Let's All Think Good Thoughts, Please!

Because I seriously suspect that Otter is about to start playing the Asthma Game. She's had a stuffy nose off and on the last couple of days, but it's only been her nose and not her lungs. We took the poochies for a walk this afternoon, as we came in the door she said her lungs were feeling tickly which is never a good sign. She also said she needed her inhaler, so she used it and that promptly gave her the shakes. Which is a frequent side effect. It also made her feel a little dizzy, but that could also be part of the asthma symptoms. It's not windy and there is nothing blooming, so the walk probably didn't cause anything.

I ran the vacuum in the living room, then I sent her to her room so I could take the thing apart and unclog it. It's a new to me but used vacuum, I got it today for $10.00 and it is a pretty pricey Bissel bagless model. My younger boss had a tenant move out a few months ago that left all sorts of things behind, now he's disposing of all the stuff. So he sold me the vacuum. It was pretty clogged, so I sent Otter out of the living room while I created a dust cloud! There was a lot of hair, general dust, just crud that I pulled out of the new one. But I don't think it bothered her, she was already in her room by that point. She stayed in her room for a long time, then she decided to take a warm shower. The warm steam usually helps her; I'm the opposite - warm steam makes my asthma worse.

I'll have to watch how she does this evening. Her symptoms this afternoon are not severe, but she has all the indications of a flare coming on and if it worsens, it could really worsen. I think I'll strongly suggest chicken noodle soup tonight, Mom always told me it could cure just about anything. :)

I am also thinking that I'm going to call her allergist tomorrow. She's been on the claritan for a few weeks now, and it doesn't seem to be making a difference. She is back to her excercise program and still getting out of breath and wheezy. It costs us a little over $80.00 for a 30 day supply of the medication, which is about 50 % of what it would cost if we didn't have a prescription discount with our health insurance. Since it doesn't seem to be working, I'd prefer not to have to spend that much - if it worked, it would be a different story. I know that some drugs can take time to build up in the body and this may be one of them. But it's been several weeks and I'm not seeing any improvement at all. So I think it's worth a call to the allergist. She sees him again in March, anyway. It's possible he'll tell me to keep her on it until then.

I think I'm going to be very happy with the new vacuum, the old one was about 14 years old and had been used a lot - A LOT. Because of the dust allergy Otter has, I have to vacuum pretty often. Everywhere! And having a long-haired fluffy fuzzball (also known as Frasier) in the house, the vacuum generally would get clogged up within just a couple of days so it's been taken apart and roto-rootered many times. But it's been acting up lately, Bill looked at it and the Official Engineer's Opinion is that it is on it's last legs. I'd been looking at Dyson vacuums, they are not cheap but they are very good and a good vacuum is a must for us. The one I got today isn't quite a Dyson, but it is a very good model and I think it will work out just perfectly. Besides, it was only $10.00!

I'm not sure, but I think the redecorating Bug has agreed to stay away from my bedroom. At least for now! Besides, the Bug is still busy with the kitchen. It will be busy for a while. We are possibly going back to the flea market Sunday - Froggy, we'll start with the booth that the older lady has with the funny discounts. I'm thinking that I might find a few things there for my vintage kitchen decor, there were several things I liked last time but I wasn't sure if they would fit or if I had too much already. Turns out, I don't have enough! So I'm going to see what I can do about fixing that situation. Come on Yard Sale Season!