AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[Farmfresh]

No. They have land in the area that IS for sale, but not the actual farm. (unless thing recently changed?) You really should stop by sometime. Read the story about how they got into the business and you will find that they are our kind of people.

 

[Wifezilla]

It would make a fun day trip

 

[AL]

Well it looks like Rio's torn ACL has worsened. My vet was able to manipulate it and get movement even without Rio being sedated. They are sending the referral to the ortho surgeon again, but reminding him I have already been there just a month ago so I won't have to jump through all of the hoops

*sigh* Rio laid up for 4-6 weeks and me hopefully having surgery in 3. Fabulous.

 

[AL]

I didn't make it to the farmer's market. Didn't make it to a reunion I was supposed to go to. I just didn't go anywhere. We have finally been getting good steady rain and I just wanted to stay home. It started raining Friday night and has been a light steady rain pretty much the entire weekend. The chickens hate it but all the rest of us are rejoicing!
I finally just left the garden gate open giving the horses free access. With the spurts of rain we were getting and me not even going in the garden area, the grass was waist high! They loved it and have it pretty well mowed. I"ll give them the rest of this week, then Saturday if weather allows I will finish it off with the lawnmower and start tilling.

Our big pear tree has tons of pears, they are the hard cooking pears. I am going to try my hand at canning them. I think that is pressure canning.... right? Yoikes!! (my mom used to do it all the time )
The figs are still coming. Have enough preserves so I am going to check with my mom about just freezing some. My neighbor has a TON of blueberries, so I will maybe check on if the U-Pick place still has some I can get a hold of.


I have been scheduled for my weight-loss surgery on August 16. I have a LOT to do to get my place ready, since I won't be able to do heavy lifting for a while. That is right at time to go get hay, so I am hoping my nephews will be available to go, otherwise I'll have to pay an extra $2 a bale to have it delivered and stacked! I'll stock up on feed, and I hope to have Buddy shipped off to the trainer for 4 weeks. I should be able to tend the chickens and rabbits on my own and my dad will take care of Skye.
Since I don't cook much I also have to get my kitchen cleaned up and organized. I need to give the whole house a good scrubbing in case folks come over.
Rio is having his knee surgery (TPLO - basically breaking his leg and resetting it with plates / screws to remedy his torn ACL) this Wednesday if all goes as scheduled. He will have 4-6 weeks of strict rest, so he will be about 3 1/2 weeks into his recovery when I have my surgery. Hopefully we both heal well and get going on some hikes!

 

[Farmfresh]

Actually fruit is easy to preserve. All it needs is water bath canning.

 

[savingdogs]

We had a dog have TPLO on both sides and took her through that. Her legs were awesome afterward, but it was physically taxing for the first couple weeks each time, getting her in and out of the house to go potty, we had to put her in a sling and assist her. I forget the time table of how long you need to help them walk, but if you put the two surgeries on a calender, you might need some assistance with Rio during a week or two of that time.

Bless you for taking Rio through it, you would be surprised how many people euthanize or give the dog away at this point. I've seen that happen to sooooo many dogs, whenever I hear of a TPLO patient, I appreciate and thank the owner. There will be some people who say you spent on a DOG? Maybe you can get a little dogsitter type from your vet office to come over each day for a few weeks after your surgery and assist with the dog, or have a friend or neighbor help you. If I lived close, I would come! But don't be afraid to ask for help, that is a lot at one time, two surgeries in one household.

 

[AL]

Oooh I'm good at water bath canning! Not nearly as intimidating! hehe

SD - when I worked at the vet through high school and saw so many animals put down because of money, I promised myself right then and there that if the funds were available I would spend them. I figure I am taking on a living creature that is completely dependent on me for its well being and I need to live up to that.


Besides...at my job we have group pet insurance so I will get probably 1/2 back (yep, I double checked the policy on ACL ruptures).

ETA - the vet said for me to go ahead and start saving my money for the left leg, because he wagers it will blow within a year


Rio will stay at the vet at least while I am in the hospital. We will both stay with my folks at least through the weekend so my dad can help with the dog. There is a wheelchair ramp at their house as well as mine, so that will help since Rio is so big! If all else fails, the trainer I worked with for Rio's first 2 years has ventured out on her own with a training / dog sitting / dog walking business, so I'll pay her to come over and deal with him. (are you sure Florida is too much of a commute for you? Summertime on the beaches!!)

 

[savingdogs]

I would adore coming to visit you and help with your dog and sneak a little beach time in, I'm from So Cal you know and grew up on the beach, married an ex-surfer dude. I was just telling Abifae that the only thing I don't like about our forum is how far apart I live from all my friends now!

I did not mean that YOU would not take care of your dear beloved, just pointing out that it is a special thing when an owner does that for a dog. We did have the surgeon tell us our dog could "possibly" need the second side and if it lasted two years, we would be in the clear, however it was just past two years later that the second knee went. She later died of osteosarcoma and the vets admitted to us that they remove the plates now as in some breeds the plates can cause osteosarcoma. Ridgebacks tend to get that type of cancer anyway, so she did end up dying of that at age 8. If I had it to do over, I would take out those plates down the road especially if my dog was a breed that tended to get that kind of cancer. Forgive me if I brought that up to you before, I tend to always tell people getting TPLO that because I don't want them to lose their dog a few years later like we did when it was possibly preventable, we will never know.

I'm so glad you have a network of people ready to help you, that eases my mind considerably! I was just picturing how hard it was to get Sheena outside to go potty a couple times a day for awhile and was trying to picture someone recovering from surgery trying to do that!

 

[AL]

Nah, I knew you didn't mean it that way I was just giving a history lesson on why I am the way I am about spending $$ on my animals.

The last several nights (actually over a week now) I have not been able to go to sleep at night. I think it is because I am doing my gym workouts after work (1am), but I have exercised in the past and it didn't keep me up. the only nights I slept were the when I took Lunesta and didn't workout. Saturday night I took a Lunesta and was still 6am going to sleep. I don't know what to do - I have to work out and the gym at work is free, as is getting advice etc from the trainer there.

Last night (this morning) I went to sleep around 7 but had to get up at 830 to take Rio to his consult with the surgeon. He is still hesitant to do the surgery because Rio was banging around, jumping, doing his happy dance and acting a nut. I think the vet thinks I'm some fruitcake or something. I finally asked him if he will explore the knee surgically and he agreed. Then he started talking about if the cruciate isn't torn he will biopsy around the joint! Cruciate I can handle, cancer I can not.... I can't lose another dog right now.

When I got home I tended the rabbits and chickens, let Pat and here "wooster" boys out of their poop soup into the backyard and then went to bed. I slept about 3 hours but decided I better get up or I won't be able to sleep tonight. (probably won't anyway because I have gym tonight).

 

[savingdogs]

He is probably just getting your permission to do whatever he sees needs done when he gets in there. It is hard when they are suited up and the leg is opened up to call the client and ask their wishes. Sounds like he might just be thorough and covering his bases. I'm sure he doesn't think you are a fruitcake and lots of dogs are bouncy and what not when they have bum knees, those are the type of dogs that blow their knees, bouncy wiggly ones! Don't take it personally. He'd be out of business without folks like you. It is probably more that he is worried about a poor prognosis if your dog is too active afterwards and his worries are coming off as skepticism. Might be good to work on his basic obedience so he is real fresh on doing what you tell him. Some dogs seem to need more refreshers than others, my golden retriever, bless his heart, has such a tiny brain (but a wonderful heart) that he needs to re-learn things like "lay down" about once a year. I've had vets kinda roll their eyes at me about his behavior at clinics (won't hold still, unlike at home, when he is Mr. Sedentary) and they have no idea how many times I've retrained him. I often refer to him as the dog with Very Little Brain, like Winnie-The Pooh. But I only bring him up to mention that some dogs need more refreshers, might be a good time for one.