June 10, 2013 Recouperating



Bluebird at the bird bath




Blooming rose bush















Friday, 6/7.  A beautiful day, clear with a high of 68.  JB was very pleased with the doctor, but not so much with the prognosis.  He was given a shot of cortizone in his shoulder and hopefully that will help enough.  However, he is going to have an operation on his back in early August, a decompression to allow spinal fluid to get down to the bottom of his spine.  Will be a six to eight week recouperation.

I ended up going Down There to pick up Jesse as he had a setback this morning and the vet thought she would want to keep him until Saturday.  Then later in the day she called and said it might be better for him to come home today since he wasn't eating.  JB had taken his Jeep which was not conducive to picking him up.  I drove down to arrive at 5:00 pm.  The initial shock of seeing him almost did me in, especially since it was right after paying the bill.  The inside of his front legs were shaved along with his chest and stomach.  Everything shaved was swollen and purple with bruising, and his front left leg, which was where he was bitten, was oozing a bloody gunk.  I'm sure I looked like a deer in the headlights while she explained everything to me and went over all his medications.  There is no doubt that we would have lost him if he had not been vaccinated.

Just a note to re-assess what it would cost to save a dog who had not been vaccinated.  It would be at least $4000 to $5000 and a week's stay. . .

I had planned to keep him in the bathroom on the linoleum, but he wouldn't have it.  He was sure I wanted to give him a bath.  So we brought in the dog pen we had for the greyhounds and made it into the small version in which to keep him in the livingroom, so he wouldn't drip all over the floor.  I slept on the couch to be close to him.  He has to wear a plastic collar to keep him from licking his leg when we can't be watching him.  I did get him to eat some dinner by hand feeding it to him.

The one bright spot in the day was when I discovered that one of my iris is going to bloom!  After three years - Hurray!

Saturday, 6/8.  Another beautiful day, clear with a high of 69.  My day was filled with hanging out the laundry and taking care of Jesse.  I took a two hour nap in the morning to try and catch up on the sleep I missed overnight.

JB finished mowing a very large swath around the house.  So now we have a better chance of seeing any snakes in the area.

Jesse's leg stopped oozing in the morning, but would bleed whenever he put weight on it to walk.  He still won't eat unless I hand feed him and then only about half the normal amount.  I really think he is beginning to milk it.  But at least he is eating and by the end of the day the swelling had gone down a little, especially on his leg.  I was still feeling pretty much like he looked.

Larry and Elsie came up to visit, bringing a dozen fresh eggs.  We caught up on everything, our trip and their son's wedding.  Turns out it was a great time for all of us.

Being in the Baltimore area for four days and five nights really drove home how completely different our life is Up Here.  I don't think I could survive more than a week in or close to a large city any more.  And the clothes that women are wearing!  What happened to class?!  Maybe the current look is just "trashy".  Even my Up Here clothes look better than most of what I saw Down There.

Sunday, 6/9.  There is nothing like a brisk walk at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to start the day off.  But both Jesse and I were feeling much perkier.

My brother, RJ, is up for a few days and came to breakfast and dinner too.  It is good to see him again.

Jesse's leg stopped bleeding, so he was able to be out of the pen inside the house.  We took the pen outside and made it into the large version so he could enjoy the day.

Dinga caught two chipmunks before lunch!  The second one was actually chased down a tree by one of the wrens.  As soon as it hit the ground, Dinga was after it.

Feeling so much better, I pulled all that was growing in the garden, most of which was devil's claw.  JB took the day off to do his things inside.

The bird bath certainly is popular.  The pair of bluebirds is back.  I don't think we saw them last year.  They really love to splash around in the bath along with the grosebeaks.  And watching them is much better than even our favorite TV programs.  Well, maybe not better than Downton Abbey.

While we were gone the roses began blooming along our road and on a few bushes Up Here.  What a fragrance!

Monday, 6/10.  Clear and 48 this morning, with cooling predicted later in the week.  It has been 10 degrees above normal Down There.  RJ is up for breakfast and is going to help us dig the hole down to the water pipe.

Thought for the day:  Fear says we can't.  Faith says we can.