Jazz goes to the vet.

The giraffe is too tall.

Jazz had a problem with her left eye and went to the vet today. My diagnosis of an infection like conjunctivitis was plausible but incorrect, she has a scratched cornea. Fortunately the scratch is only shallow and she's been prescribed pain relief plus some ointment. With the pain relief medication I've been told to watch for side effects that can occur with some dogs. There's a follow-up appointment in a few days and I'm quietly hoping that no more treatment is needed because of the expense.

The 'problem–accurate diagnosis–fix it' scenario does happen but not always; though we can't help but hope that it will always be the case. From a very early age we gain the expectation that a visit to the doctor (or maybe an operation) will make any problem go away. However, browse around and it's not hard to find way too many descriptions of 'chronic pain no diagnosis' cases and stories of people 'bouncing around the medical system' for years. Some persist with the medicos, some experiment with alternative (even magical) therapies while others decide that the best strategy is to manage symptoms and do their best.

After many tests and investigations, the recent result of 'no neurological aetiology' is just a technical way of saying 'don't know'. The symptoms are present but the precise causes remain unclear. We're thankful for the investigations because many possibilities have been considered but the hope that there's one problem with a definite solution remains just a hope. The planned four-day hospital stay was reduced to two. I'm sure they were prepared to operate if necessary but there was no specific target and invasive explorations are too risky. Other medication to manage symptoms has been prescribed.

Last Wednesday Ben moved south to Freiburg and is staying with friends he met on the previous trip to Germany.

Evening update: The trip to Freiburg didn't go well. New medication caused worrying symptoms that resembled stroke. Ben ended up in a hospital emergency department where a CT scan was clear, no blood clots. He's travelled all the way back to Buch and staying in Hotel Geissler again.