When things collapse

Not-so-fun fact: Maltese terriers’ tracheas often collapse as they get older.

It’s a genetic flaw. The breed doesn’t have enough cellular rings of cartilage in its windpipe, which can lead to breathing difficulties.

My dog Charlie is part-Maltese and his trachea partially collapsed on Friday morning.

I am on intimate terms with Dr Google, so when Charlie started making an awful noise like a goose honking over and over again, I knew what I was dealing with.

Unfortunately I was also in the throws of a VERY busy work day – isn’t it always the way? And the youngest had borrowed my car.

I requested the return of my car, secured an appointment at the vet for 5.15pm and winced my way through the day as Charlie honked and honked and honked … frantically checking he was still breathing every time he was silent.

It was a bit awkward in the waiting room … Sorry everyone! I promise it’s not kennel cough …

$180 later Charlie had prescriptions for steroids and some other tablets to open his airways. I have enough medication for 20 days. I see a lot of visits to the wonderful Dr Lexie in my future as, other than having surgery (not recommended for older dogs), there’s not much that can be done for a collapsed trachea.

Sigh.

But thankfully the drugs have worked a treat – he’s healthy, happy and hasn’t honked since mid-morning on Saturday.

On the way home from the vet I stopped into Dan Murphy’s for a bottle of vodka, rum and tequila … not to drown my sorrows, but to finally trial a cocktail-making machine that I was sent last year.

While it’s exciting to be sent a free machine to test that uses Nespresso-like pods to make cocktails, it’s a bit of a stumbling block when it costs more than $200 to fill it with spirits.

So it had been gathering dust for months and I finally decided to crack it out for an afternoon soiree at DD’s place … more about that later …

Saturday dawned with me driving to the Northern Beaches with my laptop to get my roots done, as I was on weekend duty for work.

I almost “had a fall” when I dropped the dogs to DD’s place on my way through. I’ve been having head spins for a few weeks, which were a bit unsettling while we were on the cruise.

As I was grabbing my bags out of the car I dropped my mobile phone plug. It rolled underneath the car, I bent down to retrieve it, the world spun wildly and I stumbled. I flattened myself against the car and clung on until the spinning stopped.

It would appear I have dislodged my ear crystals again. You may vaguely recall that I had violent head spins while on holiday in New Zealand about five years ago.

DD diagnosed that my ear crystals – also known as otoconia or ear stones – had dislodged.

I swear, ear crystals are an actual thing, not some crazy, hippie concept. There are tiny, calcium carbonate crystals in our inner ears that help with our balance. When they dislodge, they can cause a sensation of spinning as incorrect messages are sent to your brain. It even has a proper medical name: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

DD looked up a YouTube video on how to fix it the first time around and Bob was my uncle.

But he thinks maybe I should go to my ear, nose and throat specialist to discuss it this time, to make sure there isn’t an infection.

After the head spinning stopped I raced to the hairdresser, then on to Palm Beach for a birthday lunch with the youngest at The Joey.

It was a very quick lunch because we had an outside table and the heavens opened halfway through our steaks and drenched us. But it’s a sensational spot regardless of the weather – the views of Pittwater are spectacular.

I can’t believe the youngest is 19 … only one year to go until there are no more teenagers in the family.

Then it was back to DD’s for the cocktail soiree, which was in honour of his Canadian cousins coming to visit.

Verdict on the cocktail machine: the kids thought it was a fun gimmick that made a pretty good Cosmopolitan. I can attest to the popularity of the Cosmos, as most of the vodka I bought for the machine is gone.

But I do wonder if it’s just as easy to chuck a few ingredients in a cocktail shaker with some ice. Might need to organise another soirée before I give my final verdict …

I got distracted by socializing, so I don’t have any photos of the party other than the one above with the youngest. But it was bulk fun.

Now it’s back to the grindstone.

How was your weekend?

Song of the day: Stevie Wonder “You are the sunshine of my life”