I spoke too soon - the day after the dentist had continued with work on my ailing tooth, the infection was back with a vengeance! I have come to the conclusion that he doesn't have to do anything other than look in my mouth before another infection kicks in, which of course means that pulling the damn thing out is out of the question. I remember being told that elderly relatives had insisted on having all of their teeth pulled out and dentures fitted in order to avoid ever having to visit another dentist, and can remember thinking that they must have been mad, but now I am not so sure! If, and its a big if, this tooth ever gets sorted, I will open the biggest bottle of champagne in celebration, providing of course that I am not still on the antibiotics that mean alcohol is out of the question!!!
 

At long last my tooth finally seems to be ridding itself of infection - mind you, it has taken no fewer than three courses of antibiotic! I returned to the dentist on Thursday of last week with a badly swollen face and glands, and in so much pain I could not think straight. I was prescribed a different antibiotic called "Metronidazole" 400mg, and it has finally worked. The main disadvantage of this antibiotic is that you cannot consume any alcohol whatsoever, unless you want to be violently sick - you have to allow 48 hours after completing the course before you can even have a sip of alcohol. I pleaded with the dentist to rip the offending tooth out, but he said that he could not do anything until the infection had gone or I ran the risk of blood poisoning. I have to return to see him on Thursday, and I am not entirely sure what he is going to do, but I no longer care - the pain has finally gone - I don't think I've ever had toothache for four weeks before, and I sure as hell don't want it again! The relief from the pain is so great, that I would willing take "Metronidazole" for the rest of my life, and stuff the odd glass of wine that I enjoy with my food!
So how is life with everyone else? I'm away to catch up on your blogs, and find out what joys life has been bringing you!
 

Problems with my teeth continue! On Friday I saw Mr Nimbrokar, who is the senior dentist at my dental practice, and he carried out root canal work on the ailing tooth. I obviously have a severe infection in the root canal as he was not able to fill the tooth, but has left it to drain the remaining infection. I have been put on yet another course of amoxycillin, this time 500mg, in the hope that the infection can be sorted, and I have to see him again on the 2nd February for him to complete the work. The tooth is still unbelievably painful, so of course I am taking extra painkillers for toothache - I swear I rattle with the number of tablets I am taking! At least the swelling has gone down, and I have now managed to get some sleep, so I am starting to feel more like a human being again!!!
 

Greetings mes amis. I apologise for my considerable absence, but all has not been well in the health stakes I'm afraid. I have been suffering with excruciating toothache for some time now. It developed around 2am on a Saturday, and simply did not respond to any of the painkillers I took - and believe me, I took loads! Of course dentists do not work at the weekend, and although I knew I could see an emergency dentist in Canterbury, I was simply not capable of driving the car there. I phoned my dentist at 1 minute past 9 on Monday morning, and was seen at 10.35 am that day. The tooth that was causing the problem already has a gold inlay, and has had root canal treatment in the past. I would have been quite happy if my dentist had pulled the damn thing out, but no, she decided to prescribe antibiotics. The antibiotics took over 48 hours to kick in, by which time my face was badly swollen, as were my glands, and every bit of me hurt, including every tooth in my mouth. I used clove oil, anbesol, and every painkiller imaginable, including one called Nuramol, which is supposed to alleviate even wisdom tooth problems, but nothing worked. I could not sleep through the pain, and did not manage to get any rest for around 10 days. In the past four hours the pain has started to ebb slightly, and I am hoping that the antibiotics will do the trick. Sadly, any infection causes my blood sugars to rise, and despite not having eaten anything at all since my tooth problems began, my blood sugar levels now warrant admission to hospital, but of course I cannot do that because of Byron, who barks continuously if I am away for more than a few hours. To cap it all, whilst walking my boy yesterday afternoon, I started sneezing continuously. Although I do not feel as though I am getting a cold, the last thing I want is to develop the cold that has been going around here recently which has left sufferers feeling as though they have the flu - most have had to take to their beds for several days to get through it! Keep your fingers crossed for me please - I really don't want this cold!!!
 

At last christmas day has arrived - A very happy Christmas to everyone here at WDC! I wish everyone a peaceful joyful day with many surprises to keep you entertained, together with good health and love.
 

What exciting news can I thrill you with today? None whatsoever. The rest of the world is rushing around frantically buying every available food item possible for fear that they might run out of an essential ingredient before the supermarkets reopen in a couple of days time; the same old christmas 'favourites' are being played to death at every street corner charity fundraising stall, every shop; every petrol station; supermarket; card shop; in fact probably in every establishment in the country; and Byron and I are keeping as far away from it as possible! If I hear one more rendition of "I'm dreaming of a white christmas" whilst standing in the rain I think I will commit hari kari!!
On a happier note, several of Byron's canine friends have returned to Hythe after several months absence, so dog walking has become a more cheery affair - he hates walking on his own, and will sulk for days if he doesn't meet up with at least two or three of his friends whilst we are out. On days when he doesn't meet up with his friends he refuses to eat, and although he is a long way from skin and bone, his energy levels drop alarmingly, as does his joie de vivre. So although I am quite happy tramping through the woods and fields with just my boy for company, I have started to dog walk at times when I know that others will also be out, which at this time of year is easier to predict beecause of the light! When I first had a dog I did not realise quite how much the weather and the seasons would dictate the patterns of my day - well, you try looking for a black and tan dog in the dark, or expecting an animal with a double coat to exercise in sweltering temperatures!!!
I may or may not get the opportunity to spend time on WDC tomorrow as I have Moira and the grandchildren to run back to Cheriton, and my vegetables to pick up from the greengrocer; so, I hope you all have a peaceful and joyful christmas - a christmas without hassle or disaster!
 

My teeth are suffering again for some reason - I keep breaking my teeth! Having broken the same tooth three days running I have a large gap in my mouth, with just the root of the tooth protruding slightly above the gum! Ho hum, when I first broke the tooth I phoned the dentist, but her first available appointment is Friday, when I am sure she will extract what remains, leaving me with a hole! I am not happy!
The good news is that having spent £150, I now have a fully operating computer again. It was the monitor at fault, and I now have a wide-screen replacement, which means that I am now able to come online again - thank god - I am not happy when I cannot get onto WDC!!!
Apart from the teeth problems, I am looking after Obi (a cross border collie) every day at the moment. His owners, Mike and Doris have retired from their newsagent business, and having sold the business on, are helping out the new owners this week, which means that Obi would be home alone. I take Obi out with Byron every morning, so see no reason why he should not spend his days with us as well until this week is over - Byron certainly enjoys having his mate around!
 

My prolonged absence is owing to the fact that my computer is rather unwell, and I can only get the monitor to work for short periods of time - the shortest has been a couple of seconds, the longest has been a couple of hours! Finances permitting, I will be taking the tower to the computer guy down the road, and the monitor to a tv shop, who say they are happy to strip it down and see what the problem is; or I will be ringing someone who has been recommended to me as reasonable in financial terms, When the monitor does work, it does so superbly, but most of the time the screen is black! I am not in a good mood, as well you might imagine!
 

I trust that you will all have a Happy Halloween! - I have just stocked up on some horror bag sweets in preparation for trick and treating tonight.
Apologies for my prolonged absence - life has not been a barrel of laughs of late. A few weeks ago I was walking Byron in the field with several of his friends, when we were joined by a woman called Debbie, and her black lab Scooter. Byron and Scooter have known each other since Byron was a pup, and there have never been any problems - Byron likes Scooter, and whenever he sees him, will run over to say hello. On this particular occasion however Scooter decided that he was going to dominate Byron by mounting him. Byron's response was to shrug him off, and carry on as normal to begin with. Sadly, Scooter did not stop, despite the fact that I kept on hauling him off my boy and telling him off. Byron started telling him off, but Scooter did not stop mounting him. If Scooter had been my dog I would have put him on his lead to prevent him from continuing, but Debbie did not. Eventually, after just over an hour of being continually mounted by a dog who was trying to dominate him, Byron lost his rag, and attacked Scooter. Being a big dog, I guess it is inevitable that he did a lot of damage. Smacking over his nose with the lead stopped him in his tracks, and I immediately put Byron on the lead, and we came home. As the whole incident was witnessed by another person, I did not expect Byron to be branded a vicious and and dangerous dog - he was heavily provoked over a considerable length of time, and tried warning Scooter to stop before finally having no other resort, but that is what has happened. To my mind, the instigator of the trouble was Scooter, and although there are certain dogs that Byron dislikes and will have a go at, when they are around I keep him on the lead, and walk in the opposite direction. Byron has however been dubbed the dog from hell, and people are keeping well away from him, which means that he is not enjoying his afternoon walk anymore as he wants to meet up with his friends. What next? I wonder.

My other main problem at the moment is that when I changed banks last year, it would seem that the direct debit to an endowment policy was not kept up. In the past the endowment company has informed me of this, and I have notified the bank concerned. This time, they did not tell me, so I have been thinking that it has been paid all this time, when it hasn't! It would seem that it is now being treated as a lapsed policy, which does not bode well for its maturation date in 2013. I am waiting for the company to put something in writing to me, and if necessary, will take the case to the insurance ombudsman to resolve. The person I was talking to on the phone about it did not know why they had not contacted me about it, but said he would investigate. I have had letters from the endowment company from the past where the change of bank account has resulted in the direct debit not being transferred, so why did they not contact me this time round?

As you can see, I am not a happy bunny at the moment!!!!!
 

Greetings mes amis! Sorry to have been away so long - life has been rather preoccupied with visits to Anthony, Byron's vet, and exploratory stuff at the animal hospital in Ashford. Although I was reluctant to have an ultrasound done because it meant shaving a large patch of fur, I wasn't really given a choice as Byron continued to go downhill, and stopped eating for nearly two weeks. In terms of reassurance however, I now wish I had had it done sooner - there is nothing wrong with Byron's heart or lungs, or his thyroid whatsoever. I have followed Colin's advice, despite Anthony's refusal to prescribe him the food that Colin recommended - you can get it online without a prescription - and he is eating it like no tomorrow. He has started bouncing around again, and although he is not quite back to normal, he is virtually there!! I am so happy - the thought of life without my boy was not worth contemplating - I'd be totally lost without him. Inevitably, the food is rather more expensive than the food that he was on beforehand - which in itself was far from cheap - but if it is what he needs, so what? I think he costs more than me to feed nowadays - he certainly eats a larger quantity - but if the prescription food is what it takes to keep him healthy, I don't really care. I did find a canine cardiologist online who is based in Canterbury, and who turns out to be the country's leading cardiologist for animals; but Anthony was reluctant to do a referral as the fees for a consultation are around £1,000!!! Still, I no longer have to worry about it, as he has no heart problems at all. Having contacted the practice where he is based, and explained that I had probably wasted their time, I received a really nice email telling me that they were delighted that Byron did not now need a consultation, but should he ever in the future, not to hesitate to contact them again.