Busy day and bravo Kilo! 3

 tagged japanese chin / service dog by (updated 1648 days ago)

Whew, what a day we’ve had today! Hestia and I started out by enjoying the cooler weather and taking a walk. Then we rushed off to see our nurse practitioner who prescribes my psych meds.

I LOVE my nurse practitioner! We talked about my recent foray into hypomania that happened a couple of weekends ago, and how I was doing with the increase in Latuda ever since. We decided to stay on 40 mg a day of Latuda because I am having less irritability and mood lability with it.

We also talked about the three possible reasons for the episode. First, it could just have been a regular swing for me– I’d been having increased irritability for a while, and it might have just been a natural progression of the chemicals in my body. Second, it could have been due to the supplements I had recently started. Third, it could have been because I found an old brownie mix with sugar in it, and I made it and ate the brownies! (“All the brownies,” Brad says!)

Tiffany (my nurse practitioner) told me that the magnesium and D3 supplements are no problem, and that I can go back on those right away. After a week on those just to be sure there are no problems, she wants me to introduce B12 and see how it goes. B12 can give energy, but she thinks it is not that likely to be the cause of my mood issue. Just in case, though, we are starting it separately and seeing how it goes. To reduce variables, I am supposed to stick with my no cane sugar diet!

Tiffany was also happy to hear about things in my life, and even put the orchestra concert on her calendar for December! I was really surprised that she did that, she is so awesome! I also talked with her about the lack of an emergency line for the practice, and she gave me her email address! Wow!!!!!!!!!

When we left, we went to drop the prescription off at the pharmacy, headed to the library to renew our cards, and then went to TJ Maxx for another Manners Evaluation!

We met up with Cynthia and her dog Kilo. Kilo is a black Lab and German Shepherd mix. Hestia was very interested in Kilo, and kept trying to go over to sniff him. I had my hands full training Hestia! I could have picked her up to temporarily fix the problem, but that wouldn’t help with the training we are doing to help her ignore other dogs. So we trained through it. While I was embarrassed at Hestia being so interested in Kilo, I was proud of myself for not freaking out about it and instead being able to train.

Kilo did a great job on the Manners Evaluation! It was a pleasure to give it to him and Cynthia. The best part of the entire evaluation was the greeting a friendly stranger part. The stranger got down on her knees to pet Kilo, and he leaned into her and raised his face to hers while gently licking the air in front of her face. His body language was totally relaxed and also very calm. After a bit of petting, he let out a lazy stretch. It was one of the most calm yet happy greetings I’ve seen, a pleasure to watch.

I am glad Cynthia and Kilo will be in the Service Dogs on the Town class, and I think they will soon be ready for a Public Access Test!

Afterwards, we stopped by the pet store to get some Hestia food, and then we headed over to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. When we dropped them off, they said they’d be ready around 4:30. So we showed up a little after 5 thinking they would be there. But nope! They were not ready. They said to give it another 15 minutes. So we hung around the store (Hestia was pretty perfect!) for 15 min and then went back up to the counter. Still not ready! So we sat down and waited for another 15 min until they were finally done. We left the store at almost 6PM!

This is unfortunately not an unusual occurrence for our pharmacy, so I have decided that for next month’s prescriptions I am switching pharmacies. I used to use Family Care and Specialty Pharmacy which is a small, independent, family run pharmacy. They deliver for free! I loved that pharmacy, and the only reason I stopped going is because they couldn’t get one of my meds. I don’t take that med anymore, so I am going to switch back. I’m done with CVS and waiting forever for my meds!

Brad got some pictures of the Manners Evaluation and also in CVS. I have long brown curly hair and am wearing a red sugar skulls dress. Hestia is a small black and white dog with a smushed nose and googley eyes. She is wearing a red mesh vest. There is a new addition to this vest– a reflective green soft heart keychain. Cynthia is a red haired woman wearing a white shirt. Kilo is a medium sized black and tan dog wearing a galaxy vest with Harry Potter themed patches (the ones on the side read “service k9 3/4”). Brad is a bearded man in a powerchair. He is wearing white pants, a purple shirt, a grey and purple tie, a purple scarf, a blue blazer, a multi-hued blue bug pin, and a blue plaid hat.

Cynthia laughs as the breeze catches her hair.
Cynthia laughs as the breeze catches her hair.
In a field of green clover, Hestia relaxes and glows.
In a field of green clover, Hestia relaxes and glows.
Kilo stares deeply into the camera.
Kilo stares deeply into the camera.
Kilo sits and watches Cynthia, all with his tongue sticking out!
Kilo sits and watches Cynthia, all with his tongue sticking out!
A stranger dressed in pink talks with Veronica and Cynthia about their service dogs. Hestia lies on the ground and Kilo looks bored.
A stranger dressed in pink talks with Veronica and Cynthia about their service dogs. Hestia lies on the ground and Kilo looks bored.
Kilo thinks it's no big deal as Veronica runs past him!
Kilo thinks it’s no big deal as Veronica runs past him!
Kilo and Hestia lie on the floor in TJ Maxx as Veronica and Cynthia discuss the Manners Evaluation in front of a pumpkin themed display.
Kilo and Hestia lie on the floor in TJ Maxx as Veronica and Cynthia discuss the Manners Evaluation in front of a pumpkin themed display.
Kilo and Hestia maintain the same positions after a clipboard was dropped a few feet away from them.
Kilo and Hestia maintain the same positions after a clipboard was dropped a few feet away from them.
Kilo looks at the treat, but knows not to sniff it as he and Cynthia walk past.
Kilo looks at the treat, but knows not to sniff it as he and Cynthia walk past.
Kilo stretches out as the friendly stranger scratches his chin.
Kilo stretches out as the friendly stranger scratches his chin.
After his first experience with a van with a ramp, Kilo makes himself at home inside!
After his first experience with a van with a ramp, Kilo makes himself at home inside!
With a striking blue sky in the background, Veronica goes over the results of the Manners Evaluation with Cynthia. Hestia and Kilo stand by.
With a striking blue sky in the background, Veronica goes over the results of the Manners Evaluation with Cynthia. Hestia and Kilo stand by.
Hestia poses inside CVS in this black and white picture. There are some lines across the picture due to the fluorescent lighting in CVS.
Hestia poses inside CVS in this black and white picture. There are some lines across the picture due to the fluorescent lighting in CVS.
On the wall a sign has the universal accessibility symbol (person in wheelchair) and says "waiting". In the wheelchair waiting area there is a pile of paper towels. Brad rests one arm on the pile of paper towels and looks at the camera in a resigned way.
On the wall a sign has the universal accessibility symbol (person in wheelchair) and says “waiting”. In the wheelchair waiting area there is a pile of paper towels. Brad rests one arm on the pile of paper towels and looks at the camera in a resigned way.
This picture is mostly black and white, with just the wheelchair waiting sign and Brad in color. In this zoomed out shot, you can see that there is no way for a wheelchair to fit in this space! Brad rests his arm on the stack of paper towels and looks contemplatively at the sign. Brad's caption for this picture is "choose your own caption"-- so put yours in the comments!
This picture is mostly black and white, with just the wheelchair waiting sign and Brad in color. In this zoomed out shot, you can see that there is no way for a wheelchair to fit in this space! Brad rests his arm on the stack of paper towels and looks contemplatively at the sign. Brad’s caption for this picture is “choose your own caption”– so put yours in the comments!
Brad wonders if the waiting area is also a weighting area-- this time he holds a scale while posing.
Brad wonders if the waiting area is also a weighting area– this time he holds a scale while posing.

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