Update on Health of The Artist

It has been an exhausting few months and the weakness has now spread to my arms. Things are moving at a snail's pace as far as medical testing is concerned. Emory seems like a huge machine that just swallows up the patient and it's too easy for one to get lost in the shuffle. Other than the occasional doctor's appointment I've largely been dealing with this alone. If it weren't for my animals I don't think I would be taking it as well as I have been. They continue to be the one constant in my life regardless of what curve-balls come along. They don't care how much money I have, or assess my value based on whether I can drive, or whether I can walk. They love me unconditionally and for that I'm truly thankful. Even so, I am beginning to have more and more difficulty just doing simple things like carrying items to and from the kitchen and I know I'm going to need some human help at home soon.

I'm finding out that there are things I need in order to cope that are not covered by Medicare and Medicaid, and my appeal for Medicare to cover my Benicar is still hanging in the air. Expenses are piling up and ever since all the new changes in Google and Etsy's algorithms both my shops have not been getting enough targeted traffic to bring in the sales necessary to meet my living expenses.

My appointment with the neurologist a few weeks ago was rather anticlimactic. I had chosen her especially because I believed she had the ability to really help me and go the distance, and I still have no doubt that she could, but after doing an exam which included alot of testing of reflexes and muscle strength, and taking a detailed history I guess she determined that this was going to be too big a job for her and set about running the other way just as fast as she could. She made a point of telling me her main interest is in Idiopathic Hypersomnia and that she is "this sleep person" as she put it kind of coyly, a rather poor excuse for passing the buck to some other doctor since I'd waited a total of about 5 months now just to see her in hopes she could kick things into high gear now that I was sitting in her office. It's a shame because the stuff she's published on movement disorders would make her perfect for my situation, as she also understands how sleep abnormalities are a clue to something deeper going on in the brain, something that not all neurologists are astute enough to recognize. 

I had obtained a Lyme Disease testing kit from IgeneX, the most highly recommended private lab with the most accurate test methods but when I asked her to order the blood drawn for it that day she asked why my GP couldn't do it. I had asked him just a week or so earlier and his response was that he didn't believe in chronic Lyme disease and at that time was unwilling to do testing with a lab outside Emory even though Emory's lab (like most others in this country) did very limited Lyme testing and would most likely come up with a false negative (ruling it out when in fact I may very well have it and it may be what's attacking my brain so aggressively having festered since I was 6 years old).

The neurologist also noted that my diastolic blood pressure was high and had been on a few other occasions in appointments I had with several other Emory doctors (all the records are now housed electronically). She questioned rather accusatorily why my GP had not treated it, to which I answered that he was probably waiting for her to troubleshoot the underlying condition. And so it went from there, one deflection after another, my being the veritable hot potato she was desperately trying to pass off like some slimy football to any other doctor but her. 

She went on to state that since I was seeing this pulmonologist I should keep seeing him (which I already know, since it looks like the Biot's breathing is not going to be going away, and my breathing is likely only to get worse over time). It was her demeanor of utter almost dramatic avoidance that began to irritate me; this attempt to make it abundantly clear that she was relinquishing all responsibility for my care that was so incredibly crass in the face of my gradually losing all my muscle strength and control of my body. I tried not to let her know it bothered me but there was no way it couldn't if I had any feelings. Honestly I hope she reads this and is ashamed of herself. How insensitive could somebody be?

To her credit, before bowing out she did prescribe Keppra, an anticonvulsant medication which has helped the jerking I have at night, and she ruled out Myasthenia Gravis with two blood tests, and discovered I have some bulging discs in my cervical spine by doing an MRI, but stated in her notes that those are not severe enough to be causing my symptoms. It seems that was just an incidental finding. Her suggestion was to refer me to General Neurology at Emory (which she says is really backed up and has a long wait). She is outside the country now but when I spoke with one of her nurses just the other day on the phone it occurred to me that going that route might not be wise since it is likely they'd have to refer me to an even more specialized Neuromuscular clinic (which would also most likely be backed up for several months at the minimum). We are behind the 8 ball, so it makes more sense just to cut to the chase.

Each time I see a new neurologist they have to do all that pounding, pushing, and pulling on my muscles all over again to see for themselves (and my right forearm near the elbow is still recovering, as the day I saw her I'd already pulled a muscle just brushing my hair). I returned home that night literally feeling like I had been in a physical fight! She did not look it but was much stronger than my pulmonologist when he had pressed on my left leg the last time I was in his office. All this is very hard on my poor over-strained muscles which work hard just to hold a drinking glass or stand up in the kitchen or bathroom.

This business of doing two tests every few months at this stage of the game just isn't going to cut it. They are going to have to move faster than that if I am to retain as much function as possible. I don't have a caregiver and if I lose much more function I don't know how I will do things around the house without necessary modifications in place. Medical people are always touting "early detection" for everything, so to drag this out after it's been percolating about a year already would be irresponsible. I know what's ahead and I'd rather just get it over with so that I can go on to treating this with every tool available and have access to all the services I'm going to need so that I can have some kind of quality of life and continue to live in my home.

On average it can take Medicare 6-7 months to approve new medical devices/equipment, and I can already tell that this power wheelchair is not going to be sufficient for long. My neck is starting to weaken and there's no headrest on it. It's a Hoveround which gives it a good turning radius, but it's very short from back to front, there's no way to evenly distribute my weight or elevate my legs, and it's murder to do grocery shopping with only a footrest to carry things on.

My GP has already had to prescribe Tizanidine for spasticity and putting all the weight on my butt tends to trigger it even despite the medication. Any straining or holding myself upright for very long triggers it, so now I don't go anywhere further than my mailbox except when I absolutely have to. I've been trying to find places where I can order food online but that is extremely limited especially for anything fresh like fruits, vegetables, or dairy. Almost none of the farm co-ops deliver in my area and the ones that do want to take your money and give you random items without your choosing what you want to order. Schwan's Home Service doesn't have a delivery route in my area so they rely on UPS (the worst possible company) to deliver for a whopping $15.00 delivery charge). I told the representative of Schwan's that for that much money I can order from India and don't have the kind of income to do that each time I need food! Totally ridiculous!

I did some more researching online and found quite a bit of papers now published and listed on PubMed about a link between Lyme Disease and Motor n=Neuron and other Neurodegenerative Disease symptoms, so I sent it to my GP, explaining that at least if this turns out to have been caused by Lyme or its co-infections there's a chance we might be able to prevent it from destroying everything by treating it more aggressively with antibiotics. The window may be closing on that soon so we better get a move on. I guess he saw my point, so he decided to go ahead and order the testing through IgeneX and I have another appointment on Tuesday, October 27th to see him and get the blood drawn. It's a crap-shoot as to whether Medicare will cover it but IgeneX says they have covered it in other patients, so it is likely. It does make me a little nervous that it's not a sure thing because right now I'm having to go into debt just to stay afloat and I'd really like to be able to pay that off. 

Recently I have had to start using some herbs to supplement what I'm doing medically since the Big Pharma meds aren't fully effective. I'm using CBD salve and Sweet Annie salve made with infused Coconut Oil (neither covered by insurance and both custom made for me). Coconut oil has been shown to help these kinds of muscle symptoms I've been having as it has neuroprotective properties. In addition I think fairly soon I will have to replenish my supply of Benicar used in the Marshall Protocol and I still don't know what the outcome will be of my Medicare appeal for that. Our last step was to send the request to the contractor Maximus that deals with appeals regarding medications at the stage 3 appeal.

My son is waiting to hear about the next steps in his testing in preparation for brain surgery (also at Emory). I had been there with him during the day while he had extended EEG monitoring in the hospital, but now there are other tests they have to do before he can be approved for his tumor to be removed. Social Security cut him off by mistake and once they restarted the record that he has Medicare and Medicaid was wiped out of Emory's record, so that's another arduous mess to clean up.

I had hoped I could get all my testing out of the way and be on some sort of more definitive treatment by the time he was ready to have his surgery and that my upper body strength would be intact before that happened, but Murphy's Law seems to be getting in the way at every turn.

All this is very precarious. I am writing a manual about the running of the house for when he will inevitably need to come up and help, but I'm hoping that I can be in good enough shape to help him through his surgery first while I still can. This is truly a race against the clock!

I really need to move the jewelry in my Etsy shop as soon as possible to defray alot of these costs that are coming up. If anyone reading this has people you buy jewelry for (or you buy jewelry for yourself) please take a look at what I have available and consider buying your holiday gifts here. 

Giftbearer or if you do crafts yourself and are in need of jewelry supplies or other crafting supplies you may find some things you can use here; GiftbearerSupply 

Hopefully this will be a win/win for us both :-)

Here are a few photos of items I currently have for sale in each shop.

Cactus Quartz #4 with Citrine Underneath Surface
$24.00

Butterfly Mini Cards
6 for $8.00

Tumbled Kunzite Chips - Medium
$15.00

African Inspired Stuffed Earrings
$55.00

Pink Pearl and Lampwork Bracelet
$60.00

Mosaic Triangle Frame Earrings
$130.00

Green 3 Strand Necklace with Copper and MOP
$95.00

Chevron Australian Opal Ring
$250.00

    

Building Virtual Artist Communities That Work

If you have a shop on Etsy you probably know that one of the features available to artists is a plethora of teams of individuals aligned for a variety of common goals. I've had the opportunity to be a part of a number of teams on Etsy over the past several years. Each has its own particular operations and focus, but all act as a sort of watering hole to artists; a central hub around which to focus group effort and mutual support.

What do teams do and what is the demographic make-up of them?

Some of these teams are based on a particular medium, and others focus on a common interest apart from Etsy, yet still act as a means through which to facilitate one's art-based business, while still others focus on a broader grouping of people and their handmade items. Still others are defined by a particular type of marketing, be that advertising on Facebook, other websites, or in magazines, or on social media sites. Some have even excommunicated themselves from Etsy and have opened up independent forums and e-commerce sites.

Teams as trend;

I was amazed recently to find how many more Native American Etsy teams and teams made up of artists who love and care for animals have sprung up since the first one or two began, and now that teams are given a space to create their own forums on Etsy's website it seems the number of total teams has grown exponentially!

What Works, What Doesn't;

Having been on several teams and having run one a few years ago I have learned a little more each time about what works and what doesn't, and that is always a work in progress. Initially I think many teams took the approach that more hours spent on promotion equaled better visibility thus more sales to each shop participating. That isn't necessarily true. For instance; posting more links of your work on social media sites will get shops seen by a larger number of people, but that in and of itself doesn't guarantee sales because it's like shooting bullets blindly into the night versus aiming and shooting at a target. You may hit a few targets by chance, but the momentum and energy expended is often lost in the noise. While you are promoting your team members many other teams are doing the same with their members. With all those links flying around in cyberspace and at top speed alot of it will be missed by many of your followers and ignored by others. Viewers become desensitized after awhile and stop reading what comes across their screen because there's so much of it that it's overwhelming. You only have a short window with which to grab the attention of serious buyers who really want what you have for sale.

Speak Directly To Your Market;

In the sea of links listed on social media sites I've found by trial and error that it isn't enough to be seen; you have to also be heard, not by just anybody, but by those who believe your work is exactly what they want and need.

While posting on Twitter I found that sometimes what works best is to ask your target buyer a direct question. Doing this separates those who aren't interested in what you're selling from those who are. 

For instance; instead of simply saying "Blue, Silk Scarf" you might want to say "Brides; Need Something blue? Wear this Blue Silk Scarf and be elegant".  If brides are one of the demographics you seek to attract their ears will suddenly perk up. In just a few words you have sent an effective message to someone looking for your product; someone who wants to be elegant on their wedding day and has been looking for something blue.

Spread the Word Through Treasuries;

For those reading this who do not have an Etsy store treasuries are online gallery pages; a grid of 16 items that can be created around a theme. Creating a treasury has the dual effect of promoting the shops from which you draw items, and promoting your own shop. There are a number of ways you can speak to your target customer through treasuries.

1) If you have a supply shop add items from shops who are likely to use the supplies you offer. Sometimes this results in sales when those featured get curious and look at your shop.

2) Include shops in your treasury that sell the same type of product as you do. This can have its pros and cons. On one hand those featured are in a sense competitors, but on the other hand each of these 16 sellers and you bring with you a following, and since you have the same market this multiplies the chances for all 16 plus you to have a serious buyer find what they're looking for in your shops.

3) Choose your treasury items by style, taste, and even color that matches yours. Some buyers may go on a search for these features. 

4) Make the title of your treasury a question to your target customer. I've seen instances in which the title shows up on Google and several people in the treasury make sales from it (especially if the treasury comes up in the first few pages).

5) If you have more than one shop add the treasury to all shops' activity streams. Although this may gain exposure from some who are not your target customers it will also draw those who are your target customer and those will zero in on it.

Ask for Sales;

Creating a BNS (Buy and Stay) treasury is one of the quickest and most direct ways to bring in sales. These have a fairly large following on Etsy and not only are they fun and exciting, but often attract lots more buyers than a normal treasury will. Although the buyers are other sellers these special treasuries can grease the wheels and get stalled sales moving again, and increase your visibility in Etsy search.

Work Smarter, Not Harder;

It's easy to wear yourself out by spending too many hours without enough reach. Anytime you can make your efforts do double-duty you should. Look for ways to divide work between a larger number of people.

Here are some suggestions;

1) Collaborate with other teams in ways you already do with your own team such as dividing up the treasuries, 8 members from your team and 8 members from another team, then have both teams promote them. 

2) Create mutually beneficial arrangements to re-tweet either with other teams and/or individuals, or provide incentives like a giveaway drawing which requires entrants to re-tweet, post on their blogs, or re-pin items being promoted.

Follow these suggestions and your Etsy team experience is bound to be a beneficial one!

New Metalwork by Giftbearer

This Weathered Poppy Copper Bangle is hand-forged and its inner diameter measures 9 1/2" .  This one should fit a 7 1/2" wrist, as most wrists are about 2" smaller than the hand. It has a lovely reddish heat patina and the center is a contrasting brass ball shined so that it gleams when the light hits it. With the cost of silver going sky high copper and other metals are a good alternative. The color is warm and rich, and I love working with it! I will be making more of these and other new and interesting designs. If you love it but it's not your size please convo me on Etsy to place a custom order.

Click on the photo above to read more about this bracelet and to purchase.

See the rest of my jewelry available for sale here;

Giftbearer 

Pumpkin Pie is A Turn-on BNR 58 bought out - 79 sales Total!

 Last night's Promotional Frenzy Buy and Replace Treasury set new records, with sales numbers totalling 79!

The marathon lasted 17 hours in all and by 10 PM or so sales were coming in at full throttle! Some sellers' items were bought out almost faster than we could get them in, and some made multiple sales in one evening, buying back in and being bought out again! It was a little like day trading, although the pages had to be refreshed manually in order to see the transaction links as they were posted.

I truly wondered for a time there whether we were going to "break the treasury" with all of our volume!

At some point we had to move to a new location because after about 32 pages things got kind of buggy and we couldn't post anymore comments.

Here is the link to where we moved to; http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cd880914f496d918e0dc9fd/closed-pumpkin-pie-is-a-turn-on-bnr-58

Some of our newly invited guests have since come to the thread. We have a shorter event planned for 9:00 PM EST tonight.  Our Tuesday Promotional Frenzy is taking place and you may add one item of yours to the list to be Tweeted, stumbled, etc., just make sure that you also promote the other items on the list at 9:00.

Here is a full description of the thread and everything we're doing; http://galla15.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-promotional-frenzy-thread-huge.html

and here is a link so that you can get quickly and easily to the thread for tonight's promotion; http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?page=514&thread_id=6663721

See you there :-)



Next Buy and Replace Treasury of Members of 30 Minutes of Fame Etsy Forum Thread Reconvenes Soon!

Shop Till You Drop! Get Exposure for your handmade things! This will be Lots of Fun!

If you've never participated in a Buy and Replace Treasury you're in for a real treat!

Be There; Sunday, October 3rd

                 Monday, October 4th

                 8:00 AM - 1 AM

               Eastern Standard Time

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4ca7bb22f0306d91fd0a8fb5/round-5-30-minutes-in-heaven-bnr?index=0

(Save the above link; it will be visible at opening time!)

HOW IT WORKS:

We create a treasury (pictorial gallery of 16 items on Etsy) with a variety of sellers. Then you "announce" that you're buying from a specific seller in that treasury. Come back with your transaction link, and we'll put your shop in our treasury in place of the one from which you bought!

WHAT'S 30 MINUTES OF FAME?


It's actually something that queenofalltrades.etsy.com started in the forum threads. Fame is where we spend 30 minutes doing nothing but shopping, hearting, and promoting the "Famous Shop" hoping that it gets a least one sale. You can be the Famous Shop by posting a designated numbered post (for example the 5000th post) in the thread :) It's a lot of fun - we hang out, chat, promote, and make friends! Come join us!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6639858&page=1

Next Fame scheduled for

heavenlyjewellery.etsy.com

Sunday Oct. 3rd

6:00 PM EST



Game Plan

Yesterday I took Carmella to the vet to find out why she was losing hair in patches on her neck. She had also developed some little pustules near her crotch and on her stomach that looked as though she had diaper rash.

The vet did a skin scraping test and found out she has Demodectic Mange, although some sources say that Demodectic and Sarcoptic Mange are impossible to tell apart. Apparently Demodectic Mange is not supposed to itch, but Carmella does itch somewhat.

According to this website; http://www.mange-in-dogs.com/demodectic-mange-in-dogs.php if a dog has to have mange this type is less severe than Sarcoptic Mange.

Puppies 3-9 months of age are the most likely to get it, even the transition from puppy to adulthood can trigger the disease, and it aften attacks dogs with weakened immune systems. It's very likely that Carmella's recent recovery from Distemper left her wide open for other opportunistic diseases such as mange.

Most dogs have mange mites living in their skin at all times on some level but it may never be a high enough level to cause a breakout.

Dr. Norwood prescribed an ointment twice a day to put on her neck where the red spots are, and then prescribed antibiotic pills twice a day for the rash she has on her stomache and crotch, which he said is a secondary staff infection most likely connected to the Mange.

After 14 days of that, if she's not cured or it continues to spread then he'll dip her.

My very first dog, Bingo, when I was 5 had Sarcoptic Mange. Interestingly she was reddish brown like Carmella. My father and I gave that dog baths every day with the most horrible smelling prescription dip that looked like milk. The baths had no effect and the dog was eventually put to sleep because after a few months was reduced to a naked, red ball of sores, and as I remember became systemically ill as well. I'm sure back then the medications were not as effective as they are today.

I talked to Dr. Norwood about Carmella's snorting also. He looked down her throat with the equipment he did have and couldn't see any obstruction with that, but said that she might have one further down and would need a specialist to stick a scope down the airway to check the area where he couldn't. Letting it go too long could compromise her heart, but he was being somewhat conservative about referring her to a specialist now, preferring to wait and see if it gets worse or happens in her sleep. He said if she passes out or really gasps for air then we'd have to but wasn't sure whether it was severe enough yet to warrant surgery. I will keep an eye on it but don't want to wait until she reaches that point before taking care of the problem.

Her very small snout in proportion to her size makes her prone to this sort of thing, and if she's part Shar Pei that could definitely be a predisposing factor.

Dr. Norwood can now do a DNA test to determine what breeds she's mixed with. He recently heard about the two companies I'd mentioned in my earlier blog post and has started using the blood test. I am going to put that off until I get more of the bill paid off before I get him to do that, but hopefully will have it done pretty soon. I'm going to do a blog giveaway to the person who has the closest guess and will probably run it in the weeks after the blood sample is drawn while waiting for the results.

Notice all the wrinkles underneath Carmella's chin. She is likely to have a very unusual mix of breeds in her.

I plan on doing a series of watercolor paintings on Carmella as soon as I get some Arches Cold-pressed block watercolor paper, and may select one of those paintings as the prize to be given away to the top guesser. (The paintings below are from my Greyhound Series).

Gwen, Dr. Norwood's office manager asked if I was selling my paintings and that got me to thinking about starting another Etsy shop for my other artwork. I've been mostly focused on jewelry but I could probably sell my paintings when the jewelry business is slow. There seem to be a fair amount of people who buy flat artwork on Etsy, both full-sized and ACEOs.

After the holidays are over I will be gearing up for Valentine's Day and will pick up where I left off in my new line of PMC using the rubber stamps made from my photos, and the two seed pods.

I also have an idea of how to bring jewelry and watercolors together that I want to test-market, and some new ideas for unique products to sell in my supply shop.

Also on the agenda is looking for more wholesale accounts. I've got to put some new variables into the equation in order to increase my earnings!

Be sure to watch Carmella on the Carmella-cam, and if you'd like to contribute to her vet bill we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks to all of you who have donated so far. Our goal is to raise at least $1,000 and we've raised about $100.00 so far in donations and blog ads, and $120.00 from the recent custom order (which you can see a picture of here (It was overcast that day).




Carmella is one fixer-upper that is worth every penny spent on her!
http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

Half The Battle Won!

This morning we waited expectantly for the serum to be delivered to the vet and when it came in he administered it by I.V. Carmella came through that part with flying colors!

Dr. Norwood called me around 2:00 pm to give me an update on her condition and said she was eating and drinking and was showing no ill effects. Yay!

When I asked if he was about to do the other shot into the Central Nervous System he told me at that moment that he had never done a spinal tap of any kind, only observed one and that he didn't feel qualified to do that part. My jaw dropped. Until that point I thought he was ready to do the whole thing and I said, "Well if she's got the virus there too then how are we going to get rid of it all if the serum given in the body can't cross the blood-brain barrier?" He admitted that posed a problem but seemed terrified at the thought that he might kill her in the process if there was one wrong move with that needle.

As nice as he is, nevertheless, I wondered why he waited until then to tell me this. We could have called around a week ago to find a vet who had done spinal taps before when we realized this would probably need to be done in order to achieve a full cure and prevent neurological disease-progression in brain and spinal canal.

Last night I kept waking up startled, then going back to sleep, just to jolt awake again. This is a tricky procedure and a vet does really have to know his stuff to pull it off. One lady on a Distemper forum told me that her vet in Indonesia had no choice but to do it herself because the closest vet who was really qualified was 18 hours away by land and then about 12 more hours by plane. The statistics say that the chances of ending up with a dead dog are 99% on a vet's first try, and this woman was lucky that her vet fell into that 1% of successes, having no experience.

I was somewhat exhasperated when my vet balked at the last minute like that but felt that if he was really that unsure of himself it would be best for another vet to do that part. I just wish he'd told me this in the beginning so we could have had one arranged to give the CNS shot within 48 hours of the shot for her body.

After checking to see whether this would be disasterous I finally got word from one of my contacts that the time-frame between the two parts may not be near as crucial as the time-frame for giving the first shot. The figure I got was that the spinal tap injection should be done 48-72 hours later. I guess if I can't arrange for it to be done until Monday it won't ruin anything. I just don't have an answer yet as to what the maximum time would be safe to wait.

First I called UGA College of Veterinary Medicine and they weren't too helpful, telling me to have my vet call the Referral Coordinator and then they would make an appointment (no idea how soon that would be or whether they'd do the procedure if I miraculously found a ride down there). "No way" I thought. "We don't have that kind of time to be messing around with a bunch of beaurocracy at a time like this, then to possibly have to convince a vet on the spur of the moment I knew nothing about that she needs this and that it will save her life if he didn't know it already". I knew that if I found somebody to drive me and a sick dog all the way to Athens, Georgia and I got some arrogant clinic doctor who only wanted to believe Distemper is fatal 100% of the time and scoffed at this treatment, I was going to be hopping mad! Who even knows if they have the serum there anyhow or whether they'd have it in hand when I got there? I took down the number of the Coordinator, but turned my attention to any other options I could think of that did not involve going on what could be a wild goose chase.

Then an old friend popped into my mind from over 2 years ago who used to work as a manager for a mobil vaccination clinic that set up shop each weekend in pet supply stores. She was always calling vets to cover the various weekends and I remember she had about 9 of them who rotated. Most of them seemed like liberal types who really believed in making the health of the animal top priority, so I thought if anyone would do it she would likely have some names from there she could give me.

I e-mailed her and waited for a response. My heart sank when I received none. It began to grow dark and I thought she must be home by then, so I called, still finding her number inside my address book, and got an answering machine. I left as much information as I could hoping she was just in the bathroom or drying her hands before she could get to the phone and finally hung up, seeing as she didn't seem to be there. Then I went to my computer and started writing Daveyo to see if there was any word from Dr. Sears but nothing there either.

Then the phone rang again and it was someone from the shelter calling from my phone message yesterday when I had tried to reach them and couldn't. I told the woman that Carmella had distemper and she remembered her well (apparently she was a favorite of the staff) and was horrified when I told her the news. "I am so sorry", she said, "I guess sorry doesn't even cover it". I told her how my vet noticed in the records that she'd only had one Distemper vaccine while there and no boosters, and that he said a puppy as young as she was when they picked her up should have had them every 2-3 weeks to fully protect them, and how each vet check showed no weight documented and just said "normal", and how I was not told anything was wrong with her other than a slight scratched eye until after I'd signed all the papers and paid the adoption fee. Then I told her about the treatment she had to have to save her life and that now we were out on a limb until we could locate a vet to do the rest of it. She said she hoped I found one and said she would give the information to the shelter director. I gave her the links to the formula Dr. Sears had written on how to make the serum or get it pre-made, and to the forum on Distemper that was connected with Dr. Sears and Daveyo. She thanked me and I asked her whether she had another number where I could reach her if I needed to and she said they didn't have extensions. I told her that half the time they don't answer the phone or put it on hold or on a recording so that was not good. She did give me her e-mail address and she told me she'd look into getting treatment for her other dogs and that she would stay in touch.

I convoed a few people on Etsy while I waited to hear from any of the other people I'd contacted and then after I'd almost given up hope of hearing any news for the night the phone rang. It was Beverly on the other end (the one who worked for the mobil shot service). She sounded happy to hear from me and said she had just gotten home, that she was no longer working there, but that she did keep a husband and wife team of vets who used to work for the service as her personal vet for her dog. She told me that one of her two Pomeranians had died of congestive heart failure and so did her son's dog, Zephyr, but that she had both of her other dogs, although one was getting old and starting to develop dementia and was mostly blind.

Beverly came up with two other vets as well. I plan to go down the list tomorrow and see if any will or can do the rest of the job. I've gotten this puppy this far, so we might as well go the whole nine yards and get rid of every last remnant of this horrible and disfiguring disease.

Once this is all over the real recovery can begin. They tell me it could take a full year for everything to return to normal, but that at around 50 days improvement should be noticeable. As for the secondary pneumonia, that is being taken care of as we speak; two shots a day of a combination antibiotic, given intramuscularly. I know Carmella will feel alot better once she can really breathe again without all that junk in her lungs.

Well, tomorrow it's back to calling around. I hope we have that part resolved by the end of the day and can look toward the final leg of this endurance test and beyond. Carmella's life has really just begun.

All proceeds from my jewelry sales will be going to pay off Carmella's vet bills.
You can help Carmella in her recovery by purchasing from
http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

Carmella's Big Day!

Well the moment of truth has finally arrived. The vet called me this afternoon after I'd brought Carmella over there this morning, and told me he was finally able to find a vet supply company that had Newcastle Disease Vaccine, LaSota Strain. I had no idea that there would be any difficulty finding or buying it, but he encountered alot of barriers along the way. Some companies would only sell it in mass quantities that he could never use up in his own practice, and many other suppliers were actually out of stock.

After much searching he was able to locate one good source and they are going to overnight ship it to him to arrive tomorrow morning. It is arriving none too soon, as the rate of her decline is making this an emergency situation very fast.



Carmella didn't eat very well this morning, leaving half a can of dogfood sitting in her bowl, and still would only drink yogurt juice. Before taking a taxi to the vet's I gave her as much yogurt juice as I could, and took her outside to go to the bathroom. The cab company now charges $5.00 if you don't have your dog in a cage and $1.00 additional if it is caged. I put one of her pillows in there so that she would be comfortable, and she crawled right into it on her own.

Once at the vet's this morning I spoke with a man in the waiting room who was there to have his grey and white Schitzu groomed and we talked for awhile as we waited for the receptionist. He mentioned to me that his wife had once bought a dog from a pet shop that was sick and he insisted she take it back and get her money back although she was attached to it. She finally relented although she really didn't want to, and they did return her money. I told him that the shelter I got Carmella from had you sign a disclaimer, but that even if they hadn't I could never return her as if she was a defective product from a store. I picked her out from a long list of dogs I'd seen both online and at various shelters after several months of being extremely picky. When I found her, that was the dog I wanted, there was no doubt about it, and it would take a thousand armies to tear us apart. I found myself wanting to ask him if he would trade in his wife or his child for a new model the first time they got really sick. His story left me feeling very uneasy, as I knew it was a sign of the times. I looked at Carmella in her carrier and thought "No way would I ever do that to you". She looked back at me and I could tell she knew it too. This dog would follow me to hell and back and I am prepared to return the favor. If that made me a relic, I thought, then so be it. We are all going to be old and get sick one day, and I would hope that when that time comes all of us will have somebody by our side willing to do whatever is necessary, and I am a strong believer that we help create the world we will one day have to live in, so we'd best make it a compassionate one.




After about 15 minutes a nurse came out and called me to bring Carmella into a room. She asked me how she was doing and I filled her in on the sudden hardening of her pads last night and her reduction in apetite this morning. She had been the first one in that office I'd spoken with on the phone before the first visit and remembered my saying that Carmella looked like a Dingo, and she commented on that again, saying how extremely cute she was. I told her I hoped that Dr. Norwood had the serum and was ready to treat her because I was really worried with the developments of the night before that she would suffer neurological damage. Time was ticking away on my beautiful puppy's life, each minute lost, like a leaf of lettuce being peeled away, leaving a bare and vulnerable center which was her life force. The nurse looked at me from behind black-rimmed glasses and I thought I saw a slight tearing of her eyes, fleeting, but nevertheless very real and very human. I knew that she would take extra special care of my best buddy, as she saw in her what I do; that majestic spirit, that awe-inspiring presence like a tamed wild animal which made it impossible to resist her.

The nurse told me that Carmella was the first dog with Distemper they'd ever had in their practice and that she'd heard about it but had never seen if first-hand until now. She told me that some time ago several shelters had been shut down after an outbreak was reported on the news, but they seemed to be different ones than the one Carmella came from. Even so, it just goes to show that this disease clearly has not been eradicated in this country.

I wonder whether dogs are getting it from wild animals displaced by the destruction of the forest. I remember recently reading about a breed not yet recognized by the American Kennel Club called the Carolina Dog which is thought to be related to the Dingo and wonder now if maybe some Dingoes were released or got loose after having been brought over from Australia. If they'd mixed with domestic dogs then there is an off chance that Carmella could actually be mixed with Dingo, although how recently that would have been in the bloodline is a mystery to me. For that matter I guess someone with a taste for exotic pets could have brought one over recently (I hear you can order just about anything over the internet these days if you can get it cleared through customs), a dog like that could have bred with a domesticated dog. If one became a stray and was not current on their vaccines the puppies may not have inherited any immunity from the mother and contracted the disease or got it from the mother (already infected). Who knows? In any case it sounds plausible to me given the current state of our environment. If bears and wolves show up in suburbia why not Dingos or half-breed Dingos? One has to wonder where these diseases re-emerge from after they were assumed to be almost non-existant in the US nowadays.

After returning home I immediately got online and checked to see whether Dr. Sears had received the message and my vet's phone number to call him. but found out later from Dr. Norwood that he had still not called.

Upon speaking with my vet by phone we decided that Carmella should stay for 7 days in which time all the intensive treatment could be completed, she could be observed closely for any adverse effects, and have medical intervention close at hand just in case it should be needed. This made good sense since I don't have a car and there is only one person I know who could take me over there in the evenings after work, but nobody in the morning, as she will need 2 antibiotic shots a day to fully clear up the pneumonia after receiving the Newcastle's Disease Virus Vaccine I.V. and spinal tap procedure injecting the second dose into the Central nervous system to be sure all traces of Distemper virus are eradicated from brain and spinal chord.

The doctor advised me that because the serum he was using was bird-based rather than dog-based there could be some risks associated with that, but admitted he had really no way fast enough to find a donor dog in the time-frame Carmella would need, so we would have to proceed with the pre-made serum. At this point we have nothing to lose because left untreated she would surely die. I had hoped Dr. Sears would have been able to contact Dr. Norwood in time to send him the dog-based stuff, but with Carmella's recent disease-progression that one or two days might be too long to wait.

After our conversation on the phone, Dr. Norwood faxed me copies of Carmella's test results in case Dr. Sears got in contact with the guy working with him (Daveyo) before he called him.

Then I checked back with Daveyo on the two Distemper messageboards and found that he'd gotten back to me with some more instructions and information about what to expect in the days following the treatment, based on Carmella's current condition.

He said that it is very possible that after both initial shots Carmella might start having seizures or become paralyzed. The first 48 hours after the treatment the immune system goes through a storm, killing the Distemper virus. Soon after, a delayed reaction of the damage that was ensuing becomes fully apparent. This could take about 50 days to start resolving. He assured me that if she does suffer the paralysis it was easier to heal than if she had seizures and not to panic. This sounds very similar to what I was told about my own autoimmune disease protocol (the worstening before it gets better due to a Herxheimer reaction; temporary exascerbation of symptoms while the bacteria is flushed through the tissues and out of the body).

In this case we are dealing with a virus rather than bacteria, but I suspect the same thing is happening when shedding the virus as it's killed. It could be that the toxins released on Distemper's way out of the dog result in increased inflammation of the tissues and organs, and that accounts for the increase in symptoms indicative of which areas had been affected before eradication.

Since my vet has not done this before he told me he'd do his best and do everything in his power but that he couldn't guarantee anything.

I cannot say that I'm not worried, but Carmella's silent strength is part of what endeared me to her in the first place and it is that strength that will give her the ability to beat this virus. She knows that I'm not going to give up on her and that she's home and I'm not going anywhere.

If I have to work with her every day for the next year to get her functioning back to normal, I'm prepared to do that, but she may surprise us all and bounce back alot sooner.

There is something about her that doesn't quit, determined to live to see the day that she can jump into my arms (until she's too big), run, and play, and chew on her toys, chase a ball and bring it back, eat voraciously, and enjoy a long drink of water, to breathe in the warm summer air without coughing or congestion, to learn tricks, and go for long walks, basking in the sun, her reddish-brown fur healthy and glistening.

Carmella's Test Results

I just spoke with the vet, Dr. Norwood, on the phone and the word is that Carmella's two smears from conjunctiva and vagina showed no inclusion bodies of Distemper. Even so, that still does not difinitively rule it out, because her antibodies for it have actually increased. This is a paradox in that although she was vaccinated in May and that could account for the appearance of antibodies, the vet said that it is less likely because usually all antibodies associated with vaccination would probably have cleared by now. The question that continues to nag at my mind is "How could she even get Distemper if she was in fact vaccinated?"

Carmella resting on my knee

Based on the general dishonesty of the shelter she came from, their witholding of important information, and failure to document certain things, I find myself wondering if they "didn't and said they did". I certainly hope that is not the case.

I am supposed to bring her in on Wednesday in the morning so that the vet can do a culture of cells from the bladder which requires that she be sedated, so it may take a few hours, and then I'll pick her up in the evening. That test will take 3 days to get results back, but it is the most definitive test currently known to rule in or out Distemper.

Carmella doesn't seem to be getting worse at this point but she also seems to have reached a plateau. She continues to cough and have fluid in the lungs although she coughs less frequently.

She has spurts of energy, yet probably is not as energetic as she would be if she was completely free of disease. She is not near as responsive as she was the first day I saw her and although she will come when called, she often seems a little slow to respond and kind of spacey.

My vet e-mailed the expert, Dr. Sears in California, and is waiting for his response as to what to do next and when or if he should go ahead and treat her. The new treatment poses certain problems in that he found out he might need some additional equipment to mix up the Castleman's vaccine in the office. I am praying that there is a way for it to be done in the time-frame we need, if that is necessary. Waiting too long could result in irreversible neurological damage and at that point it would be too late.

This new development about the increased antibodies worries me, as it could mean the beginning of another stage in the disease, and this period of relative calm, just a short pause before a more menacing onslaught.

Meanwhile I am getting as much nutrition into her as possible, and I continue giving her all her medication on schedule, giving her lots of love, and rest.

I feel as if an ominous cloud is hanging over us, not willing to relinquish its stranglehold.

This vet is hanging in there with us, and I'm thankful for that. He seems to have taken this on as a personal battle, and maybe that will be our saving grace; all the difference between life and death.

I need to work on another pair of earrings today in the Carmella Collection. Putting one foot in front of the other. I continue to check my shop in hopes that the financial part of this will start to resolve.

http://giftbearer.etsy.com/

Update on Carmella

Carmella pawing at an ant in my driveway

Carmella is doing better after adding a second antibiotic twice a day. She's beginning to spend less time sleeping, starting to look around her surroundings, and is more interested in playing.

You can see in the picture above where they shaved the hair off her front legs to give her the IV last weekend. She has a beautiful coat and it is getting even more lustrous by the day the more she is nursed back to health.

Her energy is coming back and she is beginning to act more like other puppies her age, yet she seems to have an "old soul" perhaps because of what she has been through at this tender age. Although I wouldn't wish hardship on anybody, it has a way of imparting wisdom beyond one's years.

Once barely eating a handful of dog food, she now downs a can of the prescription food the vet sent her home with twice a day and her apetite seems to be increasing. Soon she will probably put the weight on that she should have for her age. She may have gained a little already but I cannot see or feel a big increase yet. It may take some time to undo the malnutrition she suffered for several months at the shelter and possibly before that, on the street.

The vet wants to see her again in about 8 more days, and we're still waiting to hear the results of a few more tests, but things seem to be looking up.

The past few days I've been working on this new Carmella Collection of wedding appropriate jewelry and taking lots of pictures of Carmella. She is truly something special!

The pieces in my Carmella Collection are really worth more than I'm pricing them, but I am pricing them this way in hopes that those who see them will consider it worth their while to go ahead and purchase them now rather than wait, help with Carmella's medical expenses, and get something really nice in return. I'm not asking for a hand-out, just a hand up so that I can extend that help to this precious creature who definitely deserves the best!

I know that times are tough throughout the US right now and many are faced with harrowing decisions and daunting life circumstances; lay-offs, cuts in benefits, difficulty finding work, foreclosures, and slow sales in business, but if you can find it in your heart and your wallet your purchase would be greatly appreciated at this time.

There are many more out there, who like Carmella, must rely on the kindness of strangers to give them a chance at life and health, and although one person can't help all of them, this is a very direct way you can help if you love animals and believe in their preservation. More people will step up to the plate and adopt these animals if they know the community is behind them and they won't have to go it alone.

How can you resist this face?

Help Carmella Get Well!

My shelter dog Carmella (who looks for all the world like a dingo) came home from several days at the vet's today and she seems to be somewhat better after IV fluids, Vitamin B-12, special high protein food, and some new antibiotics.

After piecing together the events in her records from the animal shelter it became clear that the shelter attempted to cover up the fact that she was as sick as she was. No weight was recorded (which I thought odd because that is something vets always do when they take vital signs) and there were several vet checks apparently over the past 2 months all of which said "normal" until the day I brought her home and I'd asked why she was coughing.

Carmella stretching in her bed

It is standard protocol not to vaccinate a dog that is currently sick and though she'd been given the vaccine in May for Distemper my vet noted that they were supposed to have given her some other vaccines later that month and didn't. It seems that the shelter went to great lengths NOT to document the fact that she was losing weight, not eating, and that her health was going downhill. No explanation appeared in the records for their failure to give all her vaccinations.

When all this information started to sink in and I put two and two together (and the shelter did not return my call asking for her weight), I realized that they knowingly gave me a sick puppy, chalking it up to "kennel cough" or a minor "cold" and knowingly witheld important information. It had not been until after I signed all the papers and paid the adoption fee (two days after she'd been spayed) that they showed me to her new cage (which was one of the quarantine cages). Up until that moment all they told me was that she or another dog had scratched her eye. When I saw her in her cage she did not look like the lively dog I'd seen just a few days before, but had a pile of diarrhea next to her and was lying down looking pretty bedraggled. As I was waiting for them to print out all her records I noticed that she was coughing. An employee blew by me as I was trying to ask her what was wrong with my dog, pretending not to hear me. I said "excuse me" several times before she finally came back and asked what I needed. I brought to her attention that the dog was coughing and asked about it. She seemed to be unaware (or at least behaved that way) as though she hadn't noticed but said she might have some "upper respiratory infection". Once called on it she went back and printed out some more records, documented it and had me sign them, then went and got antibiotics from the vet on staff and some medication for the diarrhea, as well as some antibiotic eye ointment. She presented it as if they were just sending the dog home with meds as a precaution and that it might just go away anyway on its own.

After a week of the meds the shelter had given me Carmella seemed worse; not better and was barely eating at all. That was when I took her to the vet because I was really afraid she was going to die.

I wondered how the shelter could not have noticed how much weight she'd lost and that she was not hungry.

When I'd brought her in the vet told me he thought it was something more than just kennel cough and said that it could be Distemper even though she had been vaccinated for that.

The test that came back today was inconclusive in that it was only an antibody test which would appear positive if she'd been vaccinated the same as it would if she had the disease. Next he needed to take several cultures to look for the actual cells. That will give us a more definitive answer as to whether that's what it is or whether instead this could be pneumonia from a very bad bacterial infection. It may take another few days to get the results of the more recent cultures.

When I'd brought her in my vet told me she had about a 50/50 chance of living and that the prognosis was "guarded". I could not just stand there and let this happen to the puppy that I'd searched for with a fine toothed comb over several months and bonding with. This dog which I seem to have an uncanny psychic connection with had to make it or I wasn't sure I would.

Over the weekend she stayed at the vet's office and meanwhile I researched everything I could online. I found lots of references on Google and on a pet health forum to a vet named Dr. Sears who had a practice in California who has a cutting edge but controversial treatment/cure for Distemper.

Most vets are taught that the disease is progressive and fatal, but this guy claims to have eradicated the virus in a number of dogs by giving Newcastle's disease LaSota Strain vaccine off-label. How it works is that is upregulates the dog's immune system so that it launches a direct attack on the virus and kills it within about 12-48 hours. I set out to get all the information I could on it and not only did I find the doctor's e-mail address and phone number for my vet, I also located the formula on how to make the vaccine in the office.

Apparently this can only work if a dog is in the very early stages of the disease (which if Carmella has it she would be in now). I asked my vet to be ready with the stuff over the next week in case he needs to use it before it's too late. He's reading over the material I gave him and seems open to trying it if it comes down to it. Really if her tests turn up positive there would be nothing to lose by trying it because the other alternative is permanent and progressive damage to the Central Nervous System, suffering, paliative care, then death (not to mention vet bills into the thousands for the remainder of her life).

Having battled a life-threatening disease myself and being saved by an off-label treatment, I know that there is an answer to everything. We just need to find it. Nothing is hopeless and we have to be willing to consider this living being's life worth saving, suspend our judgement as to how we're going to do that, and think outside the box. I call this "The 5th Option"; one which appears not to exist at first glance but in fact does.

My vet was very excited about the possibility of a cure but of course he will come up against those who refuse to believe it's possible and may even think badly of him for entertaining the possibility that this could be effective. I can hear it now; the naysayers who will invariably say that it's some nut, a vet on the fringe who would make such claims without going through "proper channels" and that no vet worth his salt would listen to it or take it seriously. I have heard it all before in human health circles, but I say who cares where the answer comes from and how the discovery is made. If it works and it saves lives then that's what really matters, and if it's what it will take to cure my little Carmella so that she can get well and live a normal life and allow her to get on with the business of being a care-free puppy, then I say bring it on! I did not save her from the "gas chamber" only to watch her die ironically of some disease.

In the meantime my vet bill is growing just from a few days of her being in the hospital and I need to pay it off as soon as I can, as there may be more costs coming, and my income is very small right now.

If you love animals and jewelry, your purchase from my Etsy store http://giftbearer.etsy.com/ would be greatly appreciated! I want to give Carmella all the medical care she needs so she'll have a fighting chance. This puppy has had a hard life already and she's only 3 months old. She's counting on me to take care of the logistics.

I have started a new line called the Carmella Collection which features highly ornate jewelry using pearls and gemstones that is particularly suited for weddings although it can be used for other occasions as well.

Why not come by and pick up something for yourself or as a gift for someone you care about while you offer the gift of life to this little puppy. Helping with these expenses is one way you can help a dog from a shelter to turn the corner. Giving directly to shelters is only half the need. In today's rough economy many people are likely to encounter the same problems I did when they bring home their new addition to the family because it didn't receive adequate care at the shelter. What is supposed to be a happy new start can often be just the beginning of a nightmare that never seems to end.

I thank you in advance for being part of the solution to Carmella's health problems.

Carmella after returning home from the vet Monday, July 14th, 2008, bandaged up from the IV.