Do bad things come in threes?
Have you ever heard the saying that bad things come in threes? Well, I am really hoping that’s the case, because these last few days have been rough. Do you mind if I vent?
It began on Thursday, when Aaron was unexpectedly laid off from his job. His company brought in a new CFO who determined that they were spending too much money on staff, and since Aaron was a senior person, he was let go. It’s the first time we’ve had to deal with something like this, but it sort of comes with the territory when you work in the very fickle advertising industry. We’ll be okay – Aaron is extremely hard-working and constantly has freelance projects lined up, and I have my SEO consulting to help – but it’s stressful nonetheless. I spent most of my Friday researching health insurance for us (which is mandatory in MA), and that’s enough to send anyone into a meltdown.
On Saturday, with stress levels already running high, we took Barley to the vet for his next round of puppy shots. The vet tech pushed us to give him the bordatella (kennel cough) vaccine, but we declined because we didn’t want to overwhelm his immune system all at once and don’t plan on boarding him or taking him to the dog park for the foreseeable future. This ended up being a very good decision, because Barley had a bad reaction to the DHLPP shot he received, which I now know is essentially five vaccinations in one (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, and parvo).
As soon as we got home, he yelped every time he tried to move because of the pain and I noticed a very large lump on his shoulder that was getting worse. After calling our vet, they advised us to go to the MSPCA Angell emergency room. Thankfully, that’s only two miles away from us, but it was a long twelve minute drive with a screaming puppy in the backseat. I cannot say enough good things about Angell. The doctor was literally checking his vitals in the lobby two seconds after we walked in, and they immediately administered a Benadryl shot and painkillers to get the inflammation under control. As far as allergic reactions go, Barley’s was not severe (he made a full recovery the next day), but it was terrifying at the time, took up most of the day, and added several hundred dollars to something that should have cost fifty. We’ll likely be steering clear of those combo vaccines moving forward, and also having his shots done at Angell in case something like this happens again.
I can’t stress this enough – do your research on what shots you’re giving your pets, how many you’re giving at a time, and be wary of over-vaccinating for things that don’t apply to your situation. Just because a vet tells you something is routine, doesn’t mean it should be for your pet.
Alright, can you even handle reading about bad thing number three? This one’s much less intense, I promise.
After several days of this emotional roller coaster, my face and neck decided to break out in itchy, red hives. Seriously. Clearly, I was not already freaking out enough and now need to feel too self-conscious to leave my apartment. I think it’s due to a new moisturizer, which oddly enough, I bought because it’s supposed to be good for sensitive skin, but it could be anything (food-related, stress, something in the air?). On the plus side, we stocked up on Benadryl for Barley, so now he and I are both enjoying the cherry chewable tablets. Half of one for him, four for me. I am praying to the universe that it subsides soon, because the last thing I need is an expensive doctor’s appointment.
I’ll be back a little later in the week with a cookie recipe. I could use one, and I’m sure you could too after reading this post.
Thanks for bearing with me.
xo
Amanda
