"Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight." - Phyllis Diller

The Vet called this afternoon and all but one of Al’s lab results is in. So far everything looks fine except his hemogobblin is a little high. That can be a sign of infection, which has him thinking the one remaining test may come back positive - for Valley Fever. That’s a really nasty disease that strikes both humans and animals here - dogs are especially vulnerable - and comes as a result of breathing in a microscopic fungus that lives in the dust of the desert. It can be very debilitating in humans; some people struggle with it for years once they’re diagnosed. He said if Al has Valley Fever he can be put on a drug that fights it. “Lots of dogs here are on the med.” The way he was talking, kind of dancing around the specifics, I got the feeling he wasn’t giving me all the info. “We can talk more about that after we get the results.”
Since our conversation I’ve done some research on the internet. I don’t like what I read.
The fungus gets in the lungs where it grows until, like a seed pod exploding, it breaks into thousands more tiny spores that repeat the process. From the lungs the spores spread to the rest of the body and, in serious cases, invade the brain (seizures). The med that kills the fungus is expensive and in an early stage case it can take six months of treatment. Once it invades the brain a dog has to be on it for the rest of their life.
Something is clearly wrong, and the symptoms I read match with Al’s. Fatigue, loss of appetite, joint pain. He rarely sneezes, which is cause for optimism.
I really like Al. He’s a great dog and in many ways he’s the best pet we’ve ever had. I’m attached to him. He’s also a dog.
We’ll see what the word is on Monday but I’m feeling sad for what may be.

I watched the U.S. Open (golf) while I did the bulletin and some other tasks this afternoon. They’re playing it at Pebble Beach this year which I find particularly interesting because we lived in the Monterey Bay area for seven years.
There’s a reason Phil Michelson is the most popular player on the tour. Besides being very, very good he interacts with the gallery and clearly enjoys their presence. I always got the feeling Tiger considered the gallery his audience.
After a bad first round yesterday Phil stormed back today and vaulted into second place. The crowds went crazy and Phil couldn’t stop smiling. Tiger just made the cut.

Tomorrow the mileage gets bumped up another notch. Something between 25 and 30, depending on how things are going. I need to be out the door before 7:00 or it will be close to triple digits before I get home.

I’l use the pedal time to preach my sermon.