January 20, 2016 Wednesday Afternoon

Been a busy and interesting couple weeks since I posted.

The Pit Bull that was found in the neighborhood and we took is still here and no one has claimed him.  In the past two weeks I have spent time training him and having him get to know the other dogs.  He has been very good and learns very fast.  He seems to trust and obey me.  Well, last night the fencing and gates came down.  The night before last he spent the night on the bed sleeping with Tony and I and the other dogs with a leash on so if I had to control him.  Last night he slept on the bed, no leash and was so good.  At one point he was snuggled in between Rose and Casper.  We have named him Toby.  I guess at this point we have no choice but to keep him.  I honestly have fallen in love with this dog.  Monday he gets neutered and chipped with our names so I guess then he will be officially ours.  Of course we all know I needed another dog or challenge in my life like a hole in the head, but what can you do.  I have always lived by the thought that the best things in life come when you least expect them.  So we now have six dogs.  I know, just a couple more and I can be called a hoarder. 

Saw my HIV doctor today and discussed all my problems with him.  Feet ache to walk on, shoulder and underarm pain, throwing up morning bile, face rash, enlarged prostate, kidney stone, and of course my new numbers.  My TCell count went down from 564 to 498, but my percent of good cells increased to 29%.  This means they pretty much even themselves out and I am about the same as last blood test.  Hell I went all the way back to 333 when I had shingles.  A couple items were low in the blood work and I have to go back for another blood draw so the doctor can check some other levels and maybe put me on a vitamin or something to improve my RBC, Hemoglobin, and Hematocrit.  I am not sure what they are but they have been decreasing.  Was told not to worry, and the new blood test should help him know how to increase the numbers.  I am good now until this July.

It has been very very very cold in Wisconsin lately.  We had a very mild December and are paying the price now for it.  A few days never got above 5 degrees all day.  Wind chills at times of more than 20 below.  The poor dogs freeze up outside and I have to carry them in.

Tomorrow I finally get the root canal on the tooth that was infected and gave me so much pain over New Years.  It has been better with the IBprofin but I can still tell it needs a root canal.  So fun fun, tomorrow morning at 9 AM I will be having it performed.  I have had many before and know it really is not that bad, just takes forever. 

Not much else to say.  The dogs have kept me very busy.  Getting up at 5 AM, napping from 1 to 3 PM and then going to bed for the day around 10 PM seems to be my schedule lately.  It is very hard to make it through a day without a nap.

January 8, 2016 Friday Afternoon

I guess I should say Happy New Year.  We made it through another year together.  I was hoping I would have more time this year to post my feelings and thoughts as well as more of my activities, unfortunately the year has not started out good in that regard.

I have had so much going on I feel like I am ready to explode.

We found a stray dog running around the neighborhood on Christmas Day.  He is a Pit Bull over six month old and less than a year.  I know this because I had him already to the vet for a urinary infection.  He was peeing everywhere and most likely the reason the owner said 'enough' with him.  Luckily I have some knowledge and knew something was just not right.  Sure enough an infection and two days of antibiotic and he was fine.  Yes, he still is here.  No one has claimed him.  We found him with collar and leash so someone must have been walking him.  So sad because he is sweet but needs training.  I once again have a house divided with fences and gates to keep him from my other five dogs.  I am not sure if he will hurt any of them.  Though he has shown really no signs of aggression, he seems to want to play just too hard.  And play with biting.  I am already trying to get him to stop the biting.  We named him Toby and if no one calls on him by January 25 I have an appointment to have him neutered.  I can't believe they keep coming to us.

On to the next problem, tooth ache.  I ended up getting into my dentist the week of New Years to find out my crown needs a root canal.  They sent me to UWM university and a student looked at it this week and confirmed a root canal is needed and scheduled for the end of January.  Last weekend waiting for my antibiotic to work I was in so much pain I compare it to Shingles pain.  Ended up taking my IBprofin then a person should for the pain as well as pain pills.  Of course that has me all blocked up now with my bowels and I haven't shit in a week.   If not one thing another.  The infection and extreme pain finally stopped last Monday and I have just had to us IBprofin to get through the day.

The weather had been rainy here in Milwaukee and still warmer than usual.  If all this rain was snow we would be shoveling daily.  We had our warmest December on record.  I think that all ends this weekend because the weather is suppose to be high of 12 degrees on Monday and not much better going forward through the week.

So much more I wanted to say but I have to get back to the dogs and things around the house.  The dogs are all looking at me here at the computer like 'hey, what about us'.