likely to succumb next month when we administer the treatment intended to kill them, melarsomine dihydrochloride. Eliminating as much of the Wolbachia as we can now may reduce the chance of Hiro experiencing dangerous complications in the next stage of treatment.
Hiro’s nails have grown long, and he misses his exercise. He has an assortment of chew toys designed for dogs twice his size to keep him occupied, but he’s still like a kid without recess. He cries when I put on my running shoes and leave without him. He used to inhale his food, but now, he takes a mouthful a a time and drops it on the floor to inspect it–he knows I’ve been giving him medicine all this time and he’s looking for it!
Sometimes, I used treats, such as Pill Pockets or Pill Buddies to give him the medicine, but he caught on to that and I had to watch him closely to make sure he didn’t spit out the pills. I found that what worked best was to smother the tablets with peanut butter and smear them on his tongue-he became so interested in licking the remaining peanut butter from my fingers that he seemed not to notice that he would have to swallow the pills to get it.
He has been experiencing a couple of side effects from the antibiotics. I noticed some burping/reflux, but the most obvious was his reduced appetite, which led him to actually share his food with his brother:
…..Or just let him have it:
Hiro eventually overcame his shame and started chasing the cat away from his food after a couple of days…not that he needed another reason to mercilessly pester his elderly cat brother.
I expect that Hiro’s appetite will return to normal in a few days, but really, it’s probably fine for him to eat a little less, now that he is sedentary–he’s getting a bit portly.
All things considered, Hiro is doing pretty well–he doesn’t know that he’s sick yet, and we’ll try to keep it that way as long as we can.
We “officially” kicked off Hiro’s Heartworm treatment plan a few days ago, on August 28th. Last week, he had a chest X-Ray done so that the vet could look for signs of damage to his heart and lungs before she could determine how to proceed with treatment.
Thankfully, his heart and lungs still look fairly healthy, with some minor changes/damage noted to the surrounding blood vessels. Some dogs need to have a course of prednisone along with antibiotics prior to the actual adult “wormicide” treatment. The prednisone helps reduce inflammation and the antibiotics weaken the worms and thin the herd of harmful bacteria that live inside the worms. Because Hiro’s heart and lungs did not appear to be too inflamed on the X-Ray, we are moving forward with a month of doxycycline (antibiotic) only.
It took me 3 tries to get him to take 2-1/2 tablets the first day–they must taste awful. I have since found that coating the pills in peanut butter or putting them in a Greenies Pill Pocket makes this much easier–Hiro used to inhale food and sometimes non-food items indiscriminately, but since I once spiked his food with doxycycline ONE TIME, he no longer trusts me and eyes every meal with suspicion….
The hardest part of this is the exercise restriction. He doesn’t realize that he’s sick and doesn’t understand why I go for walks and runs without him now. He whines every time I put on shoes or anything with long sleeves. I went to lift weights the other day and closed the gate on the landing at the top of our stairs, so that I could try to get a workout done without his “help”…..
After he finished pouting, he decided to channel his energy into destroying the TV remote:
He has so far destroyed 2 of these, and I have had to rescue the third remote from him a couple of times before he had a chance to really dig in to it. He watches us like a hawk now, hoping against hope that we leave the surviving remote within his reach…..He loves his Kongs, but they don’t give him the satisfying crunch of destruction, or quite this variety of delightful textures….
So far, we’ve got this–I just need to find something that is more entertaining to him than destroying the remote control…..for the next several months.
The Hero’s Journey: In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero’s journey, or the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey)
Yesterday, I got one of those calls from my dog’s veterinarian that nobody wants to get: My 1-1/2 year old rescue dog that I adopted six months ago, that I have since come to love to pieces, and that needed a Heartworm-Negative test in order to travel to the rescue from which I adopted him, has tested Heartworm-Positive.
If he previously tested negative, and has been on a preventative for several months, how could he be positive now?
Hiro came from Louisiana, an area where mosquito season is “year round” and mosquito-borne illnesses are rampant in dogs as a result. It turns out that heart worms take 6-7 months to mature and be detectable on a test. He tested negative for heart worms 3 months before I adopted him, and I started him on Heartguard within a month of bringing him home. Unfortunately, Heartguard does not kill worms that have reached a certain stage in their juvenile development, nor does it kill adult worms, which can grow to a foot long and live for a whopping 5-7 years!
What Heartguard can do, however, is kill larvae, protecting the dog from infection resulting from new mosquito bites, and preventing the offspring of existing heart worms from surviving.
I knew when I adopted this dog that he would need to be re-checked for heartworms due to the above, but the most upsetting thing about this is that I did not notice any symptoms that he was unwell.
I had been taking him running with me all summer, easily 3-5 miles at a time. In hindsight, however, I did notice that sometimes he would want to slow down and walk for awhile. At first I thought that he was just hot, or flattered myself in thinking that maybe my fitness level was improving….but now I recognize that this was more likely “Exercise Intolerance”, a symptom of Heartworm infection.
This dog has also been amazingly well behaved and calm for such a young dog, too…..all this time, I thought that I must be an awesome dog mom and handler/trainer and that he must really like living with us….but it turns out that his heart and lungs are infested with worms that are sucking the life out of him, which explains his unusually calm and compliant disposition. Low Energy/Lethargy are additional symptoms of heart worm infection.
Hiro’s veterinarian very patiently explained the treatment plan, advised that it will take several months and a number of different drugs to evict these parasites, and gave me an upfront estimate that this treatment typically costs around $1500 all-in.
Hiro has to be kept as calm and quiet as possible, now that we know he has heartworms–cardiovascular activity can not only further damage the heart and lungs, now that they have to work harder to support the freeloading worms, but sections of the worms can break off and become lodged in blood vessels, causing a blood clot, which could kill him.
I tidied up his kennel today–it looks like we may need to use it more often now for awhile, in order to keep him from running around the house. I will also need to stock up on chew toys, so that he can get his energy out without elevating his heart rate too much.
So, here we are, embarking on a “new normal” for this little guy. The next step in “Hiro’s Journey” is to go back to the vet in a couple of days, where they will pull another blood sample to re-test him and have the results read by an outside lab to confirm the diagnosis for sure. (The vet advised me that they ran the first test twice in the office and both samples were positive, so the chance that this was a false-positive is astronomical.) They will also take a chest X-Ray, to look for signs of damage that has already occurred to the heart and lungs due to the infection, and help the veterinarian determine the best way to proceed.
The good news is that this infection was discovered about as early as it possibly could have been, which improves the chances that Hiro’s treatment will be successful and that he will be able to return to his active lifestyle someday.
Please keep up with your pets’ routine health screenings–I had no idea that my dog has been harboring dangerous parasites–he’s been eating, eliminating, and behaving in what I thought was a normal way for the past 6 months, and he never once blogged about his health concerns before, so I will start doing it for him now.
Tis the season for auditions in my studio, and as I’ve been helping students prepare to audition for college programs and various honors ensembles for years, I’ve gathered a few helpful tips to share!
Be VERY familiar with the requirements.
I know that sounds really obvious, but this can’t be stressed enough, because you don’t want to get to the audition, only to find out that you’ve prepared the wrong music or are otherwise unable to meet the requirements! Verify what the audition requires as far as scales, etudes, and literature, as well as sight-reading expectations. Finally, if the audition requirements specify specific editions of any music, make sure you have the correct ones.
Practice
Start practicing the material far enough in advance that you will have enough time to prepare it well! Practice slowly and thoroughly, so that you can make sure that your timing is clean and precise, particularly on the items that all candidates have to play, such as scales and etudes. One of the reasons they ask all candidates to play some of the same music is to help them recognize which people are bringing the strongest technical and musical ability. Often, candidates are asked to play the scales at their fastest controlled speed. If you have to sacrifice a little speed for better control, then do it! Slower is better than sloppy timing, and you want your performance to be memorable in a good way!
What about nervousness?
Yes, you should plan on that. Isn’t it amazing that our bodies respond to a situation like an audition as if our very lives are in grave danger? Isn’t it great that there will be no physical danger at your audition? I hope that makes you feel better already, but if you’re not there yet, let’s consider changing our expectations about nervousness.
I used to get really nervous, and trying to stop the effects of physiological fear just made me more nervous. What works better for me now, is to expect that my body is going to react with nervousness, and then do the performance anyway!
Some of the physical symptoms of fear/stress you might experience are:
Racing heart, shaking hands, fidgeting.
Too little or too much saliva-this can be a real challenge if you are a wind player or a singer.
Muscle Tension
Shallow Breathing
If you are feeling nervous before your audition, try taking a few deep breaths and rolling your shoulders back. Deep breathing can help take the edge off of these symptoms and calm your body down. However, keep in mind that playing in front of a judge is going to feel very different than practicing at home, and you would be wise to expect some physical reactions to the stress of auditioning, but this doesn’t have to stop you from playing well. Just recognize what is happening, do your best to stay relaxed, and play well anyway!
The Big Day
Be sure to get plenty of rest, water and healthy nutrition in the days leading up to the audition.
Creative visualization is very powerful–take a few minutes each day to imagine yourself being there any playing your best!
Get there early, so that you won’t feel rushed, and will have plenty of time to warm up. You may also benefit from taking a walk around if you need to dispel some nervousness before your audition.
Play as if being selected or not does not matter to you. Have fun with this-playing an instrument is supposed to be fun, after all!
What if it doesn’t go as well as it did at home?
Yes, mistakes might happen, and if they do, consider it an opportunity to show the judge(s) how flexible you are by just moving on with your performance as if it never happened. Being a good musician is not about playing everything perfectly at all times; it is about concealing the errors so well, and with such confidence (real or imagined-nobody else knows the difference), that the mistakes are not noticeable to the audience!
What if I am not selected?
It is perfectly understandable to feel disappointed if you are not selected following your audition. Performing leads us to be really hard on ourselves, because we spend months preparing for an event that takes 5 minutes. If you are bummed about not being selected, consider the following:
Even if the audition didn’t go as well as you had hoped it would, just participating was a good experience. You got out of your comfort zone, you did something scary, you learned about yourself, and you are now a better musician for it.
You now know what to expect from an audition, and just having completed one already helps you be more prepared for the next one. The more you do this, the easier it gets, and you get to take your experience with you into the next one!
There will be more opportunities in the future, perhaps even better ones. The only way to take advantage of them is to pursue them, so keep playing!
What do you think about audition preparation? Please feel free to add comments below. Thank you!
As a music teacher, I often field questions from people who are trying to decide if taking lessons is the right move for their children or for them. These three myths about music lessons prevent people from taking up an instrument entirely, and they don’t have to! If you have been pondering learning to play an instrument, but have reservations, do not allow these common misconceptions to discourage you:
1. Music Lessons Require a Large Time Commitment
It’s true that a time commitment is required, however, it doesn’t have to take as much time as many other extra-curricular activities. A typical lesson is usually 30-60 minutes once a week, with regular practice at home in between. Practice needs vary from student to student, but a beginning student can often make significant progress by practicing at home 100 minutes a week, an average of 20 minutes on 5 days.
2. Music Lessons Require a Large Financial Commitment
When I talk with prospective students, a concern they often express is affordability. Many of them are not concerned about the cost of the lessons themselves, but about the cost of the instrument and any supplies needed. Although that initial sticker shock can be daunting, keep in mind that there are alternatives to purchasing a new instrument up front.
Contact your local music store and inquire about instrument rental programs. Instrument rentals in this area start at about $25/month, and if you decide later that you want to purchase your rental, many stores will apply the rent you have been paying towards that purchase. Conversely, if that instrument does not work out for you, you’ll have the flexibility to return it without having invested in a big expenditure.
Used instruments can be a cost effective option as well, however, if you decide to purchase from a private party, I recommend asking the seller to have it examined by an instrument repair technician to make sure it is in good working order. You don’t want to shell out your hard earned money for a used instrument, only to find out that it needs more work than it’s worth!
Keyboards versus Pianos could be another article entirely. Basically, an acoustic piano is preferable to a digital piano or keyboard, however, the fact is that piano ownership does not work for everyone, and that should not prevent someone from learning to play. Keyboard and digital piano manufacturers are developing more advanced and affordable options all the time. These instruments take up less space than acoustic pianos, do not require regular tuning/maintenance, and the key action mimics that of an acoustic piano so that someone who practices regularly on a digital model could easily play an acoustic piano as well.
Remember that although music study will require a financial commitment, it doesn’t have to be huge and it doesn’t have to happen right away. Plenty of musicians start out on used or student level instruments and make the decision later to invest in a better instrument, after they know that this is something that they will continue.
3. It’s too late to start/I’m too old
Parents of prospective students often express concerns about enrolling their teens in lessons as brand new beginners because they do not have the prior experience that their friends have. Did you know that there are a lot of great methods out there designed for older children and adult beginners who have absolutely no musical experience at all? One of my favorites is Piano Adventures for The Older Beginner (published by Hal Leonard). I have worked with many older kids who practiced hard and quickly caught up to their friends who started playing when they were 7, as well as adult students who became proficient musicians. The truth is that learning styles and expectations vary between students of different age groups, but it is never too late for anyone to learn something new!
What kind of experiences have you had with deciding to start music lessons (or not), and what other factors influenced your decision?
Today is the day–I’m finally starting a lifestyle blog after years of thinking about it, and now I don’t know what to do! I plan to write about my diverse interests, such as teaching and playing music, riding horses, writing, extreme self care, and all kinds of great things I haven’t thought of yet.
One of my worst fears is being on my deathbed regretting all of the things I didn’t do, so I am determined to make sure that my time on Earth is extraordinary, while encouraging others to do the same.
I have put forth a lot of worthwhile effort, taken risks, some really stupid, and failed a lot of times. However, all of this led to wonderful opportunities I otherwise never would have had.
I hope to inspire others to find the courage to take those leaps, try things that they always thought about doing, but always found reasons not to. I believe that in taking these kinds of risks, one crosses over from an ordinary existence to an extraordinary one.
Thanks for joining me, and please feel free to leave comments below. I will do my best to respond to all.
