Now I know how Bobby Brady felt when the washing machine overflowed…

Since I’ve been residing in Germany, I am continually amazed by how complicated doing laundry can be. From the front loading washers to the condenser dryers, it’s not as simple to wash clothes and towels here as it was in the United States.

Before anyone comes at me, I do realize that in the US, we have high efficiency, front loading washers. But my US washing machine is a top loader– basic as can be, and easy to turn off and on. Here, I have a front loader. I also have a condenser dryer, although I did have a vented dryer until somewhat recently. I bought new appliances in August 2023 when my first washing machine broke down. The newer machines are a lot better than the old ones were, but every once in awhile, I run into issues.

A couple of days ago, I decided I would do some non-routine laundry. It was vacuum day, so I decided to wash the washable rugs in the house. I have them in the bathrooms and by our bed, on either side. Noyzi likes to lie on the ones by the bed, so they get dirty. I also decided to wash Noyzi’s bedding, which gets full of his hair and the dirt he tracks in from the back yard. And I did a load of clothes that were in the hamper.

While I was washing everything, I noticed there was a flashing warning light on the washer’s display. The instructions for the washer are, unlike my previous, inferior machine, only in German. So I took the booklet up to my computer and used Google Translate to find out what the problem was. It turned out the machine was signaling that the drum was dirty. The machine has a special setting one can use to clean the drum. I resolved to use it once all the washing was done.

So, after hours of hauling laundry up and down two flights of stairs, I was pretty tired. It was time to try out the drum cleaning cycle. As I was preparing to turn on the machine, I couldn’t remember if I was supposed to use detergent or not. I assumed I was, and put a little in the drawer. Then I went back upstairs to my bed, because I’m still getting over this sickness that has plagued me for the past couple of weeks.

My over-foaming washer problem wasn’t quite this severe…

I went back to the laundry room to get a load that was drying. I was horrified to find suds all over the floor, freely flowing from the detergent drawer. I had heard this was something that happens a lot to Americans, unfamiliar with using high efficiency washers. They use too much detergent, and/or the wrong kind. If you use regular Tide, for instance, you will likely end up with an overflowing washer. I’ve always been careful to use German detergents, so I’ve never had the over-foamed machine issue.

I wondered what to do, and quickly consulted YouTube, where I found a very helpful video.

Turn off the machine, add some fabric softener to the main detergent slot, and run a rinse cycle. Do not open the door and let all the water drain that way.

After about a half hour, the issue was resolved, and I felt pretty accomplished. That’s one more problem I now know how to fix. How’s that for looking on the bright side of things? Now I know not to use laundry detergent when I’m cleaning the drum. I’ll use vinegar or hydrogen peroxide next time.

About this illness… I’m pretty sure I have bronchitis. I kept seeing ads on YouTube for a local herbal product called Bronchipret. I normally wouldn’t want to reward YouTube for the incessant annoying ads they constantly interrupt videos with, but this cough is really cramping my style. So Bill just went down to the local apotheke (.17 km from our house) and picked some up for me. This stuff is made with ivy and thyme. It smells heavily of thyme, and is supposed to be taken three times a day. I like how if you go to the pharmacy in Germany, even if you’re buying something over the counter, the pharmacist will consult with you about how to take medications.

I just took some of the stuff. It’s not bad. The dosage isn’t as high as NyQuil is, and doesn’t taste as horrible.

That about does it for today’s post. Bill has another business trip next week. Then, in March, we may take a trip to Italy to explore an area so that we can decide if we’d like to buy property there. We’ll see what happens…

Health, Hessen, horses

Walking off stress after German doctors send me mail…

Yesterday, we got the letter from the German doctors who recently evaluated me, due to some lingering abdominal pain I’ve been experiencing. I wrote about the contents of the letter here. This post is about the decision we made after we read it. We had sunny weather yesterday, and the temperatures were pleasant. So we decided to take Noyzi for a walk to the “nature” area near where we live.

Now, this particular area isn’t as lovely as the Naturepark near our old home in Jettingen is. That park in Jettingen is huge, with lots of trails in the forest. This area in Breckenheim is nice, but not as rural. I don’t get the sense that it’s as easy to get lost in the woods here. It also takes longer to reach it from our house.

But, anyway, we decided to walk a couple of miles. I’m glad we did. It reminded me that I need to remember how much I like walks… and we also ran into an adorable pony who seemed kind of lonely. She whinnied at us a few times and came up to the fence as if she wanted to be petted. I wasn’t going to risk it, though, because there was an electric fence. I’ve been shocked by those a time or two.

I got pictures and video, and just seeing her put a big smile on my face and helped me forget my troubles. It also made me really miss having my own horse. I’d like to have one just for the companionship and the wonderful aroma. Horses and ponies are excellent company, especially if you have a sympathetic dog with you, too. Our dogs, Zane and Arran, would not have been nearly as cooperative as Noyzi was. They would have barked their heads off at the pony. But it seemed like Noyzi might have seen her as a kindred spirit. Indeed, he has the personality of a horse, right down to spooking when something startles him. Below is a video…

She was so sweet and friendly. She made me smile, and forget about my healthcare woes.

I took some photos from our walk, and made a note to myself to go back there more often to burn calories and dissipate stress and frustration. It’s not as pretty as the park in Jettingen is, but the park in Jettingen doesn’t have ponies in paddocks I can visit. It’s also got way more ticks, and people on horseback! But the natural area near us is close to the Autobahn, and it’s very easy to hear the sounds of cars. One good thing about our place in Jettingen is that it’s not close to the Autobahn at all.

As you can see from the photos down below, there was another paddock with a couple of mares in it. One was a horse, and the other another little pony. The smell was intoxicating. I love the smell of horses so much! But I’m sure if I told most Germans that I spent much of my childhood around horses, they wouldn’t believe me.

My own neighbor has a horse, and she didn’t believe that I used to ride until I showed her a picture of me jumping at a horse show. And even then, she didn’t even believe me when I told her I owned an Appaloosa… she thought she knew better. But then I showed her another photo of us after we won reserve champion for the state of Virginia in our division. In that photo, she could plainly see Rusty’s spots, clearly identifying him as an Appaloosa. I don’t know why some Germans seem to be like this… But I also remind myself that they aren’t all quite so “all knowing”.

*This is actually kind of a heartbreaking photo… We missed out on winning champion, because I was engaged in self-destructive eating disordered behaviors that day…* We won the first class, but the judge never saw me in the second, and we didn’t place. But we were tied for reserve champion, and won the hack off. Afterwards, the judge asked me where I was in the second class!

Anyway… photos from yesterday’s walk…

*Keep your dogs out of the wild preserve!*

When we got to our main drag, I took a few more photos, noticing all of the historic buildings in our town. We don’t usually go the route we went on yesterday. Breckenheim is a nice suburb, though. We should explore it more.

I hope I can muster the desire and energy to take more walks. I think it would help me feel better. I think COVID really did a number on us. We got used to staying home and drinking wine, instead of getting out and exercising. But I think if we take more walks and change some elements of our diets, we’ll both feel better. And then I can avoid going back to the doctor for awhile. I’d like that, because I passionately HATE going to see doctors. But, even if this most recent visit didn’t go perfectly well for me, at least the German ones didn’t freak out, the way some American doctors do. That’s definitely a plus.

Health, Hessen, markets

Our humble July 4th…

We had a very low key Independence Day this year, because I had my very first colonoscopy this week. Those who are interested in knowing the story of that can click here. For the purposes of this post, I’ll just say that I’m glad it’s over, and the doctor didn’t find anything concerning. However, he has yet to address the reason I came to see him in the first place. He also started the procedure before I was unconscious. I’m a bit pissed off about that, along with some other issues going on right now.

Anyway, I started the week doing the bowel prep, then I had the procedure, and the days following were spent recovering from the shock of it. Bill had to work on Wednesday, although he took Tuesday off to make sure I went to the appointment and drive me home afterwards. Actually, I could have driven myself, because they used Propofol to knock me out, and it didn’t leave me groggy at all. It even said on the paperwork I could drive home if I wanted. I never drive, though, unless I have a specific reason.

Thursday, Bill was off work, so we went to the weekly market. We brought Noyzi with us, too, since it was early in the day and he likes to go to the market. It’s good practice for him to learn how to behave in public. There weren’t that many people at the market, nor did they have a lot on offer. The vegetable guys weren’t there, nor was the fish monger. The Metzgerei truck came, as did the ice cream, bread, and Mediterranean Feinkost guys. The wine stand was also open.

We had a couple of glasses of local wines and enjoyed the sunshine. Noyzi said hello to a couple of dogs who also came. Basically, that was it. I did hear some fireworks going off from the post. We live maybe ten minutes from there. We also heard from the lady who is having us rescue another Kosovar dog. What we know now is that it’s been delayed again. But that’s okay. We’re not in a rush.

Yesterday, it was kind of chilly and cloudy, but I decided to take some pictures of the creek in our village. I remember thinking to myself, as someone who has lived in Germany for a long time now, that a person can get used to their environs and miss the really neat stuff. We have a couple of interesting old houses in the Dorfplatz that I know I’d miss if I lived in one of the many cookie cutter neighborhoods in the United States. I think the purple flowers were what attracted me and caused me to take these photos, in spite of the clouds… I’d like to live near the creek. I enjoy the sound of rushing water… except for when I have to pee.

My German friend says the historic house in the featured photo looks like an old schoolhouse. She looked up our village and learned that it was, in fact, built by a teacher and is known as the teacher’s house called Villa Breckenheim. It’s right by the creek.

Bill has been in contact with the tour operator in Iceland. I think we’re close to booking, my health issues notwithstanding. I feel like fucking off of the doctor’s visits and just living life until I just collapse somewhere. What’s the point? I feel like it’s all just going to hell, anyway. But at least I live in a pretty German village.

Health, Hessen

A lightly populated wine stand and dinner at Fabi’s…

Even though Breckenheim had its wine fest last weekend, last night, there was a wine stand. The weather was cool, breezy, and pleasant, so we decided to attend. There weren’t many people there, probably because people are on vacation, and maybe because of the wine fest last week. It was nice to have a lightly attended wine stand. We didn’t bring Noyzi, but we probably should have. It was just the right number of people for him to enjoy interacting with people and not get overwhelmed.

I don’t know who hosted last night’s stand, but they were serving tortellini, which smelled wonderful. We didn’t partake, though, because it allegedly had mushrooms in it. As many of my regular readers know, I hate mushrooms with a flaming passion. However, I was definitely tempted by the wonderful aroma of fresh peppers, basil, and tomatoes.

I tried wine schorle for the first time last night. Basically, it’s wine mixed with sparkling mineral water. I notice a lot of older people drink it. I figure maybe it’s time I embraced schorles more. As I am reminded ahead of my first scoping, it’s time I quit pretending I’m still in college and take better care of my body. Or maybe not… as people process how disastrous the presidential debates went the other night… Anyway, I suspect the doctor will tell me to change my lifestyle, so I’m trying to take baby steps. Today, Bill got a shipment of non-alcoholic wines from a company who made a glass he tried at our last visit to Pizarro Fine Dining. If we both like the wines, maybe we’ll switch to that… give our livers a break.

Bill was going to make me a burger last night, but we decided to have pasta at the local pizza joint in our Dorfplatz. Bill has ordered pizzas from them, but I don’t really like German pizzas much. Last night was the first time we’ve ever actually eaten at Fabi’s, even though the guy who runs it is always very nice to Noyzi. He said he used to work with Romanian street dogs. Our experience at Pizzeria da Fabi’s was good… I think we’ll be back. I brought half of my tagliatelli salmone home. Bill finished his tortellini. Both dishes were very satisfying and not too expensive.

Bill is rather excited about my upcoming procedure. He’s already made plans on making sure I drink the whole bowel prep, so we only have to do this once. This morning, as we were eating breakfast, he said they forgot to put in the times for when I should take each dose of the vile liquid that will clean me out. I looked up at him and said, “Do we have to talk about that right now?” He laughed… I mean, I know he’s excited, but I’d like to eat breakfast without any talk about the massive purge I’m about to subject myself to… on purpose!

Anyway… with any luck, we can get this shit straightened out soon. I’ll feel better so we can get back to enjoying Germany and perhaps travel more. It would be nice to have something to write about besides neighborhood wine stands. But even those can be entertaining and educational… especially when the locals talk to us.

Health, medical, trip planning

A brief update on upcoming travel plans…

My update on our upcoming travel plans is… currently, we don’t have any!

There are a number of issues that are preventing us from making summer travel plans in 2024. The first one, and the most annoying one, is that once again, our Hund Pension is not answering the phone or email. This has happened before. They had issues with their phone system. I’m not sure if that’s the problem now, but it’s made planning travel impossible. I’m disappointed, too, because Memorial Day is coming up and we were hoping to get away.

The second issue is that we are expecting to bring a new dog into our home. Like Noyzi, this dog, name of Charlie, is from Kosovo. Noyzi and Charlie actually knew each other when Noyzi lived down there. Charlie has to travel to Germany, though, and that has been a trick to arrange. He might be up here next month. Perhaps it will even be in time for my birthday. We’ll see. But we want to make sure we’re here when he finally arrives. Then, once he gets here, he’s going to need some time to get used to us and settle in.

And the third issue is that I am finally– after 14 years– planning to see a doctor. I’ve been having some issues with my stomach for quite some time and I’m finally going to get the issue evaluated. I know some people think that’s crazy, especially since I have a background in healthcare. But the fact that I have a healthcare background is one reason why I have been dragging my feet on going. I hate dealing with doctors with a fiery passion… and because I have a tendency to struggle with depression, I get apathetic about life.

The doctor I’m planning to see is a local gastroenterologist… so that should be an intriguing experience for me. Bill has been to some German doctors. This will be my first. I suspect he will want to do some tests that will cause my anxiety levels to go off the charts. I suppose I’ll do what he suggests, if it means my stomach will stop cramping my style. That way, I can enjoy traveling again. Maybe it will help me get my voice back to normal, too.

Anyway, that will happen next month, and depending what the problem is, it could mean I’ll be busy with other stuff this summer. I have a feeling I might end up having surgery. Hopefully, I’m wrong. The upside is, I can write about the experiences here. I’m sure some people will be interested. I know people love reading about our nude spa experiences. 😉

We still have hopes of going to Iceland this year. That was planned for the fall. I hope to go to Spain, too, although maybe not until after the summer ends. I just hope the Hund pension picks up the phone, soon. Otherwise, we might have to go back to finding dog friendly pensions. I would rather not do that, since Noyzi is so big. On the other hand, he’s a good traveler, and doesn’t make as much noise as Zane and Arran did.

blog news, dental, German lifestyle, Health, Sundays

Mother’s Day in Deutschland, 2024…

We had big plans to do something fun this weekend. The weather is fine, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. Unfortunately, we never managed to get out yesterday, because we got bogged down with chores. By the time they were done, it was mid afternoon. So we ended up enjoying the backyard, which was freshly mowed and trimmed.

Bill cooked burgers on the grill and we enjoyed lots of beer and my ever expanding music catalog on the HomePod. We weren’t the only ones who stayed home yesterday. Our neighbors on both sides were also enjoying the weather in their backyards. The featured photo is of Deschutes Black Butte Porter, which was a welcome find in the Class VI store on post. I miss American craft beers.

This morning, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck that really hurts. It’s somewhat better now, since I took some Advil. Fortunately, we can get Advil on post, as it’s not available without a prescription in Germany. The painkiller took the edge off the crick, but it still hurts to turn my head to the right. My stomach is also still bothering me a bit…

Bill finally made me an appointment with a gastroenterologist at the local hospital. Because we have Tricare insurance, they automatically give us the chief of the service. I guess Tricare is considered private insurance here, which means we rate the so-called “best” doctors. I’m nervous about the appointment, which happens a week before my birthday next month. I haven’t seen a physician since the spring of 2010. I saw a military doctor (who was a civilian) at the now defunct Fort McPherson in Georgia for what I’m sure are gallstones… Nothing was done then. This time, I don’t think I’ll be as lucky. 🙁 I expect this doctor will want to do some rather unpleasant tests… but maybe he won’t. We’ll see. Either way, there will be drugs involved.

I truly hate going to doctors. I was severely traumatized by one years ago, and it’s caused problems for me ever since. I pretty much have to be dying before I’ll go see one. Consequently, I have no recent medical history whatsoever, other than COVID-19 vaccinations. I am a little afraid this visit will prompt a cascade of medical attention… or, at least, they’ll encourage it. SIGH… and I am now at an age at which shit starts happening. Anyway, enough boring shit about my health. At least I don’t feel too terrible. The stomach thing is mostly just an annoyance. The crick in my neck is more of a nuisance on this Mother’s Day.

I was thinking maybe we’d go somewhere today, but again, it’s Mother’s Day, and that means a lot of people will be dining out. We once made the wrong decision to go out on Mother’s Day without a reservation, and it was almost a disaster. So, since it’s a big restaurant day, and because I don’t feel that great, anyway, I think we’ll stay home and enjoy the weather in our backyard. Or, I will probably do that after I take a nap. Right now, Bill is in the kitchen, cleaning up the oven. He sure is a sweetheart… Below are a couple of photos of lunches he packed for himself this week. Everybody gets a kick out of how beautifully presented and healthy his lunches are. Meanwhile, I would prefer to eat junk.

I don’t know how I ended up with a military veteran husband who is so in touch with his feminine side. But we sure do have a lot of fun together. I was hoping to book a short break somewhere this month, but we can’t seem to get the Hund Pension to answer email… As soon as they do, we will start building our next vacation, which looks like it will take place in Iceland. So… we’ll see what the next week brings.

Hopefully, whatever is causing my stomach issues won’t be anything serious… and I won’t run screaming from the room when I meet the doctor. I also hope he’s not the type to lecture… either way, I’m sure I’ll write about it next month. Tomorrow, Bill goes in to get the next part of his dental implant done. It will involve some minor surgery. Hopefully, that will go well for him. My own implant experience was not quite as traumatic as his is turning out to be.

We also heard from Bill’s younger daughter and her children. One of them made Bill’s day by saying he wanted to say hello to “Papa”. If you know our story, you know that is a very big deal. If you don’t know it and are curious, you can check the main blog… or just understand that parental alienation after divorce is a real thing and a huge problem. But, fortunately, Bill’s younger daughter inherited her dad’s capacity to forgive, as well as his good sense.

Health

Here’s blood in your eye!

Bill and I were thinking about going to Mainz today, since there’s a wine festival going on. I’m reminded of the cheery toast some people offer at such occasions… “Here’s mud in your eye!” I could definitely do that today.

The only problem is, I somehow messed up my left eye with a subconjunctival hemorrhage. I don’t know how it happened, which the medical Web sites all tell me is not that unusual. Sometimes you can remember an actual incident that causes these things… and sometimes you can’t. I usually get this when I vomit, but I haven’t recently done that. I do cough and sneeze sometimes, and I read that this can happen after that. I wear contact lenses, and sometimes they can cause these bleeds. I also probably have high blood pressure by now… it runs in my family.

My left eye looks pretty bad. The side closest to my nose is all red. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done to get rid of this condition, other than just wait for my body to absorb the blood. It could take up to a couple of weeks, although in my experience, it’s usually healed within a few days.

Yikes! My eye looks like this right now.

We might go to the wine festival anyway, in spite of my scary looking eyeball. Or maybe we’ll just stay home, like we did yesterday. Although the weather was beautiful, we decided to do yard work instead of going out among the masses. We cut the grass, trimmed the shrubs and the revived myrtle tree, and used the trimmer. The yard looks a lot better, although pretty soon, it’s going to be bare again. August is just about over. The summer flew by!

I suspect I may need to see a healthcare professional pretty soon… Whether or not I fulfill the need depends on how insistent Bill gets. I hate dealing with doctors. However, I think my gallbladder may be about ready to be yanked. Or maybe something else is wrong with me.

It sure does suck getting old.

If we do go to the wine fest, I will probably write about it later. If not, I’ll be back when I have something new to write about.

Health, Military

A stem to stern skin exam… German style…

I don’t have anything to report travel wise this week, as Bill is away on another business trip. He left for Bavaria on Thursday and will be gone until this Friday. I hate it when he travels without me, but at least we have a trip upcoming. I’ve been trying to make the best of my alone time by sprucing up the garden furniture. Yesterday, I put teak oil on it, and I have plans to add a sealant. However, it looks like it’s going to rain, so maybe it’s just as well that Bill isn’t home.

Before Bill left for his trip to Bavaria, he visited a doctor in Mainz. Several months ago, I noticed a spot on his skin that looked weird. He showed it to his military doc, and she referred him to a dermatologist. Or, she told him to go see one. He had to find one on his own, since he’s retired from the military.

Bill scheduled a visit with a doctor in Mainz, but she had to cancel his appointment because she was sick. I believe the original appointment was supposed to happen in March. The appointment was rescheduled for May 3, and Bill dutifully went in on Wednesday morning. He said the waiting room was full of people.

When he made his appointment, he was advised that he could either pay 50 euros for a spot check, or pay 120 euros for a full exam, complete with high resolution photos. As Bill is a very white guy who’s of a certain age, he went with the 120 euro option. Bill described the procedure to me after it was all done.

He went in, met the doctor and showed her the spots that were questionable. She had him strip completely naked (though I don’t know if he had to keep wearing a face mask). She stayed in the room while he disrobed. Then, she methodically checked his entire body, to include all of the places the sun doesn’t shine– between his toes, on his gums, under his balls, and probably between his ass crack, too.

She took photos of four or five places, then had him get dressed, again while she was in the room. The whole thing took about an hour. Afterwards, she said the questionable spots were not of concern, but she had noticed that he had fungus on his feet. Bill probably blushed and said, “Yes, I have a problem with athlete’s foot.”

“I’ll prescribe you something for that. You must apply it three times a day until the fungus is gone, and wash your socks in hot water.” I think he should just get new socks, if you ask me.

After the appointment, he paid the 120 euros, then went to a nearby pharmacy and got the foot medicine. That was another 17 euros. He’ll file the bill with our insurance and probably get the money back. Still, I thought that was pretty affordable for such a thorough exam. I probably should visit her myself, given that I’m as white as he is. I don’t like doctors, though.

It was a lucky thing that he had enough euros on him, though, because the doctor’s office only takes EC credit cards (European). Our cards are American. I tried to get Bill to open a German bank account so we could get local cards, but he ignored my advice. Of course, now German banks don’t like messing with Americans, thanks to our crazy ass tax reporting laws.

Anyway, I’m glad his skin is healthy, for now. I ordered him a couple of new Irish flat caps to help keep his scalp skin cancer free. I’m sure they’ll come in handy on our trip next month. He sure can rock a flat cap! The ones in the photos are summer weight, as opposed to the wool tweed one he usually wears in cold weather. Aran Sweater Market for the win.

Health, Sundays

Bill is all gimpy and grumpy today…

We ended up not going out to dinner last night, because yesterday morning, Bill fell while he was walking Noyzi. He turned his ankle. Then he put on shoes and went to work for a couple of hours, which made the pain and his mobility in the ankle worse.

When Bill got home from work, he was complaining about the pain. So I said that maybe we should just stay in so he could rest his ankle. This week is going to be very busy for him at work, and then on Thursday, he’s going on a TDY assignment that will last until the following weekend. He’ll be working nights, which will be hell for him, because he’s very much a day person whose brain goes down with the sun.

I’ll be sitting at home, probably shopping for more stuff to take on our trip or put in the garden…

I just bought a new hairdryer, not for my hair, but for the freezer. Our kitchen has an old fridge and it has to be defrosted. I decided using a hairdryer was the best way to accomplish that goal, since the fridge can’t be easily unplugged, because it’s built into the wall. And I got a new hairbrush, too, with an olive wood handle and boar hair bristles. It’s taking time to get used to it.

At least it’s sunny and somewhat warm out today. I took Noyzi for a walk and got some pretty new flower pictures for my photo stream. Here are a few for your own amusement. The last three photos are of the creek in our village. I’m glad I can count on my very fastidious neighbors to provide me with some lovely flowers to shoot with my camera. If anything, they’re a reminder that winter is finally over.

Our village is having Maifeuer– a bonfire– tonight in the Mother’s Day Shack on the northern edge of town. They will have sausages and beer on offer, as they light a bonfire, I guess, in honor of Whit Sunday. I might like to attend the event, but Bill says he can’t walk that far… He’s also been feeling guilty about not going to work today. Hello! It’s SUNDAY!!!!

Edited to add: My German friend reminds me that the bonfire wasn’t for Whit Sunday/Monday. It was for Walpurgisnacht… which I had completely forgotten about. You’d think after so many years living here, I wouldn’t forget these holidays. But sometimes, we’re not in town, and we never seem to take part in the festivities. I would have liked to have gone to the bonfire last night, but it was probably better to stay home and drink wine. 😉 Today, there’s a picnic going on, as it’s a holiday in Germany… but not for Americans.

I guess it just goes to show you that some Soldiers never really clock out. Bill is always going to have a “mission first” mentality, much to my occasional annoyance. I do appreciate that he has such a strong work ethic, but sometimes it’s a good thing to realize that the world won’t stop if you take a break and rest up. And given the condition of his ankle, that might be a good idea, because he won’t have the chance next weekend.

Health

He made it to ten years! Happy “gotcha day”, Arran!

Since I’ve been writing about my dog, Arran’s, canine chemotherapy progress in this blog, I think this is the right place to share the happy news. Our sweet Arran, who was diagnosed with B cell lymphoma in October 2022, has now officially been in our family for ten years! He is officially now the dog we’ve had for the longest time. I feel quite certain that if it weren’t for our local veterinarians, our sweet Arran would no longer be with us.

Naturally, I’m very happy that Arran has spent ten years with us. Our other beagle, Zane, was getting close to his tenth anniversary when he, too, got lymphoma. We lost him on August 31, 2019, just one week after he was diagnosed with cancer. I think Zane’s lymphoma was both more advanced and more aggressive than Arran’s has been. We never had the opportunity to try chemotherapy with him.

I don’t think Zane was quite as strong as Arran is. I also believe Zane came from a puppy mill, while Arran came from hunters who apparently were trying to breed the perfect hunting dog. He wasn’t the perfect hunting dog for them, but he is a very strong, resilient dog, who is very attached to us. Consequently, he’s really been fighting to stay with us.

Below is a photo I took on the day we adopted him, January 12, 2013. He’s sitting next to Zane in the house we were renting in Sanford, North Carolina. We had lost his predecessor, MacGregor, to a very aggressive spinal tumor on December 18, 2012. Arran was named “CD” by the rescue, and “Marley” by his first adoptive family. We decided to name him Arran after a beautiful island in Scotland we saw on our tenth anniversary cruise in Scotland. The news about MacGregor’s surprise spinal tumor had interrupted that wonderful and long awaited trip. I was still enchanted by how beautiful Scotland is, and how much at home I felt there. Arran, likewise, is beautiful, colorful, funny, mischievous, and very special… like the Island of Arran is.

I don’t know exactly how old Arran was in the above photo, but I would guess he was at least four, as he was previously adopted and returned to Triangle Beagle Rescue out of Raleigh, North Carolina. From the very beginning, our “Tribeagle” been sweet, adorable, and loving. He’s also been quite a troublemaker at times, and a real scrapper. I would say that his tendency to get into trouble is one reason why he’s still with us today. Below is a photo I took this morning. He was hunting for crumbs until the table.

He’s now at about week fourteen of his chemo. As you can see from the video, taken a couple of days ago, he’s still very interested in living… and eating! We owe a lot to our vets in the neighboring village of Wallau for providing such excellent and affordable care.

Our rascally “chowhound”, Arran!

When we decided to get treatment for Arran’s lymphoma, I really only hoped we’d get to celebrate ten years with our loving hound. As I look at him right now, he’s waiting impatiently for me to finish typing this, so we can take a walk. He’s still obviously very invested in living his life.

Obviously, not every dog will respond to treatment as well as Arran has, but we sure are glad we gave it a try. And now, we’re just going to focus on enjoying having him, for however long we can.

*Arran on the day we brought him home from Raleigh, North Carolina. It was exactly ten years ago, today!*

Anyway… I thought I’d just share the news. We have hit an unprecedented milestone. And for that, Arran deserves a walk with his big Kosovar pal, Noyzi. He sure is a fighter! And he’s still so very beautiful to me, even if he does pee on the floor and get us up at 3:00am for his breakfast.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Category Archives: Health