Thursday, February 04, 2010

Biko update

I promised myself, if there's no improvement until Monday, I'll go see a doctor.
Meanwhile I bought a creme, which supposedely works for this kind of pain. I promptly got an allergic reaction, which almost freaked me out. Where I rubbed the creme in, it turned red and blue, and it hurt more. I washed it off as much as I could. Hand back to normal after a while.

I'm (stupid) brave, and bought another creme to rub in. This time no bad reaction, but no improvement either. I know it's too early to say. I've been resting the hand as much as one can (I just did a little spinning last night, under the influence of Advil). My right hand does most of the work anyways.

I should be doing nothing at all to give it proper rest, but that's not likely to happen.

my poor hurt hand in  a shrink wrapped fingerless mitten

I know I should use a proper splint, but I thought I'd wash my fingerless mitten with the washing machine, which would shrink them (Angelika, don't hate me! I love them!), which it did. Now it's snug and tight and supports the wrist, and is warm at the same time. I noticed that cold really, really hurts more, so I'd rather keep it warm.
I'm slowly but surely going out of my mind! One can only count ones stashed yarn for so long, and rearrange - well everything! I should be packing, and sorting stuff, so we have space for our upcoming renovations, but all the lifting does no good.

With nothing else I could do, I went outside to play with Happy, while Biko and my son went to see the Vet.
Oh by the way, Happy is totally freaked out about my daughter who's here for a few days, before she'll take off to Australia. He's totally spooked by her, even after three days of her being in the house. In the first picture you see him watching her from the distance. Hannah was playing with Biko (last picture), after she came home from the Vet.

Feb. 04

According to the Vet Biko seems fine. She scared us last Saturday, when she suddenly walked funny, like she had no feeling in her two hind legs. She tried to walk but could not, as if they had fallen asleep or something. It lasted a few minutes, and after that she was fine again, and ran around. During that day it came back several times, inside the house as well. It was scary to look at. She was not in pain, but looked confused.
She had a very short seizure on Jan. 5th, which I only noticed because she was lying at my feet at the time. So within the last 8 month she had 2 seizures.

The Vet checked her over, and said, that her back legs were very strong, and he could find nothing wrong. He said he'd like to talk about her symptoms with a neurologist. Since Saturday we've been watching her like a hawk, and she was fine. I'm still worried though.

O.K. now I'm back twiddling my thumbs, ouch - not even that I can do!

***

PS Thank's everyone for all your tips, and advice! I really appreciate it!

***

28 comments:

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Glad Biko is doing better - hope you feel better soon too!

knottygnome said...

hope that you are better soon! i'm sending good thoughts for you and biko.

momsue84 said...

So glad to hear Biko is doing fine. But am concerned about your hand. I'll be glad when you get it looked at. Hint, hint!

CelticCastOn said...

I hope things are ok with Biko, its scary stuff when they start doing things like that.
Another concerned about that hand of yours, you should go to the doc even if its nothing big they could probably give you something for the pain, T agrees :)

Virginia G said...

One of our rescued doggies had very bad epilepsy. It was well controlled through medication and she lived a full and happy life after that.

And part of her symptoms were no use in her back legs. It started with that and then went into full blown seizures, which were scary as hell.

I hope that Biko is feeling better soon.

And I really like your splint idea. :)

lexa said...

Glad Biko is better. My first thought reading this was possible epilepsy as well. I had a friend who's sister had a purebred Siberian Husky who had that and was controlled with meds.

Michelle said...

That must have been scary! Nimitz had a little seizure a couple of weeks after we got him but nothing since. Hope your hand feels better soon and I love the photo for Happy watching your daughter. Puppies can be so darn cute!

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Maybe Biko is confused because he thought HE was your baby :)

Hope your hand starts to feel better. I do think complete rest from any needle work is a must for at least a short time.

So happy to hear that Biko's check up went well!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry the vet couldn't pin point what's going on with Biko, but am glad that the symptoms didn't continue.

Take care of yourself!

Susan said...

I'm sorry to hear that your hand still hurts. Have you tried Aspercreme? Sometimes if one of my joints is acting up it helps a bit. Although my skin usually gets a little bumpy afterward so maybe it might cause allergies for you. The active ingredient is the same as Aspirin. I'm glad that Biko is better but it's always a worry when there's a seizure.

Cloudberry said...

Hope your hand will be better soon!
Glad Biko is fine.
Have a great weekend - hopefully without any pain!

2paw said...

G;lad to hear that Biko seems fine and I know you will all be watching her like hawks. Poor Happy, being frightened by your daughter!!! That's so funny!! He looks very handsome in the pictures and also seems to be getting over his fear!!
Your hand turned blue???!!

wolltrunken said...

Oh je - Ich wünsche Euch beiden Damen ganz doll gute Besserung!

Happy ist so ein toller Kerl geworden, nur die Ohren sind noch ein ganz klein bisschen groß im Verhältnis zum "Rest", sonst sieht er schon richtig erwachsen aus.

Liebe Grüße

von Birgit

Frieda said...

I'll add my 2 cents and encourage you to go see a doctor .Small problems can usually be fixed more easily, waiting might make it worse . Good luck !

Hope that there's no more incidents with Biko . That Happy is quite the character. Hope you enjoy your visit with Hannah ...

shannon said...

when we had to put josie on the phenobarbital for her seizures it was hard. what did it mean for our girl? what kind of life will she be able to live? would it change my dog?

it means she lives with fewer and shorter seizures, she gets to live the same exact one she was living prior to going on the phenobarb, and aside from the first couple of weeks of being extra dopey she hasn't changed at all. since being on the phenobarb she has had one single small break through seizure that was done before we could time it.

i hope things with biko settle down soon and the vets figure out what's going on with her.

meanwhile, know we're all keeping her in our thoughts.

Toby said...

Hope you feel better and that Biko doesn't have any more episodes! How frustrating to not be able to craft, especially when you're worried about Biko.

As far as Happy, wouldn't it be funny if he could tell us what's he thinking?

picperfic said...

i totally sympathise....i do hope rest will help you to get back to your crafts

Carrie K said...

That is a darling splint. Good idea.

Glad Biko is better but still with scary symptoms. Hopefully they can be either controlled by medication or so few in frequency that she/you all can handle them.

That is too funny about Happy and Scary Hannah!

RC said...

you really really need to get your hand looked at. it would suck to not be able to knit for months or more, and that's what it will come down to if you don't do something now !!! Happy and Biko need you to have full use of your hands.
Glad Biko is doing better, but still worried- its my job ;) keep posting her status

SNOWBIRD said...

You may have to rest the hands for a while. I know it's hard to do, but it may allow more knitting in the future. That's a happy thought. Hope your beautiful Biko will be okay too!

Wollhuhn said...

Monika, Du könntest mal versuchen, die Übungen unter tennisarm.ch zu machen. Die sind ganz sanft und haben mir immer gut geholfen!

Gute Besserung!

Liebe Grüße
Tanja

Pat said...

I LOVE your fingerless mitt splint - by far the nicest splint I've ever seen!

susannasplace said...

Ich hoffe, es ist keine Hüftdysplasie, die kann auch solche Symptome verursachen. Gibt es öfters bei Schäferhunden.
Drücke die Daumen, dass alles gut ist.

BTW... Deine Handschuhe sind toll geworden.

Jody said...

Yuck - feel better soon! Hope Biko is fine too!

Anna said...

hi, hope you are having a good weekend? I am backreading your blog and have loved, laughed and cried.

As a fellowspinner, I hope one day you can post a picture of the 'the big black hole of a handspun yarn holding bin'. :)
best to you with your hand, Biko and your daughter going to Australia.

Bea said...

hmmmmmmmmm - erst gestern hat mir der Vater der Freundin meines Sohnes von Arthrose in beiden Daumen erzählt (meine kaputte Schulter animiert die Leute *gg*).

Bei ihm hat das ein Jahr gedauert.

Also, erheb dich und geh endlich zum Arzt und lass das röntgen anstatt mit irgendwelchen Cremes rumzuschmieren. (ganzstrengheute)

Und wenns dann gottseidank nichts derartiges ist wie Arthrose oder so, dann bekommst du vom Arzt wenigstens ne passende Creme.

Daumen ist sicherlich genauso lästig wie Schulter nehm ich an.

Mitfühlende Grüße
die Bea

Robin said...

So glad Biko is back home and doing OK. My son's big dog had a seizure. He was watching TV and noticed that she got up and tried to walk but couldn't and just acted very weird. He rushed her to the vet and they kept her for observation but they couldn't find anything. That was about a year ago and she hasn't had another one. Strange.

SockPixie said...

I am happy Biko is doing better, and I hope your hand is getting satrted to feel better too.