One of Life's Lemons, an Essay by Elmo

Hey folks!  One of my humans (AKA: Mommie) asked me to post today.  Actually, she's doing the typing, but I get to do the fun stuff...woo-hoo!  Mommie's still a little stunned by our trip to see Dr. Nasisse, my new NC Vet Ophthalmologist.  I don't know why she's bothered...he used that Tonopen thingie on my eyes, not hers.  Maybe, it was the big bill when she went to get my medicine (photo to right) that really did her in. Yowza!  But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Mommie's already told you that I have glaucoma.  More to the point, I have Primary Glaucoma, which affects lots of other Basset Hounds, too.  Here are a couple of links to learn more about it, if you really want to: (1) http://www.blinddogs.com/articles/glaucoma.htm ; (2) http://www.bhra.org/glaucoma.htm

Or, you can just trust me when I say this is NOT GOOD in capital letters.  Mommie has to put those drops in my eyes three times a day...3 different kinds, three times a day.  When I lived in that place called Kentucky, I used to fight my other human (Mommie calls her Missy M) when she started putting drops in, but now I'm OK with it, I guess.  She taught Mommie how to do it just right...and to always kiss the top of my head after putting the drops in my eyes. (That part is the best.) The Dr. says the drops will help keep the pain from the pressure of glaucoma away for a while, but (and this is the part that made Mommie cry) they won't save my vision.

So, where does that leave me?  Well, for the next few weeks, Mommie says we will continue with the drops, mainly to slow down the disease in my left eye (AKA, my "good" eye), which still has normal pressures when I am using the drops.  And, even though I still get the drops in my right eye, Mommie and Daddy (my main human buddy) are coming to terms with the next step.  The Dr. will have to do a procedure to put an antibiotic compound in my eye (don't ask how...I'll be sound asleep when he does this) to permanently stop the pressure build-up.  The downside:  I will not be able to see out of that eye anymore.  Truthfully, the Dr. says I'm not seeing out of my right eye anyway, since the pressure is so high...but, I've been doing a good job of acting like I can see...a little...when they do their tests.  If this procedure works out OK, I'll get to keep my eye...which Mommie calls beautiful.  And, even though I will eventually lose the sight in the left eye, too, I'll have some time to get used to being blind.

Still, this isn't all bad news.  I am now back in the same house with my Hound Hero, Gus...woo-hoo!  And, Duchess, too...although she's as grumpy as ever if I get too near her on the bed.  I've gotten used to the doggie door thingie that we use to get out into the back yard, and I have even learned to ring the bell that hangs on the kitchen door that goes out onto the porch.  And, as Mommie keeps saying, I'm still a Basset Hound:  I have a Nose and Ears...and I know how to use them very well!

Meanwhile, Mommie is doing what she does best:  coming to terms and moving forward.  She's found this website for owners of Blind Dogs, and now she wants to order one of their T-shirts (that's it, over there on the left).  One of their suggestions is to put bells on the other pets and people in the house, so she says we will all soon be jingling...whatever that means.  Just as long as she keeps my food bowl and the water bowl in the same place...and she doesn't move the furniture around (again...:), I'll be fine with it all.

Lemonade outta lemons, right?