It was either on Nov 12 or 13th that Lilly came in the house limping after rushing out to chase after a squirrel. I tried to figure out what she might have done to herself but couldn't come up with anything on my own or with the help I got from numerous internet searches. So since she didn't show any improvement I made an appointment to have our vet look at her.
Unfortunately the vet was able to diagnose Lilly in a flash. When he showed me I knew exactly what was up without him having to say a word. Lilly had torn her ACL in her back left leg. That meant surgery. Okay well it doesn't necessarily mean surgery... well here are the options.
1) do nothing and the dog limps for the rest of her life and probably gets arthritis which makes the rest of her life painful.
2) surgery done at my vet's office. This is the cheapest of the surgery options.
3) surgery done at a vet in Colorado Springs.
4) surgery done at another vet - he didn't say where this vet was.
Options 3 & 4 were both more expensive and after looking online I realized that both options were really for larger dogs than Lilly.
See a torn ACL is usually suffered by larger breed dogs (like Labs, etc.) and usually happens when the dog is younger (around age 2). When an older dogs suffers this injury it is usually because they're overweight.
Well Lilly is 10 and not overweight. I'm not sure why hers went out. at any rate, it is pretty likely that she'll tear out the other one. bummer.
We decided to have the surgery done at my vet's office as it seemed that type of surgery was best for a dog of Lilly's size and age.
Lilly went in on Nov 23rd and came home on the 24th.
The 24th was pretty awful for us. I don't know for sure but I think it might have been that Lilly accidentally got too much of her morphine medicine. She showed signs of morphine psychosis and was driving us all nuts with her constant whining. DH and Darly refused to allow me to give Lilly any more of her morphine as they were worried that she would keep them up all night whining.
DH & Darly got to sleep just fine...it was me who was up all night with Lilly and at about 2:45 I gave Lilly more morphine...I cut her pill though as I was worried about her medicine schedule. Unfortunately I wasn't able to cut the pill in half so she got about 1/3rd of it. But that took the edge off of her pain and allowed both of us some sleep.
Things were going well until I asked the vet about just wrapping Lilly's wound instead of making her wear the cone of shame at night. The vet was pretty insistent that Lilly wear the cone as she didn't think that I could wrap the wound in a way that would keep Lilly out of it...I didn't tell the vet that I had already been just wrapping it and not forcing Lilly to wear the cone.
Lilly's leg is healing up really nicely and she is using it as much as the vet wants her to at this point. Lilly still wants to lick at her wound but knows she isn't allowed. So she'll either lay down on that leg so she can't get at it OR she'll sneak off to somewhere I am not at when I'm not looking. bugger!
Tomorrow is one week since her surgery...we've got 11 more to go.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was just the three of us this year. Which I'm sure was just fine for my two introverts, spending the holiday with my brother and his extended family can drive them both into "shut down" mode.
Since we were just three I decided that our meal's leftovers shouldn't last until next year, so I did a lot of scaling back of the production.
The Menu:
Turkey (11 lbs, the smallest I could find!) Brined & Butterflied* ala Alton Brown!
Gravy (pan drippings, flour, Kitchen Bouquet and water saved from the potatoes)
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams (can of yams, 3 TBSP Brown Sugar, 3 TBSP butter - bake @ 350 for at least 30 min)
Corn
Green Beans
Mushrooms (chopped up with salt, pepper & butter. Microwaved 4 minutes)
Bread
Cranberry Sauce (we like that can shaped jelly)
Pumpkin Dessert**
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Darly made everything I've highlighted and did an awesome job!
I didn't make any stuffing this year because I'm the only one who likes it and therefore I'm the only who eats it and I don't need any more stuffing. ;)
I realized that I didn't make anything orange for me to eat this year. I don't like candied yams :p I was going to make rutabagas, but my store had only small rubbery roots...just good for soup.
No, I'm not drunk there. We're drinking Grape Juice. Hubby just manages to take the best pictures and I blinked.
I hope that you and your family all had a very Blessed Thanksgiving!
*Place turkey on a plastic cutting board breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, cut ribs down one side of back bone and then the other and remove. Open chicken like a book and remove the keel bone separating the breast halves by slicing through the thin membrane covering it, then by placing two fingers underneath the bone and levering it out. Turn turkey breast-side up and spread out like a butterfly by pressing down on the breast and pulling the legs towards you.
Since we were just three I decided that our meal's leftovers shouldn't last until next year, so I did a lot of scaling back of the production.
The Menu:
Turkey (11 lbs, the smallest I could find!) Brined & Butterflied* ala Alton Brown!
Gravy (pan drippings, flour, Kitchen Bouquet and water saved from the potatoes)
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams (can of yams, 3 TBSP Brown Sugar, 3 TBSP butter - bake @ 350 for at least 30 min)
Corn
Green Beans
Mushrooms (chopped up with salt, pepper & butter. Microwaved 4 minutes)
Bread
Cranberry Sauce (we like that can shaped jelly)
Pumpkin Dessert**
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Darly made everything I've highlighted and did an awesome job!
I didn't make any stuffing this year because I'm the only one who likes it and therefore I'm the only who eats it and I don't need any more stuffing. ;)
I realized that I didn't make anything orange for me to eat this year. I don't like candied yams :p I was going to make rutabagas, but my store had only small rubbery roots...just good for soup.
No, I'm not drunk there. We're drinking Grape Juice. Hubby just manages to take the best pictures and I blinked.
I hope that you and your family all had a very Blessed Thanksgiving!
*Place turkey on a plastic cutting board breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, cut ribs down one side of back bone and then the other and remove. Open chicken like a book and remove the keel bone separating the breast halves by slicing through the thin membrane covering it, then by placing two fingers underneath the bone and levering it out. Turn turkey breast-side up and spread out like a butterfly by pressing down on the breast and pulling the legs towards you.
**Pumpkin Dessert recipe
My mother in law first heard this recipe on the radio back in California...sometime back in the 80's.
Ingredients
29oz can pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves (opt)
1 1/4 cup sugar
12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup melted butter
Instructions
Mix spices with sugar and then into pumpkin. Add evaporated milk & eggs and mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture lightly so as to not make big dents in the pumpkin (note: the cake mix is to stay "dry" not be mixed with the pumpkin!) Sprinkle walnuts over cake mix and then drizzle butter over the top. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the top is golden brown. Check after 50 min.
Ingredients
29oz can pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves (opt)
1 1/4 cup sugar
12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup melted butter
Instructions
Mix spices with sugar and then into pumpkin. Add evaporated milk & eggs and mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture lightly so as to not make big dents in the pumpkin (note: the cake mix is to stay "dry" not be mixed with the pumpkin!) Sprinkle walnuts over cake mix and then drizzle butter over the top. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the top is golden brown. Check after 50 min.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Priorities?
So last week after my dog Lilly had been outside chasing a squirrel we noticed that she was limping on her back leg. I looked at her foot and leg and couldn't find anything wrong. So I did a bit of research on the net and found this full exam that you can do. I did that and still couldn't figure out why my dog was limping.
So since she was still limping the following day, I took her to the vet. $450 later I find out that she has torn her ACL (that's the ligament in the knee joint)...to get it fixed will cost between $1800 and $3200. Depending on which type of surgery I choose. So like any good doggy parent I did my research.
What I was trying to figure out was what would be the best surgery for Lilly that won't cause her problems later in life. I mean if I get her the cheap surgery...will I just pay for it later with more medical bills for arthritis or something else?
My research showed that this type of injury typically happens in large breed dogs within the first two years of their lives...and if they "blow" one they'll typically blow the other back knee as well. The other set of dogs that get this are smaller breeds who are overweight. They don't blow the second knee though. Lilly is neither type of dog though.
There are 4 types of surgery for dogs. My vet only offered me 3 choices though...and the two more expensive versions aren't offered at my vet's office. If I chose those I would be referred to other vets for them. However, the two more expensive options are also for the larger breed dogs and are kind of dependent on the weight of the dog for the fix to work. So I chose the cheaper option.
Lilly's surgery is scheduled for Nov 23rd.
Then yesterday I get an IM from my brother that my grandmother is in the hospital after taking a nasty fall. Grandma is almost 91. She lives with my Aunt & Uncle and they had left her at home. When they returned she greeted them at the door with a huge bruise on her head, and her face & arms were all scratched up. A quick check of the house found bloody spots in the sun room...it appeared that she had fallen twice. Grandma couldn't remember it or anything that happened last week.
So Grandma got to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital while they run tests to try to figure out why she fell.
I tried to call my mom today but got no answer.
She called me back later AFTER she talked to my brother. Who of course asked if I had called and she said no, because she didn't have her phone turned on and missed my two calls!
My mom was more concerned with my dog's surgery, her dog's food and other things than about her mom being in the hospital. At least that is what she said.
So since she was still limping the following day, I took her to the vet. $450 later I find out that she has torn her ACL (that's the ligament in the knee joint)...to get it fixed will cost between $1800 and $3200. Depending on which type of surgery I choose. So like any good doggy parent I did my research.
What I was trying to figure out was what would be the best surgery for Lilly that won't cause her problems later in life. I mean if I get her the cheap surgery...will I just pay for it later with more medical bills for arthritis or something else?
My research showed that this type of injury typically happens in large breed dogs within the first two years of their lives...and if they "blow" one they'll typically blow the other back knee as well. The other set of dogs that get this are smaller breeds who are overweight. They don't blow the second knee though. Lilly is neither type of dog though.
There are 4 types of surgery for dogs. My vet only offered me 3 choices though...and the two more expensive versions aren't offered at my vet's office. If I chose those I would be referred to other vets for them. However, the two more expensive options are also for the larger breed dogs and are kind of dependent on the weight of the dog for the fix to work. So I chose the cheaper option.
Lilly's surgery is scheduled for Nov 23rd.
Then yesterday I get an IM from my brother that my grandmother is in the hospital after taking a nasty fall. Grandma is almost 91. She lives with my Aunt & Uncle and they had left her at home. When they returned she greeted them at the door with a huge bruise on her head, and her face & arms were all scratched up. A quick check of the house found bloody spots in the sun room...it appeared that she had fallen twice. Grandma couldn't remember it or anything that happened last week.
So Grandma got to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital while they run tests to try to figure out why she fell.
I tried to call my mom today but got no answer.
She called me back later AFTER she talked to my brother. Who of course asked if I had called and she said no, because she didn't have her phone turned on and missed my two calls!
My mom was more concerned with my dog's surgery, her dog's food and other things than about her mom being in the hospital. At least that is what she said.
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