25th Jan

So yesterday bright and early we went to the vets.

We went through the symptoms, Athena got a thorough look over and we agreed a plan. Test for bloods to monitor anything gone wrong. Test urine for other functions. And finally think about some anti inflammatories and anti arthritic meds.

Cushings was a possibility, as was hyperthyroidism and a bunch of things - most of which would be cleared up by a blood test. But it was also possible they were just unrelated.

All in all the vet was great, warm, sympathetic, explained the possibilities, open to discussion, talked to like a human and came up with a solid diagnostic plan.

And we had an appointment within 24 hours.

It was not lost on me the entirely different experience I get from the NHS. Athena is in a different world healthcare wise. If I could register myself as a large labrador, I would.

Her initial check over came up ok. Nothing felt wrong internally, seemed good all round - but, a noticeable twinge and problem on her left back leg. Probably arthritis and not general strength loss ( although she does have that all round ).

Reassuring. And. We were doing something. Getting somewhere. Asking questions. Getting answers. You know where you stand. You get an idea of what to do. What the outcomes are.

As soon as the once over seemed ok, and he had pointed out it looked like she had some arthritis I figured that's probably - hopefully - where we'd end up. Creaky joints. But nothing internally going wrong.

Since the vet visit Athena has been pretty much with me all the time. She's elected to snuggle up with me on the bed, share anything I'm eating, but otherwise content to just sleep next to me. For my part, I plop her on the bed when she asks. But I've stopped carrying her up the stairs. My back is a disaster. Fortunately, she's been getting up the stairs on her own, sometimes slowly and not great, but she manages.

Today, after a round the clock stay up piece of bullshit, I went off the vets again first thing in the morning to drop off her urine sample.

The vet saw me and said, we have the results back and they look good.

He went through them with me, pointed out they were all normal, so, that clears her for a lot of things. The urine sample may show other things up. But. It's looking like anti arthritic drugs and anti inflammatories might be the way to go.

I feel much more reassured about her status, and that with a decent meds regime, she will be back to her old self. Apparently there are some new drugs out that do wonders for arthritis. Uh huh.

I can't praise the vets enough. Everything you want in a healthcare provider. Knowledgeable. Thorough. Compassionate.

Truly. It makes the NHS look like an utter fucking shit show.

Sure. Athenas tests cost me £200.

I would rip someones arm off to get the level of healthcare Athena got for £200. Yes please.

But bear in mind. My taxes are already paying the NHS something like £3.5k a year. I see nothing of that. I get a clip round the back of the ear and told to fuck off. If I was a dog. I'd be getting a blood test and a major surgery at that price. Every single year. Which is nuts.

The whole thing stinks of wastage.

There's another interesting fact.

Almost every vet I've been to has modest offices / places of work. Some of the key infrastucture ones - the ones that do 24/7 cover or are specialists have better bigger places. Even the absolute best of the best in the country, DWR the teaching place, whilst extremely nice and slick, wasn't crazily over the top. Compare and contrast to most of the GPs or hospitals I've been in in recent times. With their fancy architecture, grand openings, huge amounts of space, custom doors, kitted out up the wazoo. By far the best buildings and accoutrements you can get. You can argue this is exactly what you want of your healthcare infrastructure. And yet. The experience you get at the Vets is vastly superior to the one you get at the NHS. Particularly at the first point of contact, ie, emergency or GP. The vets are hands down superior in every way. It feels like the Vets get the right balance of healthcare first, fancy buildings second, whilst the NHS pisses money up the wall on architecture, and healthcare second. It feels like that kind of splashy waste goes on a lot. Money bleeds out everywhere. And the actual day to day running is the thing that suffers.

All fur coat. No knickers.

Perhaps an NHS solution would be to copy the Vets. Except pay for it all via taxes. Because sure as shit the current setup doesnt work. 

It also occurs to me that the current day Vets feels a lot like the NHS used to feel like 40 years ago. Make do buildings and accoutrements. But a far superior service. It was the people making the difference. Not a swizzy building. Now it seems the other way around.

Anywho.

The verdict on Athena doesn't seem as bad as it could be. It's definitely an adjustement period again. The same adjustments I had to go through with Ares as he slowly declined. Each one can be a bit of a shock.

I haven't coped well emotionally with this ride. It has fucked me over and pushed me to the edge. Of course. Its not been a good spell recently anyway. But. Shit like this like as not happens in bad times.

I can only do my best. And as ever make sure Athena gets all the help she needs. The professionals know whats up better than me.

I am a bit of a disaster at coping with some shit. Truly one of my very broken bits. At this point in life I have a major fucking hole in me in this area. Not good adulting.

Ho hum.

Do what you can.