Ducky Surgery

This is not Ducky's first brush with death.

By the look on Bruiser's face, you can see how close we came to losing Ducky this time. Ducky almost didn't make it.



Luckily mama has mad whip stitching skills and was able to quickly sew up Ducky before too many insides or the all important noise maker came out.

Yes, the glove was necessary if you must know. Carl asked me that too. It wasn't to keep the incision clean. Oh, no. It was to protect my hand from the, ahem, drool that covered the wound prior to the operation. I didn't clean the site very well prior to the treatment in an effort to save time and eliminate trauma (i.e. I didn't want Bruiser to cry for 20 minutes when Ducky was furiously spinning in the rinse cycle).

Just call me Martha!

Do you make treats for your co-workers around holidays? Me either.

How about your day care providers? Not me.

The people you see every week when you take your dog in for blood work? You betcha!

How about the people your dog sees once a month to have his fuzzy buns washed and brushed? Of course!

Every holiday the kids take special treats to those people who treat them best. They pile into the Tahoe with daddy and hand deliver home made goodies and lots of kisses to the ones they love.

This month I went a little overboard.

I hand dipped scary bones with blood inside. Down to the very last detail. Yep, that's what the crazy dog mommies do. Only after I packaged them up did I realize a Vet probably wouldn't think bloody bones were cool.

This dog mom's lost it.

GratiTuesday

It's Tuesday so you know it must be time for me to give that Lord and his crazy sense of humor a Big 'Ole Shout Out~ Holla if you hear me!

So lately I've been trying to find good even in the things that don't seem so fun. Like, I don't know, my job. If you know me at all you know I've been overwhelmed and struggling with everything that's happened at work lately.

I tried to find the many blessings in the fact that I have employment while others struggle to find a job. I just couldn't do it anymore; I was about to admit defeat.

I pulled up the driveway after a terrible day, with tears in my eyes, I saw these little heads peaking through a specially carved window in the fence. Their tails must have been wagging so furiously because their heads were moving! I could almost see their smiles!

Bruiser

Divita

The blessingright now isn't my job after all. It is the "something" I come home to.

I'm still praying for this other job that I really want. Feel free to join in. In my mind's eye it would be a much better fit for me. If God see's fit, I sure would like to have it.

I'll keep you posted.

Can I ask for a little help?

Ya'll listening?

I'm a little nervous.  I really don't like to fly, you see, and I'm leaving for NY on Thursday.

I'm flying all the way to NY from California (Yes, all the way across the country - wah).

Would you kind folks mind saying a quick prayer that I get to NY safely and without any, you know, loss of luggage (or breakfast)?  I kinda, um, get motion sickness and stuff when I travel.

Also, if you could throw in a quick prayer for my Divita (cause I'm even more worried about this part) I'd be really grateful. 

She's just fine but she has that darn Addison's Disease and stress (i.e. Mommy leaving for a week) could have very fatal consequences.  If you could just ask your God if Divita could be stress free and without worry or concern during her mommy's absence I would be extra grateful.

Now I've got to get some rest, because between now and Tuesday, with all my stress, I'm going to try to find something to be really grateful about and that's going to take some serious thinking!

GratiTuesday

It's GratiTuesday so you know it must be time for me to give a little shout out to the Lord for something in my life for which I am wicked grateful.

I am grateful that God trusts me to care for such medically fragile pets.

At first, when Rajah became paralyzed and the bills started to mount into the tens of thousands I said to the Lord, "Why me?"  I didn't understand why God was punishing me.  I was angry with God.

Then, when Divita was diagnosed with Addison's Disease (among other things) and I faced years of very expensive medical treatments all over again I asked God again, "Why are you punishing me?"

It was only a few months ago that I realized this isn't punishment at all.  This is a gift.  God knows that I can be trusted to care for Rajah, Divita and now Bruiser like no one else can.  He knows that my love for animals far exceeds what most humans can comprehend and I know He plans for these animals to wind up in my care.  

For that I am so grateful.  Not to mention the love I receive in return makes my heart sing.

Amen.

Stupid Holiday Weekends

Well, it wouldn't be  holiday weekend if one of us didn't end up sleeping in the hospital.  I just never imagined it would be half of us!

Friday night I came home from work to find Bruiser with a nasty, bloody infection on his stomach.  It looked a lot like his last staph infection so I made a quick call to our Vet and she agreed to get him in before the weekend started.  We spent a few hours having the infection tested and a few hundred dollars to get the necessary treatments.

We were out the door.  I couldn't believe our luck.  We made it before an expensive ER visit was necessary.  I felt so lucky!

On to Saturday where I clean the entire house from top to bottom and felt so good about it.  Carl finished his homework and I ran to the market to get the week's groceries.  After putting the groceries away and settling in for a movie I started not to feel well.  A little nauseous and maybe a bit of a headache starting.   I took the "miracle" drug Imitrex and laid down for a bit.  

I didn't make it long before an ER visit was required. Of we went to the dreaded Lompoc ER (because it was the ONLY place open).  I waited 3 hours to see a Dr. who decided that I may have a plethora of other disorders so...the blood sticks and testing began.  It was another hour or two before an angry nurse tried, without success, to obliterate my veins with IVs.  (Oh how I wanted my mommy.)  

Finally a nicer, but not by much, nurse was able to locate a vein in my hand and set me up with a group of drugs that not only didn't work but caused constant vomiting.  Five hours later I gave up and faked a 'miracle cure' so I could go home.

And here I sit, on my living room couch with two extremely bored dogs and a wicked dizzy brain.

Sorry about the marathon blog - I'm hopped up on something.

Funny Friday

Warning - Dangerous Dog Behind Closed Doors

We found this today in our mailbox.


Clearly it was not to be delivered to us, but to warn our new mail person of the vicious carnivore that lurks behind our closed front door.

I'm glad it arrived, because had I not been informed, this beast may have one day caused me serious bodily harm.

Any moment he could wake from this nap and get out from under his warm and cozy blankey to snuggle me to death.

Thank you, postmaster, for the warning.

Another ER Visit

I'm guest posting for my mommy today.  She's still pretty hopped up on morphine from her hospital visit.  She keeps getting migraines and having to go to the hospital.  They are really bad. She said she's going to see a neurologist in a few weeks.  The doctors are pretty sure it's not a tumor or anything serious, but they want to find out why mommy is so sick.

Pray for my mommy to feel better (she is the only one that can reach the treat jar) and for my daddy not to worry (he can reach the jar too, but he doesn't hand treats out like mommy does).

I'm going to go back outside now.

Love, Divita

We Have an Escape Artist on our Hands

I hear from our neighbor that a little black nose has made its way under the fence.

That cute little black nose is attached to a Golden Retriever with kangaroo breath and floppy ears.

I put up bricks to distract him but he's too smart. He'll find a way over to see her and her treats eventually.

Carl has started calling Bruiser "Andy DuFresne" (remember the escapee in The Shawshank Redemption?)

Yah. Like that.

Kangaroo & Oat

The Lord knew I loved dogs when he moved Bruiser in with Carl. He knew Carl and I would be married one day. He also knew Carl needed help with Bruiser and I was just the girl to provide it.

Without going into too much detail (since I tend to go on and on about my furkids) Bruiser has some pretty serious allergies. Enough so that he got a wicked staph infection all over his body. Poor Baby.

We tried some prescription foods (fish & potato was first) and Bruiser, being the stubborn, but so adorable boy he is, staged a hunger strike. He wouldn't eat it. So mommy gave in.

Now he's on new food, Kangaroo & Oat (think about how cheap that must be to get). If this doesn't work, he'll have to go in for allergy testing.

I don't think either one of us will like that. I mean, how can you tell this face to eat his marsupial dinner or he's gonna get pricked all over?

Huh? Could you? I didn't think so.

Happy Anniversary Vita!

Divita was diagnosed with Addisons Disease on 19 July 2007.

Today her disease is one year old! Yay! Happy Anniversary!

One year of weekly blood draws and expensive shots behind us. Hopefully many more to go! (Sorry Vita, but the alternative is not good for mommy's heart)

Now everybody, go to the comments section and leave the girl a bone!

Happy Anniversary Lady Bug!

GratuiTuesday

It's time for a little shout out to the Lord, so you know it must be GratuiTuesday, where I can be vocally thankful for something in my life.

Almost exactly one year ago, my sweet baby Divita was diagnosed with Addison's disease. It is a disease that causes the Adrenal Glands to atrophy and can be fatal. It's a tough disease to get under control, in part because very few Veterinarians understand it and because of the massive financial commitment required to treat it. All too often the beloved family pet dies before the diagnosis can be made. We were lucky.

Now we are in California and we haven't had much luck finding a Vet that understands the disease. We have cycled through 7 Vets and one serious crash that landed us in the Santa Barbara ER. I have a hard time getting my fears about this disease under control but there is one person that really helps me.

So today I am thankful for my friend Elizabeth. She has a dog, Raider, that also has Addison's Disease. She is an amazing canine lover that understands the disease like no one else I've met. She lets me email her all of the crazy questions I come up with and I can call her in the middle of the night from the ER with all my worries. She understands my undying love for Divita (and Bruiser) and doesn't think I'm crazy for it. We talk about our dogs and have built a wonderful friendship. She might be in California this year and I'm going to drive 7 hours each way to meet her. She's worth it!

She is my angel and today I am thankful for her knowledge and friendship. I hope that someday I can repay her for all that she has done for me.

My boy

My sweet "beer and wings boy", Bruiser, is wicked thoughtful.  He found this loverly shirt with his picture on it and bought it for me.  In Italian it reads: "I kiss my dog on the mouth".  So sweet. 

Because I don't have any children handy...

Well, and because my ovaries tell me that these are the cutest kids I will ever have.  Of course, my ovaries are not to be trusted, they have betrayed me before.

Also, I feel bad that I complain about my kids so much, and I want you to know that if I did not KNOW that they are the most gorgeous creatures to ever grace....hmmmm, I said that already, didn't I?  Anyway, if they weren't so beautiful, I would complain about the cost to raise them much more.  Just call me Shallow Mom.  Maybe I should change my Blogspot to shallowmom.blogspot.com.  I bet it's not yet taken.  

Look at those cute little noses.  Don't you just want to take little bites out of their faces?  I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but the one above was my favorite for 6 and 1/2 years.  The one on the right has to be my favorite little stinker.    Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make cuddles in their soft and freshly shaved fur.

Yum!