Say It Isn't So......

Sorry, Lizzie, it is. You've been diagnosed with diabetes.

Despite her dramatic pose, I don't think she has a clue what that means but she'll figure it out after dinner when I give her the first insulin shot of the many she’ll have to live with for a long time. I think (read hope) that she'll take it in stride and not rip my arm off. She was a perfect angel this morning when we spent an hour or so with her vet who gave us a hands-on demonstration on how to give her the shot. As a matter of fact, she seemed bored with the whole thing. The needle is very, very tiny and so is the dose of insulin, both so tiny in fact that I can barely see either one of them. That’s probably my biggest obstacle. Getting it into Lizzie doesn’t seem all that hard, and I’m sure I’ll stab myself a couple of times until I get a handle on it. The vet shaved a target area on her back which should help because it was hard to see through all her fur. She didn’t pay much attention to the two practice shots of saline that I gave her but she didn't like the electric razor at all.

The next obstacle will be funding this situation. Her medication now costs way more than my two prescriptions combined, including vitamins. For a tiny little vial of clear liquid I handed the pharmacist $200 plus $30 more for a box of syringes. I’m going to work on some useful, or at least decorative, craft item to make out of the used ones (sans needle of course). The supplies should last several months but if not I’ll just put the thought of retirement out of my mind for a very long time. I love my job, and Lizzie, so it shouldn't be a problem.