Bella has to be carried down the stairs now, too. She has an inflammed spinal disc and isn't supposed to exert herself at all. Guess she'll be using MY wagon now, too.

Guess I forgot to tell you that I'm now also taking digoxin. Dr. Barrett wanted to slow my heartrate just a little bit so I take 1/2 of a 0.125mg pill once a day. So here's my updated med schedule:
6:30 AM enalapril, furosemide, hydralazine, aspirin, spironalactone, pimobendan
2:30 PM furosemide
6:30 PM enalapril, hydralazine, aspirin, spironalactone, pimobendan, digoxyn
10:30 PM furosemide

Mom used a new photo of me in her monthly MSNBC column, Creature Comforts. She mentioned my ER visits to illustrate how to know to go to the ER. Dad took the photo last Saturday. I don't usually pose well; I look very serious and always try to approach the camera while the picture's being taken.

My pimobendan arrived on Saturday from Globaldrug.tv. It only took 11 days to arrive and it came in the original package. Dad says we can highly recommend this online pharmacy.

Saw our neighbor Bud yesterday. He was working in his garage. I like him cause he always asks how I'm doing, and he commiserates with me about how many meds we both have to take.

I just really love Indian Hawthorne berries. They grow all over SoCal and the berries ripen in late fall. Both Bella and Twyla likes the berries, also. Dad has hard time keeping me from eating too many, although we haven't found out just how many that would be. We've never seen any bad effects and we've eaten lots.

We had a time getting several of my prescriptions refilled. CalMed Pharmacy in Mission Viejo called in the refills almost four days before the Doctors at Advanced Critical Care in Tustin returned their calls. Dad had to call ACC and read them the Riot Act. No way were Mom or Dad going to let me run out of any med! ACC is great and they saved my life when I first got really sick, but they seem to be a little disorganized away from the ER.

Guess I was lazy for a few days and didn't post anything. Oh well.

I had my lungs xrayed Saturday and they're borderline for fluid. Dr. Barrett took me off the electrolyte solution. She said I can't have any sodium, it's fighting the furosemide which wants to remove fluid. The sodium wants me to retain it. We'll see how I react.

Dad found a very good page from Balgownie Vet Hospital that explains how pimobendan (vetmedin®) works.

My cough came back a little today after having tapered off the last two. Dr. Barrett wants to take some more xrays Saturday to see if there's any fluid left in my lungs. If so, I may have to take more furosemide or spironolactone. At least the furosemide will be in pill form; Dad got a new prescription for it today. The liquid has alcohol in it and I don't like the taste. Dad says people should buy it from drugstore.com or some other online pharmacy. Local ones charge way too much.

Mom and Dad took me for a ride in my wagon today, but my ancient older sister Bella decided she wanted to ride in it, too! She convinced Mom and Dad it was too hot to walk any further. She is such a manipulator! So then we meet Max and his dad when we're walking back. I can't believe he saw me riding with my sister! It's ok...I humped her this evening so we're even.

Somebody told Dad about a place to order pimobendan online, called Globaldrug.tv. They were about half price of the first place, so Dad ordered some. I think they're in Australia, but someone on this Yahoo! group! called! MVDincavaliers! told! us! about! it!

I've been rather lax about posting the last two days, but that's because everything is pretty much status quo, and Dad says that's very, very good. I still have to cough every so often, but I feel so much more active and alert.

I had my electrolytes and kidney values checked yesterday and everything was right in the middle of normal, except for my chloride, which was 100 (rather than 102). My triglycerides were 24 (Dad says that's the least of his worries about me!) and my magnesium which was 1.4 rather than 1.5. The vet said it really couldn't get any better for a dog that's peeing so much!

Mom and Dad say I'll probably be on electrolyte solution for the rest of my life. If my numbers stay this good, they say it's well worth it.

I tried to run down the stairs again today but Dad stopped me before I could get very far. I just wanted to see what Bella and Twyla were doing outside with Mom. I made Dad take me out at 3AM this morning cause I really had to pee. I also made him take me back out around 6AM. Mom slept all night and woke late. I guess she doesn't have to pee so much.

My good friends Mike and Tamela come over for dinner and Tamela brought me a toy, but Twyla stole it and has been dragging it around ever since. It's OK, even if the toy was intended for me. I guess she needs it being the baby of the family and all.

It will be good to have the cardiologist back this coming week; Mom and Dad want to ask about my coughing. It's more frequent than it was last week, but I seem to be much better so they're confused about how much they should worry about the cough.

This morning I did yoga with mom. Mainly I stayed in what she calls child's pose. I like to think of it as puppy pose. Twyla's favorite is downward-facing dog (also known as a play bow), and Bella prefers shivasana, as it's best suited for getting tummy rubs.

I must really be feeling better! Yesterday Mom brought me back in from peeing and I trotted up the stairs before she could stop me. Of course, both Mom and Dad watched me like a hawk the rest of the night to see if I was going to collapse. Dad checked my respiration rate every 10 minutes (it seemed like it anyway). My breathing did feel a little labored but I was fine (told them so). I'm still going through that electrolyte solution like crazy, but at least I held everything through the night. I hope that lasts; Dad is so sleepy when he takes me out, I'm afraid he'll fall down the stairs.

We walked (I rode in the wagon) around our condo complex last night. It was good to get out of the house. I even got to pee in a different spot than usual. It's pretty cool just riding around while everyone else has to actually exert themselves. Twyla likes to walk right next to the wagon and she gets so close it looks like she's going to get run over. I think she wants to ride, too. She wants to do whatever it is I do. Little sisters can be such pests!

My enalapril dose gets changed today from 5mg QD to 3.75mg BID per Dr. Barrett. QD is once a day and BID is twice a day for the latin-challenged among us (Twyla!)

A correction about my meds: the diuretics are to remove the fluid from the inside of my lungs, not from around my lungs. Too bad; if the fluid was just around my lungs they could remove it with a small needle, but because it's inside my lungs they have to use drugs which are more inefficient, take longer to work, and hurt my kidneys. The cardiologist said that each dog is different and gets fluid buildup in different areas. She said one dog got fluid in its abdomen and everyone just thought it was getting fat!

It was kind of boring yesterday. Everything was pretty stable. Mom and Dad both worked and I couldn't get nearly as many treats as I was trying for. They seem not to notice the mental directions to give me treats I direct into their brains. I did get into the bed by myself this morning. Dad put a step stool in front of the chair he puts by the bed and it looked so much easier I had to try it.

I really seem to feel much better, lately. My lasix has only been increased since Saturday night but I don't seem to be having as many coughing spells as I was. I'm going to keep my paws crossed. I have been having trouble holding my pee throughout the night with the increased lasix, but at least last night I was able to locate a rug with rubber backing. I won't dare use the rug and pee pads that Mom and Dad laid down; they put so much work into it I don't want to ruin it.

Wow, was I busy yesterday! First, Mom and Dad walked everyone to Starbucks and Dad pulled me in the wagon (he finally got that leash). I was so good; I didn't try to jump out even once. We saw an old friend there who used to have a 13 year old rottweiler named Rudy. Lots of people pointed at me from Starbucks' window. I guess they hadn't seen dogs ride in wagons before. Bumpkins!

Then I spent the rest of the day at the cardiologist in Santa Monica. Good thing, too, since she saw that my lungs weren't clear enough. "Darcy's acting much better than she ought to ," she said. (Ha!) So now my Lasix dose is higher, 20mg up from 15, three times a day, and my enalapril may increase in a few days. And I am feeling better; I'm more alert, more active (which is not necessarily good for me, but it's a good sign) and I'm not coughing as much as I was on Friday and Saturday. I sure hope this clears my lungs. I don't want to go back on oxygen again; Mom and Dad get so upset and they're much more fun when they aren't worried.

Dad got me a wagon so I can go places with the rest of the family, but he still needs to get me a special leash so I won't jump out. I wish he'd hurry; I'm really getting cabin fever.

Some things I miss:

• Chasing my sisters
• Fetching my hedgehog from the bottom of the stairs
• walking to Starbucks® and meeting (licking) all sorts of new people
• humping Bella (well, I still get away with this sometimes)
• Seeing our neighbors. I really like our neighbors, Jen and Chicken Man (Jim), Cathy and Glenn, Bud, Mary Lou (she always makes me squeal).
  

I think I'll list all my meds so you'll know what I'm on.

1. enalapril - for blood pressure, once a day. An ACE inhibitor.
   
2. hydralazine - more blood pressure, twice a day. An alpha antagonist.
   
3. spironolactone - a diuretic to remove fluid from around my lungs, twice a day.
4. lasix - another diuretic to remove fluid from around my lungs, three times a day.
5. pimobendan - a canadian drug that opens up the blood vessels returning blood to the heart which reduces pressure on my heart. Twice a day.
6. aspirin - My blood is pooling in the backwash from my valve failure and aspirin keeps my blood from clotting. Twice a day.

Luckily, Mom and Dad have adjusted the times so that now I get most of them at the same time. When I came home from the hospital my meds where due all around the clock and I hated having to take them almost all day long. Now it's not so bad. Also, they went to a compounding pharmacy that mixed some of the drugs into a chicken-flavored liquid and I like taking those.

My new med seems to make me only a tiny bit more loopy; I couldn't immediately find the banana this morning. I'll have to try harder. I didn't have any trouble finding the tangerine and apple, though. I guess I'm getting all these fruits to try to keep my potassium levels up. The lasix and spironolactone are trying to do a number on my kidneys and I have to pee like crazy, so my electrolytes need some help staying balanced. My humans have been giving me electrolyte solution and so my sodium and chloride levels are good. Plus the fruit makes the meds stay down.

I had a worse than normal day yesterday. I coughed more than usual, and seemed slightly more tired, perhaps because I was quite active yesterday. Luckily, I had an electrolyte recheck (Na and Ka values are fine) and a followup ultrasound scheduled for today. The vet put me on a sixth med hydralazine (not to be confused with hydroxyzine). We are to increase my lasix dosage if necessary. Mom and Dad worry about me constantly; am I too excited? Am I getting enough exercise? How many coughs has that been today? Do they let me walk back from peeing or should they carry me all the way back? I of course only care about licking their faces. I wish they'd do the same.