The Chase is On

Dad took me to Doggy Disney again today. We did a good tour around in the pleasant weather. We were expecting it to be freezing cold this weekend, but in fact it ended up being quite mild. Mild enough for all the puddles and muddy bogs to be fantastically dirty for me to go and play in.

Whilst running around I caught sight and scent of a Muntjac deer. It's not often I run into these as they're so shy, nimble and agile enough to just disappear in the trees.

Today was different. I managed to have a real good chase as it seemed this one was up for teasing me for a bit.  There's no way I'm fast enough to get even close but this one seemed to be up for the chase as much as I. So I couldn't let it down could I?

After only a minute or two dad whistled me and called me back, so I didn't lose him in the woods. I know how panicky he gets when I leave him alone in the woods for too long. So I trotted back all happy with myself after my little bit of fun.

Minimising Liver Damage

One of the worrying side effects of the Epiphen (Phenobarbital) drug that I've been prescribed to counter my seizures, is that the higher the dosage and duration the higher the risk of liver damage.

In order to respond to this there are really only two courses we could take at this stage. As it's not an option to reduce the dosage and the duration is going to be life time we can introduce another drug, Potassium Bromide, which would allow the Epiphen dosage to be lessened.

However, at this relatively early stage in the treatment we're still trying to figure out what the dosage of Epiphen is required in order to be within the therapeutic serum range (15 - 45µg/ml) ie. to be effective in controlling my epilepsy. Hence the need for regular blood tests. So mixing the medication at this stage is not a good idea.

The other option is to look towards a "Complimentary or Alternative" medicine to try to minimise the effects on my liver.

Milk thistle is believed to have protective effects on the liver and improve its function. It is typically used to treat liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis (liver inflammation), and gallbladder disorders.

Source: nccam.nih.gov

Dad's gone back to the Internet and ordered up a supply of tablets from a previous source of supplements and we're now going to add these tablets to my medication. If we add many more I will rattle when I walk!

Rottweiler Rescue

In my search of support and answers relating to my treatment I've taken all kinds of sidetracks investigating the Rottweiler breed. Their origin, typical behaviours and any know affliction the breed suffers from. Along the journey I've crossed paths with some folks utterly devoted to the breed. To the extent that they organise or support charities that often pick up the pieces after something goes wrong when people take home a Rottweiler.

There are groups of dedicated people who take in those Rottweilers where the owner is no longer able to offer it a home. These are the people who run charitable rescue shelters and spend huge amounts of time attempting to rehome an unwanted pet.

Reading up on just how many Rottweilers are put up for rehoming each month, year after year is just staggering. Those surrendering dogs claim to do so for many, many different reasons. The reality is there is only one reason to rehome a dog, and that is money.

Excuses like "I'm having a baby", "the dog doesn't get on with my kids/dogs/other pets", "our new home won't allow us to bring pets with us", just aren't the real reason, no matter how you try to justify it.

Here's why it is purely financial - If you were rehoming your Rottweiler for any other reason than money, this is how you would do it.

Find a charitable rescue shelter that is willing and able to take in your pet. Don't attempt to explain your reasons - they've heard them all before. Of course they'll ask a lot of questions about your pet and its condition and behaviour. Now simply ask them for their bank account details. When you have them, calculate how much money you should be spending on your dog each month, include all the food you would need, the incidental medicines for worming and fleas, now add on the cost spaying/neutering and monthly pet insurance. Now setup a Direct Debit for that amount and let it run for the remainder of your pets life expectancy of around ten years.

Not prepared to do that? Well then your reasons for rehoming are quite simply for the money.

The very least you can do for making a mistake, is to ensure that no one else is expected to cover your losses. If you can do that, I sympathise with you in having to make a tough decision.

For those of you who run a rescue shelter, or offer foster homes to dogs (Rottweilers included), there aren't enough words in the English language to offer as reward for your efforts.

For all of us others - THINK BEFORE you take on a Rottweiler, or any dog. Do some homework, find out what you need to do, what is expected, how much it will cost - you'll step back once you get your calculator out. The cost of buying the dog is incidental compared to keeping it once you get it home.

If you still want a Rottweiler, go talk to one of the rescue shelters, ask them for information and do them the biggest favour you can by being a responsible adoptive parent for one of the kindest, most loving dogs you could ever ask for.

Emergency Measures

Dad got a call from the vet today to let him know that the prescription was available for collection. Now this is something that we're both hoping is a last resort treatment! Rectally administered Diazepam (Valium).

As it is illegal for dad to inject me with drugs using a syringe, the only emergency measure we can take is to administer the drug rectally. The Diazepam should only be used if I have a seizure that goes beyond it's normal 2-3 minute period. Beyond this continued fitting or a close recurrence of another seizure could be very damaging to my brain.

The Diazepam should be absorbed pretty quickly and minimize the impact and risk of further seizure. It may not be pleasant, but necessary.

Diazepam Patient Information Leaflet

Whilst there dad also got me some Epi-Otic Ear Cleanser to see if it can help shake off this annoying itch in my left ear. The irritation has been driving me mad! Mum and dad do their best to stop me scratching it, but it needs a little help if I'm going to get rid of it.

Now dad knows how to clean my ears properly it makes all the difference. The annoyance of shaking my head or scratching is far from my thoughts as "I Love getting my ears cleaned!" I practically pass out with the pleasure of it - how strange is that?

Anatomy of a Seizure

As I'm always completely unaware of what is happening when I have a seizure I thought I'd get dad to write up what actually happens when I have one. It may be useful for others to know just what to expect from someone who's actually there when someone experiences one.

There are different types of seizure, classed depending upon the affect they have on regions of the body. The type of seizure that I generally suffer is called tonic clonic, or as it used to be called a grand mal.

Dad sees me going through the typical stages of the seizure, aura, tonic then clonic and the pattern is clearly identifiable. It is very scary to watch and definitely extremely distressing on family who can do little but watch and wait. But what has to be remembered is that the sufferer is totally unaware and will have no memory of the events - and is therefore in no pain.

Aura

For me there is no behavioural identifier until the seizure hits. I go into a very trance like state, pupils dilated and appear to intensely stare at an object that isn't there. Often accompanied by an uncomfortable twisting of the head and neck to stare at something behind me.

If I'm standing my legs will be frozen in place. This is the point where I need to be really looked after and moved away from anything that I could cause to fall or hurt myself on.

I also start drooling heavily and saliva runs in streams from my jowls. Then my jaws will go into a snapping motion, causing the saliva to froth.

This phase which dad refers to as "chomping" only lasts between 20 and 30 seconds.

At this stage I've usually begun to fall into the next phase, tonic, but just recently the seizure has stopped here and I begin to return to consciousness.

Tonic

I fall over as my muscles start to contract uncontrollably. Muscles all over distort my body into what looks like very uncomfortable positions.

This stage is very brief and is only a few seconds.

Clonic

There are two distinct phases within the clonic stage. Firstly the falling over and spasming.

The muscles tense and go rigid and wildly convulse. Dad tries hard to keep my head from banging on the floor. My legs lash out and claw wildly so anything in range (usually dads feet) can get nastily clawed.

My whole body jerks uncontrollably with legs flailing and jaws gnashing. Dad makes sure that nothing gets in the way of my teeth!

During the convulsions it's not unusual for me to wee all over the place, so mum makes sure there's a big towel handy for dad to put under me.

The second phase of this dad calls "paddling". The convulsions have calmed and the muscle rigidity has relaxed to the point where I am lying down and seeming to swim.

The whole clonic phase lasts around a minute to two minutes, and is by far the scariest and disturbing part of the whole seizure.

Postictal

The postictal stage is the point at which the seizure has come to an end. However, the effects are still noticeable. For me I can now get up to walk, but initially I appear completely blind, thankfully the blindness doesn't last that long.

Dad tries to make sure I don't go bumping into things, which is difficult because I'm so big and so driven to go to the bathroom, eat and drink, and pace backwards and forwards at speed as if my paws are on fire. All this not necessarily in that order.

The pacing and hunger at this stage can last as long as an hour. During which I may be so tired I have to lie down, but then every so often frustratedly get up and pace and eat some more. I'm also very confused, so there's no point using commands, as I have no clue what is being said.

At this point mum or dad makes sure I've got something to eat. I'll devour a whole bowl of food like I haven't eaten for a week!

The more seizures I have in one day, the more the period of disorientation lasts. Dad also thinks I must get headaches as I'm often lying panting and moaning for a while afterwards. Not so different from when dad has a migraine.

So that's what happens to me. I hope it makes others realise that you're not alone. Yes, it's not pleasant, but with understanding the seizure can be managed without panic. The next steps are to get the balance of treatment correct to minimise their occurrence/frequency.

Epilepsy isn't curable, but hopefully it is manageable.

Training

Dad took me to the woods again over the weekend. I just love it there. On the way around we occasionally bump into other dogs and people and it surprises me how differently the behaviour of some are.

Take for example one dog we ran into. A lovely big German Shepherd male. He was safely on his lead and his walker pulled him off the path a little so we could pass. Seeing this dad called me over and I slipped my head into my chain. You can spot the nervous dog walker a mile away - the ones who are either scared of a big rottweiler, or worried how their dog will react.

As we walked past the person kept saying "Be good, be good, be good" to his dog. I'm sure that was confusing for the dog. As we passed the dog jumped and snarled at me and we just walked past quietly. The owner was obviously in need of some training - a dog that size must know how to behave, but equally the owner should know how to treat his dog to behave.

The "Be good, be good, be good" means nothing to the dog. The owner should simply get used to correcting his dog when it makes a mistake. Don't try to coerce it before hand. Standing there acting nervous only makes the dog nervous. The dog reacts to the owners state of mind and assumes his pack leader is scared, so he should be too.

Now this was no great incident, no clash of jaws or other. But it just goes to show how a little training with a professional, for both dog and master, could significantly change their relationship and behaviour.

So if you have a dog - any size of dog, take it to a training school. You can read all the books, watch all the videos but believe me when I say, you can't beat a live school. You'll get to meet other dogs in different stages of training - so you can assess how successful the school is. Your dog will also benefit from regular socialisation. You also get a real person correcting you, not your own interpretation of what a book or video says.

They are called dog schools out of convenience only. What they should be called is Dog AND Human schools. The owner is equally trained about their behaviour, if not more so.

Lastly - it's also very cheap, really! For 10 lessons, dad paid £35 - £3.50 per lesson. A real bargain for an hour of a professional and experienced dog handler.

Morning Sickness

When dad got up this morning he noticed I'd been sick in the night. One was quite dried up and the other more recent. There wasn't a great deal in it, mostly bile with a bit of dog food.

I was looking lively enough when dad came down, other than looking a bit sheepish and embarassed like I was expecting a telling off.

Updated

Well tonight nothing to report! Other than this morning getting sick all seems to be well. Dad took me out for a walk and did some re-training exercises with me. Just to get me back in the groove. Even met up with a friendly staffy I've met before and seemed to be getting back to my old self. Still some way to go... but improving.

Another Small Seizure

Mum's been at home with me all day today and has noticed that my behaviour is a little unusual. I've been either emotional since dad went to work or excitable and over energetic. Also feeling very hungry and been very naughty by going into the kitchen bin looking for food, something I haven't done for a very, very long time!

Dad's also noticed that I'm not quite myself still. After being so good on command, even responding to hand signals, it seems as if there is some confusion, or fog and I'm not quite understanding the commands for a while. I'll get it eventually, but takes a while. I hope this is just the effect of the higher dosage of the drugs.

18:20 I followed dad upstairs after he got in from work. Mum calls me shadow as I follow him everywhere. As I lay there with dad just about to update my blog with this update - which was to read "Today's a Better Day" - dad looked around at me and noticed I'd gone stary. Seconds later the chomping and drooling started, but that's where it stopped. "3-2-1 and you're back in the room"

Worst 24 Hours to Date

So far the past 24 hours has been horrendous. Initially thinking that a series of seizures (the previous 3) would see an end to it fell far short of the actual count.

In all I've had another five seizures since those!

22:45 (12 Jan) I was acting all excited as if I wanted something. Dad thought I was after going for walkies as I wouldn't settle and ran upstairs and down between him and mum. Eventually the seizure hit as I was at the bottom of the stairs thankfully. Dad came down and took care of me.

02:55 (13 Jan) Whilst sleeping in with mum and dad I woke them up with another full blown seizure. Dad tried to get me safely downstairs afterwards and nearly ended up paying a trip to hospital after I tripped him up at the bottom.

After this one dad slept downstairs on the sofa to keep an eye on me. For a long time afterwards I couldn't get comfortable and was very restless. I'm sure dad didn't get any sleep.

07:00 Dad didn't get up for work, so was still lying on the sofa when I had another seizure in my bed.

Thankfully the new vet was able to reschedule our 17:00 appointment to 10:10 this morning. So mum and dad took me for a long drive over to see them.

09:15 On the way to the vets I started a seizure. Dad noticed I was drooling a lot and just as I started chomping he pulled over to take a look at me. It turned out to be the shortest seizure so far. After the jaw chomping and gallons of slobber the seizure stopped. Less than a minute, but I was still a little confused afterwards.

The New Doctor

The new vet wasn't so nice. Not for me anyhow. He took a good look at me and spoke with mum and dad about my problems. As expected he advised the Epiphen should be increased to 2 x 60mg twice a day (240mg per day).

The new doctor did a good job on talking with reassuring mum and dad that whilst this is not a pleasant condition, it's not as bad as it could be. The seizures certainly are scary so I'm glad I'm not aware of them at all.

Following the conversation dad asked about Valium and the doctor also prescribed something called "a tube of rectal Valium" to be used in emergencies if the seizure goes on much longer than usual. Now I think that sounds like taking my temperature, so I better not be awake when that happens!

He also gave my ears a really, really good clean. This is why I didn't like him much. When dad cleans my ears it's not as thorough as the doctor did. The doctor was really vigorous in using cotton wool over his finger and getting as far in as he could. Even though dad cleaned my ears only the other day the doctor came out with lots of wax and dirt, yeuch! I guess now dad's seen how the doctor did it, I've got this to look forward to from now on.

I got to go in to dads work with mum, just to say hello as we'd driven all that way just to see the doctor. Before we left they took me around the park so I could get some exercise and see if I could catch one of them pesky squirrels.

11:55 After we got home and mum and dad where having a cup of tea I started twitching and chomping. After clearing the area expecting and full blown fit it turned out to be another small one like earlier.

Mum and dad then both joined me in a nap in front of the TV. It's been a long night/day.

Oh, and Dave and grandma came round just to see how I was. They'd been reading my blog so knew I wasn't doing so good, so thought they'd call in. I just wish I wasn't so slobbery and so happy to see them.

Updated

15:40 As dad was upstairs writing this Blaine came in from school and after shaking my head started antother small seizure.

18:45 Another small seizure whilst lying in bed.

21:40 Whilst lying in the front room.

Evening Seizure

17:00 It was dinner time so I went to get mum to do the dinner and give me my tablet when the head shaking started again. Mum says I stood there shaking my head then doing the jaw chomping until I keeled over into a full blown fit again.

I know mum and dad are really worried so I hope the doctor can come up with something tomorrow.

Lunchtime Seizure

13:45 This time I started having a seizure whilst awake. This is the first time where I've not been sleeping or at least lying down relaxing. I walked up to Christopher and must have scared him to death as I started chomping my jaws and going into the usual routine of fitting. Chris hasn't seen me fitting so didn't know what to expect. Good thing he phoned dad so he knew what to expect and what to do to help.

Dad's booked me an appointment with the new vet for tomorrow afternoon.

For some time now I've had this annoying itch with my ears. I've been shaking my head and scratching them until I yelp. On the advice of my current vet dad's been cleaning my ears with Clean Aural, but it still seems to come back.

Hopefully the new vet can check this out whilst checking me over.

Daytime Seizure

10:30 Had a seizure again this morning. Mum was upstairs and heard my bells jingling. When she came down she found me all confused and I started pacing.

This is the first sezure of the new year. It's also the first time I've had a fit during the day, when mum and dad are usually out at work.

Looks like the bells work though. Mum heard them from upstairs. Dad says I sound like a Morris Dancer.

Dad's going to start recording what food I've eaten too. Just to see if there's a link between the food and the seizures. Maybe there's some allergy to something in the food?

Breakfast: Winalot - Chicken Flavour

Had an Epihany

Dad took me walking in the woods during a winter afternoon recently and although I'm pretty good and finding my way around dad does get lost sometimes. Usually I can hear the choke chain dad carries jingling and can find him, but sometimes he just wanders off and I must go find him.

So I took him to the pet store and we figured I'd get some bells to fit onto my collar so when dad gets lost he can find me again. The store only had cat bells, but they came in threes, so dad got them and put them on my collar. Now he can always find me!

But an even better thought occured to me. Although these were originally to help dad find me, they'd also be really useful for if I have a seizure at night. I know mum and dad are worried that what happens if they are asleep and don't know I've had a fit. Now they should be able to hear the bells!

Veterinary Value

Sounds like dad's had some fun over the past few days. Seems getting prescription drugs online is a a battle of pedantics.

Placing an order with an online pharmacy couldn't be easier. After choosing one of the many online it was simple to complete the order and make payment.

After receiving the order confirmation simply replying with the scanned copies of the two prescriptions, one for Epiphen and one for Previcox, the order part was complete.

Now this is where common sense leaves the room. The prescription for 90 x 60mg  tablets of Epiphen for a months supply means that each time I take the 1.5 tablet dose I'm prescribed, a small 60mg tablet must be broken in two. This isn't an accurate science as it often means the tablet crumbles into 3 or more parts.

So why not order 60 x 60mg and 60 x 30mg - the half size tablets? This equates to exactly the dosage on the prescription, but is more accurate and convenient.

Well it turns out that my current vet wont allow the tablets to be supplied in this way. The online pharmacy calls up my vet and asks if they can supply pills of the correct size and the vet says no!

I suspect that if dad were to ask the vet they would then say I need 3 separate prescriptions to do this. So the vet would charge more and profit more each month.

Dad nor I can see the sense in having to continue breaking pills - where it is not a recommended practice as the dosage can not be precisely controlled. But it would appear that for nothing other than protecting their profits, my current vet insist we must stick to the prescription tablet size and quantity exactly, despite them having supplied half size tablets when they themselves have had them in stock.

Well that appears to be the last straw. Dad got on the phone a called a few more veterinary surgeries and was advised by his boss to call one local to where he works. After a very helpful conversation with the veterinary nurse it turns out that they are willing to assist and can provide a 3 month prescription - either as monthly repeats or as a single 3 month quantity - for £12!!! Yes, that's right, a saving of £6 per month.

Of course this means that I must come under their care and be seen by one of their surgeons, but the savings in prescription charges more than compensates for this. Other parts of the conversation relating to consultancy charges and prices for blood tests suggest even more savings.

So in February we're going to go pay this new veterinary surgery a visit. The extra good news for me is that I get to go to work with dad whenever I need to go see the doctor. It does mean dad would have to drive 35 miles each way if he wasn't going in to work, but as he's in work most every day, it seems like a reasonable trade off.

In all it pays to shop around. You can never ask too many questions and it pays to do some research online so you can get as much information as possible.

Prescription Drugs

Dad's been speaking to the doctor today and trying to find a more cost effective way of continuing my treatment. Not being insured turns out to be rather costly after all, but it's all about accepting certain risks. In my case it hasn't really paid off.

Insurance quotes for me ranged from £28-£33 per month, which is rather a lot of cash. I guess until mum and dad got really attached to me, they thought that a little too much to take on. Hopefully in hind sight they now see it as a small price to pay for a lovable monster like me.

Now with my current condition over the past few months the vet bills have grown more than mum and dad can afford - dad's been looking at some other options. It's not about the doctor, as I know dad's really pleased with them, the service is great, it's just about the money.

The two drugs that I'm taking (Epiphen and Previcox) work out at £69.35 per month when supplied by the vet.  This is made up of:

Description	Quantity	Price	Per Tablet
Epiphen (60mg)	90	£23.12	£0.256
Previcox (227mg)	30	£46.23	£1.541
	Total	£69.35

Now if dad goes online to many of the online pet pharmacies - and you too can just simply Google for almost any of them you'd see prices like this:

Description	Quantity	Price	Per Tablet
Epiphen (60mg)	90	£10.80	£0.12
Previcox (227mg)	30	£24.80	£0.826
	Total	£35.60

Can you believe that? Half the price that my friendly and so very helpful vet is charging! And I do mean friendly and helpful, as they are.  But the huge difference in price really has to be considered - especially with no insurance.

But things are not that straight forward. Since October 2008 veterinary practices can now charge for prescribing these drugs - which in itself isn't unfair, there has to be a cover for the administration of writing and recording prescriptions, or the vet would lose out. But the law now allows vets to charge anywhere up to £60 per prescription. Not that many do or would charge that much - but the law allows for it.

Thankfully my vet has set it's prescription charge at £7.20 per prescription. But that charge increases as I need two prescription drugs, so works out at £9.99. However, they will not provide a 3 month prescription, meaning this will require monthly prescriptions at £9.99 each month. Quite a money spinner as my medication is for a lifelong ailment, my vet is guaranteed £120 per year, for as long as I live.

Taking the vets prescription charges into account
there is still a huge saving of £23.76 per month (£285.12 per year)!

I'll still need to visit the doctor regularly for tests and checkups, so they'll still make money on my visits, but it still seems like there's £120 per year that they are making without any real effort.  I guess they have to protect themselves from people taking advantages of free prescriptions and not taking any of the vets services, but as we're paying for every consultation and test, it seems a better way would be to either offer repeat prescriptions or free prescriptions only where a contract of care between surgery and owner exists.

If a prescription were only issued at the time of consultation and valid only until the next, surely it would be fairer? As I must visit the vet every three months it doesn't sound unreasonable to have a three month prescription - instead I must get a prescription each month.

Dad did phone around other local vets and whilst very, very helpful the feedback was that the prices my vet are charging are typical of the industry. In fact the information regarding the change since October 2008 came from speaking to other practices.

Some very frank responses to the questions regarding drug costs expressed that veterinary surgeries often have high prescription charges simply to ward off bargain hunters, like myself, and attempt to keep the drug revenue within the practice. But if Internet sellers can supply and make money at the prices they charge I find it hard to believe that veterinaries aren't obtaining drugs at better prices and making huge mark ups.

There certainly seems like a large element of self preservation where practices are attempting to hold their market share simply by making the legislation work in their favour. No drugs without prescription, means cheap drugs only if you buy an expensive prescription. I feel certain that in some cases the cost of prescription means cheap drugs are not a viable alternative. In my case it seems there is an option - but how many could benefit by a fairer prescription process?

So far that's the best deal we've got. It's a good saving, but still an awful lot of money year on year. I'll update as we learn more.

UPDATE: Sad to say I missed the deadline in 2008 where the government were petitioned in regard to prescription charges. The governments response can be found here [http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16942]

The Government is committed to delivering free and fair markets, with greater competition, for businesses, consumers and employees.

That is why the Government introduced the Supply of Veterinary Medicinal Products Order in 2005 to create a market for veterinary medicines away from veterinary surgeries. The Order was introduced following a Competition Commission report which found that the veterinary profession tended to understate the true cost of their professional services and offset this in their medicines pricing. This practice can allow two detrimental effects:

· Veterinary surgeons can hide excess profits in drug prices; and

· Inadequate pressure on manufacturers to maintain competitive drug prices.

The Competition Commission felt strongly that a three-year moratorium on prescription charges was essential to allow animal owners to become used to the availability of free prescriptions and encourage them to shop around. The availability of prescriptions was seen as the key element in opening up the prescription-only veterinary medicines market, increasing competitive pressure and driving prices down. High prescription charges had been a barrier to customers doing this in the past, but the three-year prohibition would kick-start the market.

The independent Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will be monitoring developments after the prohibition on charging for providing prescriptions comes to an end in October 2008 and will consider when and whether any further regulatory action may be needed to ensure effective competition in the supply of veterinary medicines.

Calendar 2009

Why not get this years calendar featuring me of course.  It's quite large at 6.5MB so please be patient.

You can download for free here

[right-click Save As].

You'll need a PDF reader such as the Adobe Acrobat reader which is freely available from the Adobe website.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. As a dog does this mean I get seven new years? Today smells like I'm in for a treat just like Christmas day - lots of turkey, yay! Only thing is mum left the Turkey in the freezer too long so we may only get to eat at midnight today :)

Dad took me out to doggy Disney again yesterday and I had a great time. I even completely ignored a pack of friendly dogs, two German shepherds, a boxer and something else, as I was too fixated on the squirrel in the tree overhead.

Pesky things are just too tricky and always stay in the trees when I only want to play with them... honest.

At least we finally made it to the woods today. Last time dad got to the woods, we just pulled up to park when mum called on the phone. Said that a plumber was calling at home to fix the heating. So without getting out of the car, dad turned around and drove straight home. I was so disappointed. You wait till I get my hands on that plumber!

Dave and grandma didn't get to go to Australia, yet. Grandma had to go to hospital as she'd got a viral infection and pneumonia! Poor grandma, she was in hospital on Christmas day - so Dave came round to join us for Christmas dinner. I'm sure he had some of my turkey. Well grandma's out of hospital and is better now, so hopefully they get to go on holiday soon.

PS. Turns out that both the boys stayed out tonight so there was only mum and dad for dinner. All the more leftovers for me!