puppy mill

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Posted on by akiwifreund

Please enjoy this post from a fellow chronic illness blogger.

I never, ever, EVER ask other people for advice. But they love to give it to me. Even when I tell them that I don’t want it, they love to vomit it all over me.

“Have you tried taking Benadryl?” – Well, now, that’s the wrong question. The correct question is, “Have you taken more than twelve times the normal dose of Benadryl every day?”

But you’ve heard this from me before. So I’m going to take this in a slightly different direction.

The reason why I don’t like support groups is that sometimes they spread information that’s just downright wrong. I mean we’re not talking which color of the rainbow is better than the other, but shit that could kill you. And when it’s posted in a public forum, I’m absolutely going to speak up, even if I’m the only one doing so.

One woman posted something about the possibility of being allergic to her “hypoallergenic” dog. Immediately my alarms and flags went up, because people, there is no such thing as a “hypoallergenic” dog. All dogs make these proteins that are in dogs’ saliva, skin cells and urine; maybe not everyone reacts to them, but all dogs make them. I responded by saying that we have to avoid spreading misinformation because we have to understand that all dogs make these proteins and there’s no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.

Then this dumb twit jumps in and tells me that I had better “watch what I imply” because her little girl has a dog that she loves. [Internal conversation: This one doesn’t know the definition of “imply,” because I didn’t “imply” anything, I came right out and said “Stop spreading misinformation.”] I told her her daughter’s affection for her dog doesn’t change the fact that her dog produces allergens in her saliva, dead skin cells and urine. Then the twit told me it was my opinion. I responded by saying no, it’s a scientific fact that all dogs produce the allergens. Then she told me that I was being a drama queen and that not everyone reacted the same to all dogs, just look at her daughter!

To drive my point home, I repeated again that it was scientific fact that all dogs produced the proteins in their saliva, dead skin cells and urine. Not all people reacted the same way, but all dogs produced them, and there was no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. [Another side note: I am thinking of her daughter, and how sad it is that she is passing down her lack of education.]

Then another guy posted pictures of him and his “hypoallergenic” dogs. Fucking hell…..

And other people chimed in saying, “Oh, maybe your dog ran through some grass that you are allergic to,” or “Oh, maybe your dog ate something you are allergic to.”

But then the original poster admitted that her dog was staying with her parents for the time being because there is the possibility that she is actually allergic to her dog. 

BECAUSE HER DOG MAKES PROTEINS IN HER SALIVA, DEAD SKIN CELLS AND URINE THAT ARE ALLERGENS.

The reason that it’s such a big deal with this disease is that we can go into anaphylaxsis at any time, or we can have chronic bronchitis or pneumonia or other infections that we can’t get rid of because of weakened immune systems because our mast cells are going fucking bonkers. Some in the group have said that they would rather give up all food (and have) than give up their animals. That’s their choice, but I’m not pro-misinformation. The AKC is already fucking people (and dogs) over, but that’s a story for a different time. But I’m guessing that the twit who told me I had better watch what I say paid a fortune for her Yorkie from a puppy mill.

I Saw Another Ghost

Posted on by akiwifreund

First and foremost, my ass is healing. The hole used to be the size of an adult thumb, and now I think it’s more child-sized. I have been doing a daily bath with epsom salts, and my body has been doing the rest of the work with the superhealing mechanism that was triggered by the wound. The surgeon does not need to make any more hamburger.

Second, there was a lot of confusion surrounding my bed situation. I saw a doctor at the U of MN on January 4th, during which time I was “prescribed” a hospital-style bed that should also help me avoid further bed sores. I was handed the script and told to do the rest. I pulled a North Carolina and said, “Do what now?” I called my insurance company to find a durable equipment company; the insurance company told me that my doctor needed to call the insurance company first for a pre-authorization. I sent a message to the doctor who prescribed the bed, and got a message back late last Friday; when she called, the insurance company told her that I was supposed to go to the durable equipment company. So it took me a few days, but I finally tracked down a company that was contracted with my insurance company and might have what I need. I called them, the intake person laughed at me and told me that I was doing way more than I should have, and that she would work it out with the doctor and the insurance company.

Nothing is ever easy.

When I developed this issue and got the prescription for the bed, the first thought I had was, “How am I going to explain that to Nashville?” I mean, the surface area is going to be halved, but then again, it’s supposed to be adjustable, so……….

Turns out I worried for nothing. I called him over that first weekend in January and told him that I was due in the surgeon’s office Monday and that there was no way I could make a date happen on that day. We chatted for a while, and he told me about his neighbor attempting to steal his brand new puppy that he paid a breeder $1200 for. We talked about him setting up security cameras. I couldn’t seem to convince him that the neighbor “knowing Nashville was real, real mad” wasn’t enough of a deterrent from the neighbor trying again. Then Nashville made some excuse about it being late (even though he normally works 3rd shift and it was only 10 pm, so he was definitely used to being up then), and we hung up. He texted me the next day to tell me he hoped that I was feeling better, and I told him to give the puppy extra pets from me.

The day after that, I saw the surgeon again, so I had a better idea of the timeline with the healing of the hole in my ass. I called Nashville and left a message.

And then…nothing.

I waited about five days, and then I signed on to OKCupid to see when he last logged in. I hadn’t been on since Christmas, but the system told me that he was online in the wee hours of the morning on the same evening we traded texts. So in other words, Nashville was still cruising for chicks. He totally ghosted me.

I don’t know why exactly, but I’m not bothered enough to blast him. Instead I blocked him on Facebook and OKCupid, and automatically forwarded his texts to junk as well as marked his calls as automatically going to voice mail. I don’t expect him to call or text again since he cut off all communication, but I just wanted to be sure that he would have to go out of his way to figure out how to contact me.

I still have his Christmas gifts.

I couldn’t have been happier to be able to recycle his god-awful work calendar – which consisted of guys with hunting rifles hauling around the bloody animals they just shot.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to confirm this, but I’m wondering if he got sucked into talking to women in Russia or the Philippines like my former hookup did. He is definitely the kind to give them his last penny because of some sob story.

Nashville used to tell me that he thought I was too “high class” for him, or too smart. He also bemoaned the fact that I can’t drive, but as soon as he said that, he would tell me how much he loved my neighborhood and that he would like to move to this part of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I told him that he had to make some decisions, that there were certain things I couldn’t change, no matter what.

Rather than speaking to me directly, he chose to ghost me. Nashville always used to say that he never, ever broke up with any women, they always were the ones to break it off.

Well, Nashville, those words better stop coming out of your mouth. By pretending I never existed, you broke off the relationship.

I’m still looking for my unicorn.

P.S. – time to recycle my Star Wars cup – Nashville was using it as his spit cup when he stuffed his face with chewing tobacco