News Update!

I wanted to update my blog before we headed home. Since my last update, we haven’t really done much but we did get some exciting news. Chad got put in for Below The Zone (BTZ), which is a competitive early promotion program in the Air Force. He had to go in front of a board early December, where he answered questions about Air Force history, current events, and his career so far. Being nominated for BTZ is a huge accomplishment in itself. Not all Airmen get that opportunity! For two weeks after the board, we waited anxiously for the results. He found out last Friday that he got it! This means that he will sew on Senior Airman 6 months early. Come mid-February, Chad will be a Senior Airman and he will hit his 2 year mark in the Air Force! I am so proud of him. He is a hard worker and I’m glad that doesn’t go unnoticed.

In my last post, I noted that Myah had a case of ringworm. We had been going to an off base vet since July and it still was not going away. In November, we took Myah to see the vet on base. At first glance, the American vet said it most definitely wasn’t ringworm. We had been taking Myah on an almost bi-weekly basis to see the off base vet for 4 months to treat her “ringworm”, and it’s not even ringworm, WHAT?! The bad news is that the on base vet doesn’t even really have an idea what this spot on her skin is. She put Myah on oral steroids for 4 weeks and those actually seemed to help a lot! Her bump was still there but it had decreased in size so much and she didn’t even itch at it anymore. But as soon as she stopped taking the steroids, not even 2 days later, the bump had grown in size again and additional smaller bumps had appeared. UGH! We took her back to the vet and she said the next step would be to sedate her to take a biopsy of it and potentially remove her skin from that area. Since we were getting ready to go on vacation, she gave Myah steroids to stop the itching in the mean time. When we get back from our visit to the states, we will have to schedule Myah’s appointment to get a biopsy. I feel so bad for her!

If that wasn’t bad enough, Myah also tested heartworm positive. We’ve had her on Heart Guard ever since we adopted her, but the vet says she may have had it when we first got her and the first test they did just came back negative at the time. We have opted to do the adult heartworm treatment on her, which will also have to be scheduled when we get back from vacation. She will have to have 2-3 procedures and for 30 days after each procedure she is basically on bed rest. She will not be allowed to exercise at all, which means no more of her nightly walks that she so much enjoys. My poor baby!

Enough of the bad news… the good news is that we are leaving this week to visit our families for a whole month! We are beyond ready to get off this island! We feel like we’ve done and seen everything on this island and are ready for a change! Myah will be staying in our house with a friend while we’re gone. We’re going to miss her so much! She will probably be the only reason I look forward to coming back to Okinawa. That… and the warm weather