That’s Just Swell

I got up this morning and started to go through my mundane activities before jumping on my first conference call. For all intents and purposes, it seemed like a normal day. I tried to force myself to wake up and not be a zombie (I hate mornings). I checked my email. I took the dogs outside. Yeah, it was a pretty typical start, but wait…what is that huge monstrosity attached to my dog’s neck? Oh my goodness, that monstrosity is his neck! It was freakishly swollen about 2-3 times its normal size.

I didn’t completely freak out because I’ve seen Xander experience similar reactions after receiving inoculations. However, I’ve never seen it happen for no apparent reason. That worried me. I frantically began to rearrange meetings so I could take care of the poor guy.

I gave him Benadryl to make sure the swelling wouldn’t get any worse while I was waiting to get him into the vet’s office. It helped the swelling go down, but only slightly.

At the vet’s, I learned that he had a temperature of 104! That’s really high, even for a dog. So, he’s got a serious infection and some type of acute reaction. The vet wasn’t certain what caused it, but he gave us a course of treatment including antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Hopefully, he’ll get better soon.