Part 88 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

~ King Ben's Grandma

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

When I covered Sven up last night I saw this

He moved away from his “house”. He hadn’t eaten, but it’s easier to check on him when he’s not hiding.

Now, onto sunset. Still no clouds for dramatic effects but pretty all the same

Younger Daughter came over with Kris the Corn Snake so Older could give Kris her injection. Kris has a respiratory infection… she’s a Ssssick, Ssssneezy Ssssnake. I didn’t take pictures because snakes and needles freak people out separately, I didn’t want a combo to really freak anyone.

I took my sleeping pill at 9:15. I was still trying to get to sleep before midnight. Welp… this being Casa Cuckoo and all, this is what happened. Ben got up at 10:00pm and told me “Good Morning!” I explained that it wasn’t morning and sent him to the bathroom. Then I went and told Daughter he was awake. Zeus had gotten up, but he realized it was too early and went back to Ben’s room. Good Dog!

After potty, I was trying to herd Ben back to his room. He stopped at the fridge and saw the bottle of Diet Coke I’d bought earlier at 7-11. “OOOOH!” he said. He grabbed it and asked for a straw. Then he said “Go see Mommy.” Worked for me. I left him in bed with her and went back to my bed.

Zeus stayed in Ben’s room even after Daughter shut her bedroom door, Ben had gone back to sleep. Zeus finally wandered out around 11:00, going outside first then kinda sneaking onto the bed like “is this okay? Can I lay with you? Please?” He curled up as small as he could at the foot of the bed. Such a Big Dumb Goofball… he’s a Good Dog though. I konked out pretty soon after. I think it was before midnight… WOOT WOOT!

Good thing too, cuz Ben was back in my room around 1:30, and we were back on the couch by 2:00. At 3:00 his temperature was 100.0 (37.7c) so I got the ibuprofen. He took three pills (600mg total) and then threw up the soda he drank them down with. Just liquid so the pills stayed… Good. At 4:00 his temperature was down to 98.2 (36.7c) and he was sweating. Yay! Fever broken.

Around 4:30 he started getting up and then coming back to sit down. I think he wanted to play but just wasn’t quite well enough. I sat squooshed between Ben against my left shoulder and Zeus under my legs. I really wanted to sleep.

Daughter got up a little after 5:00 to use the bathroom. Ben and I were both awake. I gave my report, she did her thing then went to get her stuff to sit with Ben. I went back to bed.

Ben joined me sometime before 6:30. I know that because Daughter gave him his morning meds in my room, I heard it. I slipped in and out of sleep until 8:45 or so.

I had asked Daughter to get me up by 8:00 so I could go to the corner market to get more Diet Coke for Ben. That obviously didn’t happen. I checked on Ben in bed next to me. He was moving around like he couldn’t get comfortable. He was awake so I told him I had to use the bathroom but I’d be right back, to wait in Gramma’s bed for me.

I uncovered Sven on my way into the bathroom. This is where he was when I came out

“To eat or not to eat… that is the question”

I let Sven be. When I got back to my room, Ben was asleep. I went to let Daughter know I was awake, she was in her online orientation thing. I told her I was gonna go to the corner market while he was asleep.

Ben woke up shortly after I got back. He wanted to go to the living room, so we went. Sven hadn’t had any food, but had moved to the Judgey Corner

“Those berries are from yesterday. What kind of a place is this?!”

I dumped the arugula, and put down some fresh but kept the berries… nothing wrong with them. When I put the plate back in, I petted Sven a little and turned him toward his food

“Yeah, and…?”

He didn’t seem impressed with the fresh greens.

When it was time for Ben’s 10:30 meds I asked if he wanted to swallow the pill or if he wanted me to crush it up? He said he wanted me to crush it. He took the med from the syringe and grabbed for the vomit bowl. Well, dang. No way to know if he got the meds into his system or not.

Daughter came out around 11:00 on a ten minute break. I let her know about the meds and we discussed Ben’s constipation and laxative vs suppository options. I had been talking to Ben about the suppository possibility and he was obviously not in favor of it. I think we might have scared the crap out of him cuz he got up to use the toilet. Not enough, but movement is better than blockage. She went back to her online thing, Ben and I hung out on the couch.

After consulting with Daughter, I decided to try the noon half Adderall. He’d been awake for a while, no fever, no more vomiting and had three BMs. Things were moving to the healthy side in Ben-land. He took the crushed up Adderall and kept it down. WOOT WOOT!

A little while later Ben dumped out one of his bags of names, found something on his tablet and said “Gramma? Write the words.” Oh yeah, he was feeling better. I wrote the words as commanded.

Around 1:00 he ran to the bathroom. I’ll spare you the details (you’re welcome), and just say he was too late and he’s cleared out. I got him cleaned up and settled on the couch where he konked out.

I texted Daughter with the update and she texted back that letting him sleep or not was up to me. I texted that I would push his 2pm meds to 2:30 and let him rest. He was feeling better, but not 100% yet. I went to my room to get Horizontal.

I woke Ben up by calling to him and talking to him while I was getting the meds crushed, dumped into the little bit of juice and loaded into the syringe. I got him to sit up, asked if he was ready and slowly gave him the little bit of meds. He wanted a drink of coke after, so he took a drink and then vomited. DANG!

He had some more sips of the Diet Coke and vomited again. He rested a minute, finished off the rest of the soda and kept it down. Then he got up for a wee and laid back down. Daughter wants him to drink Gatorade. (I keep thinking of the movie Idiocracy…) I gave him Gatorade, juice and his water bottle… he chose water. Smart little guy! Then he dozed back off.

Daughter finished her computer orientation thingy around 3:30. We both changed into public clothes, woke Ben up, got in the car and drove the 20-25 miles round trip to pick up her badge. Then she wanted to stop on the way home for more wine, so we stopped at CVS. I thought she was gonna go in… Nope! She wanted me to go in. Great… I guess it’s a good thing I brought my mask. When I got back in the car, the first thing Ben wanted to know was where was his new police car? See, I knew he’d expect me to buy something for him. I told him they didnt have any cars. I told him I could give him a present at home, but it wasn’t a police car.

We got home and past the wiggling, whining Big Dumb Zeus. He kept going between us and his water bowl, dribbling water all over the place. I guess he couldn’t drink water while were gone and he had access to the entire house and back yard. Poor, abused puppy dog.

I went and got the costume for Ben. He asked for a coke. Yeah. So I got the other bottle of diet coke from the fridge, opened it and put a straw in it for him. Then he wanted to look at the costume, then he tried to put it on but had one leg in one of the arms. I got him sorted and Daughter cooked him some chicken.

And that’s it for today. Ben is slowly eating his chicken. I hope he keeps it down. Here’s tonight’s song. I had forgotten how much I liked this band.

If you aren’t familiar with The Black Crowes and like bluesy Southern Rock, check this out, I think you’ll like it.

Thanks for hanging out today. Ben is definitely feeling better, which is a good thing. We have to drive Daughter to the hospital for her first day at the new job by 8:00am tomorrow morning and then pick her up when she’s done around 4:30pm. Ben and I will home alone, just the two of us, all day. Anything could happen. Come on by, see for yourself.

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HUGS!!

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19 thoughts on “Part 88 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog”

    1. He’s getting better, definitely. He didnt keep the food or night meds down though. I’ll be happy to see him better hydrated and able to eat something.
      I wouldn’t mind if he was still extra sleepy for a little while though😉😂🤗🥰

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  4. So, in the hopes of distracting you from the turbulent trials of current life at Casa Cuckoo, here’s this: If I were to show up unexpectedly at said Casa, what nifty gifty from your apparently bottomless stash of Ben distractions would you present me with as I settled on the couch? Let your imagination run free and let’s see where we land… 😉

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    1. Hmmm…. there’s a kite, yes. And a box of finger lights. You can have those and use one of the rolls of masking tape. Make the kite pretty, we’ll see if it will actually fly, decorated Rave Style, if not… it can hang on Ben’s bedroom wall as a nightlight…. unless you’d rather have the PJ Masks figurines?
      The stash is running low. You’re not getting my personal Guido & Luigi cars. Well… yeah, I’d let you have them. Even one of my Eeyores since I know you’d take care of them. You have a heart the sees more than just a stuffed animal.😘

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  5. Wow – good luck today!! I hope everything goes well getting him into and out of the car for each of your journeys!! And I hope your daughter has a great day at her new job – although I guess this is going to be a little different than what she will be doing regularly – it’s still the start of something new! I am so glad Ben is feeling a bit better. When you went to the store while he was still asleep – THAT is something different for sure 🙂 Well, good luck today! Thinking of you!

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    1. The morning commute was whiney… both Ben and Daughter🤦‍♀️ like I wanted to be driving… sheesh😂 it went okay. No problems. It’s pretty close. Ben is awake more, but still sick… whiney.😒 No “kegger cuz we got the house to ourselves” today. Maybe tomorrow 😉😂💌

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    1. So far she’s doing okay except the guy with her login info for the hospital intranet is locked in his office so she’s just hanging around.
      Ben had a rough night. Still on the mend but still poorly too. The “whiney phase”🤦‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️💌

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  7. Hi Angie-
    Sorry you have had a sick child to deal with. I haven’t read up on your blog for a bit (sorry about that). Have you taken him to the doctor?
    It must be scary knowing he isn’t getting his meds when he is throwing up often.

    And Sven isn’t eating either?

    Hope your daughter has a good day at work today and getting her there worked out okay.

    You are the BEST Mom and Grandma.

    Take care dear friend.

    Wish we lived closer. I would be bringing Ben chicken soup and a new police car 🚔.

    Hugs
    Teri

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    1. We haven’t consulted a doctor yet. If he doesnt eat something and keep it down today, we’ll do that after Daughter gets home from work.
      We made the morning drop off without problems.
      I do worry about him not getting the meds but none of them have major withdrawal symptoms or whatever. They’re all mostly to chill him out and stop his impulsiveness. He’s kept the ibuprofen down when his temperature went up. That was important.

      We just cant figure out what’s wrong with him. The fever is mostly gone. His temp was 99.3 early this morning but he runs a little warm anyway. We were concerned about the constipation, but that cleared. I guess it’s just a flu🤷🏼‍♀️ I don’t think its COVID, the fever is gone, no cough or breathing problems…
      His communication difficulties make it hard to help him.

      Little goof has a big box FULL of police cars. So many different kinds, sizes, colors😂😂

      How are you all? How’s Ken & the boys? How’s your dad?

      💖💖💖

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      1. Ohh. Glad fever is down. It might be worth an email or phone call to his pediatrician. Just in case.

        We are all basically fine here. I’ve been gardening, cooking, baking sourdough, sewing masks and cleaning. Ken works from home now, so I never get the house to myself. We are adjusting to the new routine. My job has halted for now. I miss my little one i cared for.
        My oldest has been unemployed since January. Not sure when he runs out of money, but he has a mortgage bigger than ours and will need help.
        Andrew teaches coding maybe 1 or 2 hours a week these days. Taekwondo studio closed in March, so no hours there. He rents and couldn’t get unemployment. Who knows why. We tried to help him with it, but he doesn’t follow through with these things.
        I know it’s not going to get much easier for either of them in the coming months. I’ve been shopping for food and sharing w Andrew mostly. Curtis eats mostly take out. He never cooks for himself.
        The veterans home doesn’t allow visitors. I face time him and we can drop off goodies or gifts at the gate. This Friday is his birthday and Sunday Father’s day. So sad that we can’t see him. The only thing he would want to do is to go to the casino, and that isn’t a smart place for him with his emphysema.
        I haven’t felt like writing. It’s something i do when I’m happy. It’s hard to be happy with the world turned upside down.
        Hope you’re taking care of yourself. I cringe when i read your loss of sleep. I would be a basket case.
        Glad Ben has plenty of cars to play with. I still have loads of toys I’ve kept for grand kids. Not a girlfriend in sight for either of them and how does one date in a pandemic?
        Nighty night.

        Hugs
        Teri

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  8. Exhausting for you – and the problem is even though Ben is sleepy because he’s poorly, you’re still not able to sleep worrying about him. Hope he continues to improve and you don’t need to involve the doctor.

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    1. Thanks, that’s what we’re hoping too. I think its extra hard for us because he’s almost never sick. For Daughter especially, she has so little experience with a sick child. And with COVID, that’s the first thing we’re all going to think of for the foreseeable future. I’m 98% sure it’s not that though. Whew!😁

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      1. With the virus hanging over us, it’s an extra worry but I guess we’ll still get the usual illnesses too. It is worse when they are seldom ill. If mine were saying they were poorly, then I knew to take it seriously as they rarely complained of anything and were not ill often (thank goodness!). Hope he’s better today!

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