Doggie Girl Surgery Update

Okay, so there are pain meds for dogs, and she's on them... actually morphine and, uh, I don't remember, Remadyl or something? Anyway, she's still moaning like she's simply dying..... however, when I called the vet today (for like, the 5th time since we've picked her up!) the vet said the pain meds are pretty strong so she's probably more likely feeling sick and miserable because of the meds. Niiiiice. It sucks that dogs can't tell you how they're feeling! My husband reminded me how crappy he felt after his own knee surgery (and he had to add that I seem to be much more caring and sympathetic for the dog, lol!!) Well, she's so much sweeter!! When I told the vet that Merry still won't eat a thing, (and this is the hog-dog extraordinaire) she first said "yeah, that is weird for a Golden Ret./Lab mix" and then started to say something else when my cell went dead.... I plugged it in and called her right back, and she was like "Oh, good! I thought I'd offended you, because I was looking at her chart and was saying how her missing a few meals wouldn't hurt her!" Lol. I'd had the exact same thought this morning when her breakfast was untouched!

Here is something cute, though.... when we left the house today, we had to crate her, and I guess the cat is feeling very sympathetic!

Surgery is Over, now the work begins

Well, Merry came through with flying colors! Our vet said her hips look great for a dog her age and size, her other knee looks good, and he was most surprised that the bad knee had no signs of arthritis to speak of. I guess these injuries usually take place as a series of small tears, so there has been wear on the joint and arthritis begins... but not in Merry's case, so that's good. My biggest concern is getting her through the healing process without breaking the repairs... you see, what they do is drill a hole through the bone and put non-dissolving sutures (the description to me sounded like fishing line) in and around the joint to basically hold things in place as the ligament did when it was there. The idea is that, over time, scar tissue builds up and the muscles firm up and eventually do the job of the ligament, even if after a period of time the sutures would slowly dissolve (but this isn't supposed to happen, except after many years, at which time they probably aren't needed.) The problem is that if the dog were to over-exert the area during the critical 2 - 6 week time period, they could snap that line and the job was a waste, basically. So, I had a vet tech come out to help me put the dog in my car (it's a big ol' SUV and a big jump up) but she - the tech - wasn't ready so Merry tried it on her own... so I'm all freaked out that she messed it up before we even left the vet's office!! Arrgghh. But, the vet said he put double sutures in, just in case since she's a 100lb dog, so hopefully all is well. Poor thing, she's been laying around groaning all night - it's pathetic, really. She wouldn't even eat a treat (to take her medicine) and that is a total rarity for this dog - so I know she's really miserable. Tonight Kiwi and I are sleeping in the livingroom with her - she'd probably cry all night if we shut her out of the bedroom, and we can't risk her jumping up on the bed. Oh, what I do for my pets! In three days, we start physical therapy.... funny thing, that.

Here are a few pics - Kiwi laying with her, reading; the IV site on her foreleg; the epidural site on her rump (an epidural! who knew?!); and the incision site on her hind leg. Icky.

Doggie Surgery Day

Well, this is it. Tomorrow Merry goes in - bright and early - for her knee surgery. Honestly, of all the dogs I've had in my lifetime, this gal takes the award for highest maintainance! Sheesh, some "free" dog, huh? My daddy always told me "there is no free lunch...." Well, she's the sweetest dog on the planet, so she's worth it. My one big worry is that they will call me right at the pre-surgery scans to say the knee isn't the real problem, but that it's only a symptom of a greater issue - very bad hips. At which point, our only real option would be to have her put to sleep. I worry about this because her only surviving sister from puppyhood had this problem, and was put down at only age three. With all that's been going on in our lives, I don't know how we could deal with a blow like that. Kiwi would lose it for sure. As much as I am not looking forward to 2 weeks of confinement and 6 - 8 weeks of slow rehab, it totally beats the alternative! We really need this sweet girlie dog in our lives for many years to come!

Holy Horse Crap, Batman!

Today, Kiwi informed me she simply loves horses. Okay, it'll never be as deep as my own love for them, I realize that - but of course I hopped right on that wagon, and decided this would be a great summer to sign her up for horse camp! So, I got online and checked out some in the general area in which we will be living by then.... You gotta understand, I have sent her to summer camp the last couple of years, at a Church Camp up in the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains north of us....and she took the Horse Option, which gave them a couple trail rides during the week she was there - so, not full-on equestrian camp, but still.... the cost of the week is under $200.00. So you can imagine the jaw dropping that happened when I saw the prices of horse camp out East..... $980.00, $1000.00 - for a stinkin' week of horseplay!! Geez, for that price, I'm sending myself and Kiwi can stay home and do the housekeeping!

Life, Death, and the stuff inbetween

I had to go to a memorial service today. I say "had to" because I didn't want to, at all. The last one I attended was my own little sister's, so I really just would have preferred to have not done this today..... besides, I didn't even know the kid who died (he was just 27).... however, I know his family... and, from that experience of my own sister's funeral, I know how important it is to see how you have people who love and care for you, who stand with you in your time of grief and need. So I went. And it got me thinking.... that the stuff that matters in this brief time we have on Earth is the love we share with those around us. Just like my sister, this kid had made bad choices, messed up his life, and that ultimately cost him his life, way too young. And yet, the way he had touched others, impacted their lives forever because of his realness and love of them, was huge. Even the most screwed up of us can make someone else feel significant by simply loving them. All the other stuff that clutters up our lives and takes up our time fades in comparison.

I am glad I am on this journey of clearing out the clutter of my life. Even though it began as a quest to rid my home of actual, physical clutter so I could sell this house and move back east to be with my husband again, it has become a ridding of the very real clutter in my head and in my heart. And I will be so much the better for it when it has all been tossed out, and some clear space is left for the important things in this life.

What I may need to make it through

Saturday night the dog was trotting back across the front yard - after successfully chasing off the neighbor's cat - when she yipped and began limping. The next morning she wasn't any better (not putting any weight at all on her hind leg) so we took her in to the emergency vet. (Why must they always do these things on the weekend??) It would seem she has torn her "cruciate ligament" (like an ACL in a human). We have a vet consult tomorrow to see what we are up against. It sounds expensive and not a great outcome, at this point. Like, surgery in the $1,500 - $3,000 range.... and may not be a total cure..... and more likely than not, she'll pop the one on the other leg in a couple years... Why? WHY??? Do I not have enough to worry about right now? Cripes. She's only 8 years old; not a pup, but not old, either. I've been researching on the web.... now I'm on one of those "information overloads".... "surgery is the only option" "surgery often doesn't help"' "without surgery they'll get serious arthritis" "no matter what, they seem to get arthritis" And on and on it goes, even to the dangers of the anti-inflammitories she's now on... There are even 3 - 4 types of surgery for this, and everyone has their opinion as to the best one........ And I can't tell you how fun it is to lift her 100lb. self into the back of my full-size SUV.... then of course, all the other thoughts are swirling around in my head.... Will I have to get a new, lower car? Will we have to rent a ground-floor apartment when we move? Can she ever go on off-leash walks again? Will we have to buy a little doggie ramp so she can get on off the bed? I am a mess, totally. Today, we just hucked school, and we went to a movie then out to lunch. Because my brain needed some time off.

Still cleaning.... is there no end to our stuff???

Today I almost found the upstairs closet! Trust me, this is a big deal.... see, we have sort of a strange arrangement in this house - upstairs, we have a bonus room, half bath, and a huge closet of shelves. Most folks would use this area as a family room, but we've used it as Kiwi's space - bedroom, playroom, part-time schoolroom; the works. The closet won't hold clothes (so hers are downstairs in the office - like I said, it's weird) and the upstairs closet holds craft items, games, and toys. I haven't checked on the closet in awhile - quite awhile - and as I've long suspected (and feared) when Kiwi didn't want to deal with something, she just hucked it in that closet. Yeah, you can just imagine how that looked! I've had the Christmas wrapping paper on the floor in my bedroom since - well, Christmas - because I couldn't get into the closet up there to put the stuff away! So it was time. I finally called it quits at just after 6pm, but I think we can get stuff mostly put away now... and that means the rest of her space is looking pretty great, because there is somewhere for all of the mess to be stored! Yay us!!