The hardest day- letting my best friend go

This was Godiva today.

This was Godiva about 7 or 8 years ago, when he was 5 or 6.

Today was the saddest day, maybe one of the saddest days of my life. It seems ridiculous, because I've experienced a lot of death in my life, more than most people. I've had people I cared about die, helped people die dignified death in hospice, sat with patients when they decided enough was enough, and had feeding tubes pulled, watched patients die and their families grieve, and helped young men try to redefine their lives after terrible injury in war. This was a dog. But he was my dog, and I loved him. He helped me through a really awful depression, weather a divorce, tried to protect me at times, and when Nate and my son, Marcus was born, he tried to watch over him, even as an old, tired dog, in some pain. I agonized over this decision- he was in some pain, which we had mostly controlled with pain medication. He had a spinal tumor, and had trouble walking, and sometimes he would fall down, and be incontinent- and then be deeply ashamed afterward. He was confused sometimes, and wandered around at night. But I still wonder- if I had been old and sick, would he have euthanized me? I worry that I made the wrong decision for my old friend. I have never really known what I believe in terms of religion, but hope he is somewhere better.

I got him from the pound in Woodland in May 1999. They told me he was an adult dog at 40 lbs, but I realized soon that he was only about 12 weeks old at most, and he grew to be 80 lbs. He had been abused, and someone had cut his tail off at a vertebrae with clippers, and he already had some scars, even as a puppy. But he quickly grew into the loving, affectionate, gentle dog that he was his whole life. He learned a lot of tricks, including, "get your butt out of my face" which  meant he would get up, and turn around with an enormous sigh, so his head was facing me, instead of his butt. He never begged at the table, and learned that folding your napkin meant that we were done eating and he could come solicit pets and scratches under the chin. He didn't climb on furniture, and mostly didn't bark (until this year, when we moved back to California and he got confused). He loved to hike with us, and wade in streams, but couldn't swim very well. He drove cross country with me twice.

Friday, we went to the Vet and talked to her about Godiva. She agreed that he seemed like he was suffering, and I made the difficult decision to let him go. We gave him special treats all week, and this morning, a special treat. At two o'clock Nate had to give him tramadol to sedate him so he wouldn't be scared. Unfortunately, he was not sedated, since his tolerance was so high after taking pain medication. I gave him more treats, groomed him for the last time, and spent a few hours petting him and telling him how much he had meant to me all his life. We took him to the vet, and they took us in a special room. He was scared and fell over, and then huddled next to my legs. I petted him while they gave him an injection of barbituates, and in seconds, before they were even done injecting the medication, he was gone. I sat with him and petted him for a while, and he seemed like he was sleeping. It was awful. The whole time, I wondered, did I do the right thing? I left him there, but kept his collar and tags. They're doing a special cremation for us, and we're planning to go for a hike and spread his ashes doing what he liked best in the whole world.

 I already really miss my buddy. I looked at all his toys, his bed, and his bowls, and feel overwhelmed by them. We love you Godiva.

Teething- every two months?! Put me out of my misery, now, please!

I had no idea teething was going to be so painful- for Nate and I, not the baby. We had THREE days of sleeping through the night (8 pm to 2 or 3 am, then back to sleep until it's time to wake up to get dressed for day care), and then this awful tooth poked through his bottom gumline. I can't see it because he won't let me, but I can feel a sharp little nub there, and he's chewing on me when I feed him. The only thing that makes him happy is walking with him (mostly through Target or dangling nearly upside down while Nate walks through the house), driving in the car with the sunroof open, or about the first 30 seconds of playing. Then, baby break-down. We drove today, despite the weather consisting of frank rain and some sprinkling, and as long as it wasn't pouring, we had the sunroof down. I swear, this baby rules the house.

And then tomorrow, back to work. I'm working on developing that thick skin, and making a lasting contribution while I'm here- but at the same time, I wonder, isn't it ok to do a good job for the patients and do my best at the admin stuff, and then just go home for the day? I keep hearing the last guy had to be told to eat lunch, to go home at the end of the day (late) and came in on weekends. What could he possibly be doing on weekends? I'm done with all my notes, and caught up with email, and working on projects in the down time. What else should I be doing?

Wednesday is going to be awful. That's when our appointment to put Godiva to sleep is scheduled. I always dreaded this day, and now it's come. I wonder if I'll have the courage to have a dog again. I know that all life is change, and he is JUST a dog. But he's a great dog, and one I've loved for almost 14 years...Better go, so I can make him some bacon to put in his dog bowl tonight. We're giving him something special every day until then.

Lisa

Being a new mom

It sure has been a long time since I posted. I've been posting on Facebook, and a Shutterfly page where I've been keeping the baby's photos for family and friends, but not much about what I've been thinking and feeling. Being a mom the first few months was a lot harder than I thought, partly because our baby had four or five hours of colic a night, that never seemed to end. I felt guilty when I would be SO glad when I heard Nate getting home from school, so I could have a few minutes to myself. But everything seemed to get a lot easier when the baby started to smile. He became a little person then to me, not just a pooping/eating/screaming machine. Now he laughs at everything, including, "LOOK who has a POOPY diaper!" said in a falsetto,  or above, during his favorite game with Nate, Superbaby, where he gets launched in the air (still being held onto, of course). He had a little trouble today because his first tooth came in (early!) but even then, much more manageable than he used to be. It's exciting to be able to see the future in more positive terms- looking forward to getting to visit Disneyland for the first time, visiting San Francisco with the baby for the first time...

Going back to work was hard, and initially, I was really upset to leave the baby. But I really like my job, and I don't mind being the supervisor, which I didn't expect. The only thing that makes me feel sort of bad is that I feel like I get a fair amount of "well, that's not what Dr. So and So did" which is hard, and then I feel defensive. I need to work on that, because I know there are things that Dr. So and So did better than me, and things that I'm better at, like psychopharmacology, and dealing diplomatically with people I need to get a long with (no really, me! I'm actually sort of good at this, even though it seems like I wouldn't be.)...

I think the thing I'm working on now is getting ME back. I gave up a lot of things I used to do, like doing a lot of reading, doing some crafting, doing the girly hair/make up thing, running, yoga...I need to introduce some of those things back as I can now that the baby is sleeping mostly through the night, so I have a few hours in the evening after he goes to bed. Of course, some of that needs to be for board study, since I didn't take the boards this year- they couldn't accommodate breast pumping, if you can believe that, so I had to reschedule.

Anyway, here's to being a mom, learning to be thick skinned and being me (clink Sidecar glass with yours)...

Lisa

changing and letting go...

The photo above is from Virginia Beach, VA. We went there to stay at a spa, and have a "babymoon," one of the many changes in life going on. I think it was fun for Nate to see the town he lived in for seven years from my point of view, and I wanted to see what part of Nate's life was like in the time between when we were in high school together to when we met again. How different our lives are now!

Even when I think about what was happening in my life four years ago, I can hardly recognize that life. I had just left one life behind, started residency, had some heartbreak, learned what depression can do to you...And this year, officially started a new life, contemplated graduating, started a family with Nate, and now, thinking about a move across the country again. Really, these are all exciting, but scary changes.

Yet, the hardest lesson for me to learn I've found is when to give up, and how to "divorce" people in my life when I've realized I've made a mistake in allowing them in my life in some capacity. Each time I've had to do this (and really it's been less than five times in my whole life), it's led to some aspect of depression for me, and a sense of failure- even when I can see that they were not particularly good people that I would want in my life. I'm going through this now, and have found it a wrenching experience. Yet, now, there's more at stake -allowing these toxic people in my life affects Nate, too, since our lives are intertwined. This time, the stress and sleeplessness associated with the experience made me ill- having to take medication for a lung infection- and on some level risked our unborn child's life as well.

I gave it some thought, and walked away from the situation as much as possible. I did some purging of my social networks, and with it, a sense of lightness, of freedom. I'm starting to think that a lesson I can teach our future son or daughter- one I'm still learning- is that sometimes walking away is as important as sticking with it.

Our last day of the official honeymoon

Our last day in Rome, which was Sunday, we decided to have a low stress day-too much of our trip was planned, with an agenda. So we woke up late, had breakfast at the hotel, and left our bags there. We picked up our train tickets, and then had a (forgettable) last lunch at Gran Caffe Roma (not recommended). We found a place that had homemade Toblerone while wandering around looking for bees on buildings (the Barberini family signified the buildings that they had built by putting their symbol, the bee, in hidden places -once you know that, you'll see little bees everywhere in trim, crests, etc). We visited a few places that we had missed, and sat in the Borghese park, watching the ducks in the pond, and Romans out strolling and biking (in high heels). Finally, we walked to the hotel to get our luggage, and to the Termini station to catch our train.

We saw the famous St. Teresa in Esctasy by Bernini which was amazing. I didn't like Bernini much in Art History classes but his sculpture is beautiful in person. I still hate Baroque and Rococco, though.

For me, the highlight of the day was the Capuchin Crypts. The theme is "What you are now, we used to be. What we are now, you will be"  and the crypt was built in the late 1600's. People more familiar with Catholicism will probably correct me, but I understood the Capuchins to be be an offshoot of Franciscans, which I found interesting. While we were in Rome, I found myself repelled by the extreme wealth that the popes (admittedly a different situation in Renaissance times and later) had. I tend to like people who are a little different, and admired St. Francis of Assisi after I had done some reading about him. So after being so drawn by the Capuchin Crypts, it made sense to me that they were related to St. Francis. You can't take photos in the crypts, but you can see photos online here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt

The Crypt is decorated with literally thousands of bones from the skeletons of friars of the sect- bones made into garlands, arches, even a chandelier. But the idea is not to be like a house of horrors, but to confront each person with the undeniable fact of their mortality. We will be this someday, because we were standing like you one day. Even Nate, who I think was curious but not prepared to like the crypts, was visibly and profoundly moved by the experience. I had tears in my eyes.

I even went looking for a book about the history of the sect, but couldn't find a good one -this sect supports themselves with handouts, and on their website, even a bake sale. No joke. I think people might be getting their cookies from me for Christmas. I struggle somewhat with the idea that this religious group is related to a pope who wears Gucci shoes, and Prada, while many of the religion's adherents struggle in poverty (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122201914.html). I feel like this group, and St. Francis, had more the right idea.

Anyway, we arrived home, and Godiva the dog threw an enormous happy fit, and hasn't stopped his doggy smile since. Back to work tomorrow.

Thanks for taking the time to keep up with our honeymoon!

Friday revision and Saturday

I realized I forgot to say what happened after Pompeii. We took the train back to Naples, which is loud, overwhelming, and the part we saw, not that pretty, and had pizza. Pizza is a source of Napolitan pride, and we went to one of the places they like best, "Antica Pizzaria di Michelle" which was in the movie "Eat Pray Love." It was amazing. On the 2.5 hour train ride home, some guy pleaded and argued loudly the entire time with his mom on his cell phone. The other Italian men did not need a common language to make their message apparent: they were eloquently able to convey, "grow a pair buddy" by gesture alone.

Today was Vatican day. We got there earlier than our reservation, but they still let us in. The place was so packed it was almost not enjoyable, though was worth it for the Sistine Chapel (even though they don't let you talk and were forcing us to walk through without stopping) and the Raphael Rooms. You're not allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel, though there, like everywhere else, visitors were explicitly not obeying the museum rules. I surprised myself by snapping at a French couple who were reaching through the ropes to touch two thousand year old artworks, "Don't touch that!" in French. Thanks Monsieur Krieger (our high school French teacher)! I didn't see them touch anything else... :) After the Vatican museum, we were exhausted and had lunch and a gelato that defines gelato for me, the most spectacular pistachio gelato ever. We went over to St. Peters, but the line wrapped around the entire square (about 5 hours long) -I guess we'll see the Pieta another time. It seemed like there was something special going on, because they had a platform in front that looked like a funeral bier. Then we walked over to Hadrian's tomb (which one of the medieval popes had tricked out in papal splendor). We picked up a souvenir for a friend, and then went back to the hotel. We had dinner at some Italian institution next to four priests that I think might have been from Sacramento- boy were they bitchy.

I think the thing that bothered both of us the most was the incredible luxuriousness of the papal apartments, particularly those from the Renaissance times. It felt distressing that they felt entitled to that level of splendor -almost hypocritical. Anyway, tomorrow we're on our way to London for a layover and then back to the US on Monday. I think I appreciate Washington DC more than I ever did, because in comparison, the people in DC are so nice! And I really miss the dog!

Friday

Is that....Mt Vesuvius in the distance? Yup, we finally made it to Pompeii. After the monumental flood of Thursday (someone actually drowned in their basement in Rome), we got up at the crack of dawn to board the express train to Naples. I like traveling by train, except when you're traveling at high speed through the countryside, and then, "click, click, click" from the train, and it stops. We were stuck for about two and a half hours or so, total, and ended up being pushed by another train back to Rome, and then boarded another train, ending up in Naples much later than planned. It turns out the train track was damaged by the intense weather, which in turn, damaged the train. After switching to a commuter train, and twelve stops with Nate and I squashed next to some obnoxious tourist with poor personal hygeine, we leapt out of the train the second the doors opened, and breathed the fresh sea air of Pompeii. This photo is taken from the forum at Pompeii.

This photo is at the market place, where the sad casts of the people who died are displayed.

A nicely preserved fresco (hey, it's more than 2000 years old!) -however, mostly Pompeii decoration were considered pretty nouveau riche by most Romans. The mosaics and frescos are actually reproductions- the originals are in the Naples museum, which is good, because then I felt less homicidal with people who were abusing their privilege to see the site (climbing on ancient pillars, touching everything, climbing over barriers to go into unauthorized areas -no kidding, we saw all of these).

A major throughfare, with rosemary and pomegranates growing by the side of the road. You can tell this was a major road by the raised stones at the intersection- it was supposed to accommodate two way chariot traffic.

A nice photo of Nate.

A mosaic in the house of the Fawn, considered the only non-declasse house there.

The "doormat" at one of the houses- it means essentially "hail you."

I think people liked dogs in ancient Pompeii, as there were two mosaics that pictured dogs, and one entryway had a dog with "beware of dog" lettered under it. There are a bunch of Pompeii dogs there now that sleep in the sun, and I assume keep other animals out of the side. This puppy was asleep on one of the mosaics. (I sure miss our dog, Godiva!)