Look, I'm cute!

Mom and Auntie Deka were in the bedroom all day going through the closet which has all Mom's costume things in it. Mom used to be an actress, so she has lots of costume things like big poofy dresses that people used to wear hundreds of years ago. There's all kinds of hats and something called corsets and petticoats. I dunno what any of that stuff is, but I know it's fun! Mom & Deka were going through the closet to find costumes to wear to something called The Tim Burton Ball, which is some kind of party, I guess. Well, I have never been in that closet before and let me tell you, that is the place to be! I got petted and given treats and put on a pillow on the bed and my belly rubbed... it was AWESOME! Plus, I helped Mom pick out things for organizing the closet too. Mom let me try on some hats and scarves for this cell phone application she has called "Cloth." It is a wardrobe documenting application thingie for people who work in theater and film to keep track of costumes and clothes worn by actors. I got to model some hats and scarves, and I model like a pro. I earned some treats, definitely. Then Auntie Deka took me for a walk in the park for an hour. I chased lake chickens, and got more belly rubs!

Me, relaxing on Mom & Dad's bed.

My glamorous evening look.

Shabby Chic.

Green, lots of green.

Mom's Dickens Fair bonnet.

"Has it ever occurred to you that you are insane? 

Because you just put a tiara on a dog."

      -Deka

Getting better- but only kinda

I have been doing both better and worse. Isn't that weird? Mom reduced the Potassium Bromide and that didn't work out so well because I went from being totally drugged out all the time to being really restless all the time AND having lots of seizures. So mom increased it a little and that helped but I still have seizures. Not as many, but they are a pretty regular thing. I am really, really unhappy when I am all drugged up. I have trouble walking and can't really do much. But seizures are bad too, so Mom & Dad are trying to balance my meds and make sure I am medicated but not OVER or UNDER medicated.

Mom says she has the same problem. When she takes the pills the doctors give her, she doesn't have much of a life at all. She gets so sad and tired and woozy all the time that she can't go places and do things. The pills are real bad for her kidneys too and caused Mom to have kidney problems. Mom now has a card to take "special medicine" and that works better for her. It stops the seizures, doesn't hurt her kidneys and she can have a life and actually do things. Mom says if all else fails, she will make me special medicine dog biscuits.

So, I have been having seizures, but when I am not having seizures, I am more able to do things. I am clumsy so Mom has pit pillows around the things I bump into often, but without the extra potassium bromide, I seem happier and more alert. Mom says it is a balancing act not just with the meds but with quality of life:

Is it better (for the dog) to have a doggie that is really dopey on drugs and can't do much, but doesn't have seizures?
Or is it better to have a doggie that is on less medicine and does have seizures, but can still function and play?

It is a risk to the doggie to allow seizures, but what kind of life is a doped up one?

Mom says people who don't have seizures often don't understand what seizures are like and cannot understand how some people choose to not be medicated. It does look scary, and it does feel awful, but it is five minutes of awful in a day, and sometimes five minutes of awful is better than all the time awful.

In good news, next weekend I get to go to the beach! Me and my dog-friend Curtis are taking off to the beach in Pacifica! Mom is gonna make me a nest in the back seat of the car so I can be a wet, dirty dog if I want to be, and we are gonna go find seashells and rocks. Me and Curtis get along real well. Bunny Thing can't go because Curtis will eat her.