There is news about Mads. The vet came to see him today.

It was rather a coincidence actually. The goats were out on the little horse field again. I was sitting down next to Mads. Reda and Margit were working to empty an old shed. Then Alice came to see how they were doing. And she saw me. And she told me that they had called the vet last week. He hadn’t been there yet but they were expecting him to come by this week. And then a voice from out back said “he’s here right now”. And that was the vet, who decided to arrive just as we were talking about him.

I’m glad I was there when he came by. I could help calm Mads down as he was examined. And I could hear what the vet had to say. It turns out that the problem isn’t Mads’s hooves after all. It was actually lymph nodes (I think it’s called. Node? Nodes? Wiki says that “glands” is an inacurate term). Under his left leg. They’re swollen and that’s what causes the discomfort when he walks. Sometimes he’ll stand still and lift his left leg up off the ground. I thought that was to take the weight off of the hoof, but I guess it was actually to take the pressure off the swollen nodes.

So what does that mean? Well, there are two possibilities. Either it’s due to an infection. Or else it’s some kind of tumorous growth. So Mads is going to be getting antibiotics for 10 days. If it’s an infection then this should help. If it’s not an infection then there’s nothing you can really do, according to the vet. It will only get worse in time.

Now we can only wait and see if the antibiotics will help. I hope and pray that they do. I want so much for him to get better. He is my special guy. My crazy goat buddy.

He’s still doing quite well. The vet said he looked good. He can still walk okay when he’s motivated and all. He’s not in pain generally. So even if it turns out not to be an infection then I still expect him to be around for quite a while. I hope. I’m not a doctor though. I don’t know how quickly it could get worse. We didn’t talk about that. I hope he’d still be able to have a good life for a long time yet. But I know that if it’s a tumor then I have to accept that he’s not going to be around forever. I just can’t think like that yet. If I let those thoughts inside my head then they will grab me and make me spin out of control. Mads has done more for me than most humans. Not all humans, but most. If it wasn’t for him then I might never have discovered how great goats are. Discovered the sanctuary of the playground. All the good I have had from the animals and people there. He is very dear to me.

My dear, poor Mads. Please get better.

After the vet left and Per had squished the antibiotic paste in Mads’s mouth then I sat down with him in the sunshine. For a long while. A beautiful, summery day. I had to take off my jacket. For the first time this year. Mads making sleepy noises. I think he was happy now that everyone else had left and it was just the two of us, relaxing in the sun. He knew something was up when the vet arrived. As I said, I was sitting down with him. When the vet arrived he got up and looked a little nervous. But he was pretty good during the examination. Then when Per and Alice came with the antibiotics he got nervous again and tried to run away. Unfortunately for him he tried to run through a tiny hole in the fence. No way he was going to fit through there. As Per said “you chose the wrong direction buddy”. Alice and I held him still while Per squirted the stuff in his mouth. He didn’t like that at all. Yes, I’m glad I was there to help him calm down afterwards. It’s always hard when the animals don’t understand that you’re trying to help them.

And Mads helped me calm down too. Just sitting in the sun and stroking him, like nothing is wrong in the world. That was good for me too.

Ten days and we should start to know more. I guess it was a good thing that I told Alice about my thoughts about Mads. It wasn’t that easy for me to bring it up. The social phobia, the shyness. I didn’t want to appear to be questioning what she’d said about arthritis. I didn’t want to pressure them to spend money on a vet if it wasn’t necessary. I also didn’t want the risk of getting bad news. But I had to say something in the end. I’m glad I worked up the courage to do it, and I’m glad they decided to listen to me. I just hope, hope, so much that the antibiotics will work.

I’m sure you’ll all join me in crossed fingers.

And just so it’s not all doom and gloom, let’s finish with a few pictures from today.

Chokolade investigating the vegetation.

Lakrids and Magnethe. And my hand around the little one.

Margit and Reda. Who seem to be two very nice people. They help make me feel welcome at the playground still, now that Pernille isn’t there anymore and Kurt very rarely seen.

Margit and the goats. They seem to like her and she seems to like them. I consider that to be two very good qualities in a person.

That’s all for now. Stay safe. Everyone.

While feeding the animals yesterday I decided to set Magnethe and the kids free for a while. It was nice to see them run around.

Although the local shubbery had to pay dearly.

I figured it would be easy to get Magnethe back inside when I came with their food. Of course I had forgotten that Magnethe knows very well where the food comes from. If you have watched the old videos then you’ll probably remember the banging lids as she digs into the food holders. So while I was filling up buckets I also had to keep her at bay. And then when I wanted to bring the food to the goat house I had to convince her that it would be better to follow me. She seemed to think it was smarter for her to just serve herself.

Eventually I did manage to get her to follow. So I walked along with three buckets full of food and three goats following me. It’s one of the things I love about goats, how headstrong and stubborn they can be. They have a will of their own. Magnethe not least. She was an only child, adored by absolutely everyone. With a shy mother who didn’t mind that her baby hogged the spotlight. I think Magnethe is pretty used to getting her way. And she’s very big and strong now. She can be a handful. But I love her all the more for it.

Also, I locked Nina in by mistake. In the old train carriage where the hay is kept. I saw her in there when I got hay bales for the goats and horses. She was sort of hiding in the corner. So when I locked up I made sure to check that she wasn’t in there. Then I went and sat down with the goat kids to have fun with them before going home. Meanwhile a woman and her daughter was walking around the place. And she came up to me and said “excuse me, can I ask a question? There’s a cat meowing inside one of the carriages. Is it on purpose that it’s not allowed to come out?”. Whoops. Not on purpose at all. Good thing they heard her meowing. I hope she won’t hold a grudge. Next time I’ll have to turn over every single bale of hay to make sure she isn’t hiding under.

I once saw a mouse in there, maybe Nina was on the hunt. You never know.

In other news, guess who works in the shopping mall around the corner? The sister of the girl I was secretly in love with for years and years as a wee schoolboy. Yes. She works in the bakery. I was buying some buns and thought I recognised her. At first I figured that I just recognised her because she works in the bakery and when I do shopping I usually stop there to get a slush ice, because you know how I love my cold drinksies. But then I thought to myself I though “Hmm no, isn’t that…?”. And I discretely looked at her nametag and yes, it was the sister of my longlostlove. I didn’t say anything though. She’s something like 10 years younger, so she has never seen or known me in relation to her sister. Plus what would I say? “Hey, did you know that I secretly loved your sister from afar for years? Can you tell her to call me?”. Nah, probably not.

Today I had dinner with the parents. And also uncle Jens who was visiting. He’s still in treatment for the cancer. And I’m happy to report that the treatment is succesful. It’s going very well. He’s taking some natural medicine against the side effects of the treatment and he said that he’s pretty much feeling better than ever. He’s more worried about his blood pressure than the cancer at this point. He’ll still be in treatment for a while, but everything should be okay. Good thing they caught it so early.

Fingers crossed for the future.