ozzy's post
Here are some photos of the Legendary Bingo Night at Hamburger Mary's. Please join us next year (if we can wait that long!) when we have this great event again.
Labels: bingo, hamburger mary's, photos
posted by Ozzy at 3:45 PM
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your support! Our first major fundraiser, Legendary Bingo Night at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood, was a wonderful success and a lot of fun.It was rather nerve-wracking to be hosting our first fundraiser...what if no one came? What if we didn't make any money to justify the hours of work we put into coordinating and cashing in favors to get fantastic prizes? I dragged (no pun intended - we were at Hamburger Mary's!) my husband to the first show (they have a 7pm and 9pm show and we were scheduled for the second show of the night) so that I could get a feel for what happened during Bingo Night. I figured it would help me relax and enjoy our show. I was having a blast the moment we sat down with bingo cards and dobbers in hand.
By the final bingo game of the first show (benefitting PAWS LA - an AWESOME organization), I realized that the line of people waiting for our show was out the door and around the building! I saw the faces of friends and supporters (what would I do without you?), but also of people who were just showing up for their weekly night of bingo. I decided to schmooze a little and introduce myself to people that were showing up without necessarily knowing about the Ozzy Foundation and everyone seemed very supportive of what we are trying to do.
Bingo was hilarious...One of our board members brought her unsuspecting parents to the event and her dad won a bingo game! I think some of us in the younger crowd were more shocked at the "goings on" of the night than Mom & Dad were!
The first exciting moment was when the ball-callers (Jeffery, Bingo Boy) and the guest ball-callers saw our prizes and commented that they were the best they had seen in their years doing Legendary Bingo. The winners seemed excited to get their prizes, especially the man who won the basket containing a certificate for "Spanking Lessons" from the Pleasure Chest!
Before I go, I wanted to publicly thank the most amazing, talented, kind and creative board of directors I have EVER served with. Jenny, Sheila, Matt...I will never forget how hard you worked to make this a success and I am so honored to be working on ANYTHING with you guys! Also, thank you so much to Chaz, Andy, and all of the wonderful supporters who came out on a Wednesday night, including some of the donors of our great prizes!
Until the next blog...
posted by Ozzy at 3:16 PM
Welcome to www.ozzyfoundation.org
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I suppose it makes the most sense to begin with an Ozzy update. I am thrilled to report that Ozzy has been doing really well. His blood tests from 2.5 months ago were approaching the normal range. For those new to this kidney business, there are two main levels we must keep our eye on to check how Ozzy's kidneys are functioning: BUN and creatinine. When Ozz was first diagnosed, both levels were sky-high. As we experimented with amounts of fluids, they would flip flop a bit: one would rise, the other would fall. Now both are finally evening out a bit. The other thing we've had to keep our eye on is his blood pressure. It's common for a pet with kidney failure to have high blood pressure, I'm told, so he's on blood pressure medication once a day, too.
So how are we doing with all of this? There are some nights when the last thing we want to do is try to first catch Ozzy (we've gotten to the point where we can't say certain words around him such as "fluids," "juice," or even "Ozzy" - especially after it's dark out because he knows that we do his fluids at night). Even after nearly two years of practice, sometimes the needle goes in just right and other nights it seems to take forever for those 200 ccs to flow. Then there are the times (warning for the faint hearted, I get more graphic here) when the needle seems to go through one layer or skin and out the other and I don't know it's done that until fluid starts pouring out of Ozzy... I get frustrated sometimes that we have to think about this fluid business 5 nights a week.
Of course, I'd rather have to think about the fluids than deal with the alternative - not having Ozzy around. I was reminded of that just a couple of months ago when Ozzy managed to escape through an improperly locked window. He got out sometime during the night or in the early morning and we couldn't find him all day. After hours of pounding the pavement calling his name, about 50 Lost Cat signs hung around the neighborhood and numerous phone calls from concerned family members and friends who were trying to keep me from going into a full panic, Ozzy finally returned home around 11:30pm that night, dirty and hungry, but alive.
All I kept thinking that day was, "this is NOT how Ozzy's story ends! After all of this energy, heartache, and let's be honest, MONEY, I am not going to lose my beloved Ozzy by - well - LOSING him!" When he returned, I was so thankful to have to think about going to the vet to get more saline and giving Ozzy his "juice." When I get cranky about having to go through our routine after a long day, I remind myself of those 12+ hours when I thought he was gone, and I tell myself to "suck it up." I'm not the one with a needle in my back for 15-20 minutes almost every day!
Alright, changing subjects for a moment. I just wanted to publicly (not sure how many people will actually read my blog, so this might not be as "public" as I would have hoped) thank (picture me doing the Wayne's World "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy" thing) Andy Levine, the creator of our website. Andy has so graciously donated him time and talents and put up with my tons of emails (e.g. "Uh, what is my 'operating system' again?") to create the coolest, most wonderful website I have ever seen (Okay, I'm a bit biased)...Andy, your support means so much to me. His wife, Sheila, who is a board member is equally wonderful for everything she is doing to help us get ready for our first fundraiser...
SPEAKING OF...PLEASE come join us at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood for Legendary Bingo on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9pm! A $20 donation at the door gets you bingo cards and the prizes are fantastic (e.g., $100 gift card to Sushi Roku!). If you want to get double the bingo cards, sign up for Bingo Boy's Legendary Bingo list at www.legendarybingo.com. We hope to see you there.
Until the next posting...
posted by Ozzy at 7:47 PM
the adventure of ozzy
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Ozzy was rescued as an 8 week old kitten from a Los Angeles rescue. We knew we wanted to adopt a black kitten, to make a statement against all of the superstitions people still seem to have about black cats, even in this day and age. The rescue staff led us back to a cage that contained the only two black kittens they had at the time. We knew right off that one of the kittens was special – he looked smart! Ozzy came home with us and after a day, ran the house! He certainly was a special cat from a young age. He learned how to fetch, came to us when called, and welcomed visitors (not “typical” cat behavior, I’d say).
When we learned last Fall that Ozzy had abnormally-shaped kidneys and was probably born that way, we were told that with 24-hour care for a few days, consisting of constant saline drip to flush out his kidneys and a special diet, he had a 50% chance of improving kidney function enough to survive. Those three days were the longest of my life. I didn’t know if we’d be making preparations to care for him at home or if we’d be making a decision to let Ozzy go.
After a very stressful and expensive three days, Ozzy was responding well to the treatment and I was asked to attend a training to show me how to administer saline necessary to keep Ozzy as healthy as possible – this consisted of pinching the skin on his back into a “tent shape” and inserting a needle (a thick needle!) attached to a bag of saline. Not only did I have to get the needle in, I had to figure out how to get it to stay there for the 15-20 minutes it took to give him enough saline for the day. By the way, how much was enough?
My husband and I were committed to doing whatever it took to provide Ozzy with a good quality of life, but there were times we thought we just were not going to be able to do it. Once he gained some of his strength back, Ozzy fought the needle. It was during these times that working with Dr. Rattan to find solutions to the challenges we were having was a true gift. He suggested using a muzzle to calm Ozzy down. The muzzle did wonders. When we put it on him, he instantly calmed down, knowing it was time for “business.” The other major challenge was figuring out how much saline was enough. We brought Ozzy in for a blood draw to check his levels every month to six weeks and at one scary point when his kidney function seemed to decline significantly, we learned that daily saline was necessary to keep him going. Other suggestions that Dr. Rattan helped us with was that we could give Ozzy boiled plain chicken and whole lactose-free milk to help Ozzy gain some weight.
Maintaining Ozzy’s health is a delicate balancing act. It takes the dedication and courage of everyone involved to figure out what it takes to keep him feeling as well as he can. At times, it requires honest conversations about the quality of his life and under what circumstances we should consider letting him go. It is so important that the veterinarian not only communicate with the pet’s guardian, but that he or she also listen – We are so fortunate that Dr. Rattan has done both with respect and compassion.
This experience has been such an adventure, at times heart wrenching, at times celebratory, that I have established a non-profit organization, “the ozzy foundation” (of course), that will support pet guardians financially and with social support, when their pet is diagnosed with a chronic illness. It is our hope that we can share with others the journey we are going through, to let people going through something similar know that however scary caring for a chronically ill pet might be, every moment of health, every nuzzle or purr is so worth the trials and tribulations of learning how to care for your furry loved one. Ozzy has taught us so many lessons and I appreciate the opportunity to share them with others.
Our website will be up as soon as the wonderful people who have volunteered their talent can construct it: http://www.ozzyfoundation.org/. Come visit us in Spring 2008!
posted by Ozzy at 9:35 AM
Previous Posts
- Here are some photos of the Legend...
- Bingo Night a Raging Success!
- Welcome to www.ozzyfoundation.org
- the adventure of ozzy
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