11/2 Gus's surgery

It was only $50. Yep. $50. That's why I love Western Illinois Vet Clinic. That and the fact that my first visit I noticed a vet had a big black eye. He said, "Yep, a horse kicked me."

They're real country veterinarians. (Like the ones you go to in Palmyra, Jan.)

Joe and Cindy got rid of all my leaves today. I appreciate it so much. (We talked about it in a comment on a previous blog entry. Gussie loves you and so do I.)

11/6 Gus

I was told that when Gus's cherry eye returned they'd do surgery. So I took him in yesterday for the surgery and they couldn't do it because there was only one doc. They made an appointment for Monday and I said it will be gone by then. And sure enough it was gone today.

But when I picked him up from Alpha Dog tonight it had reappeared. Poor puppy, but I sure hope it stays until Monday so we can get the surgery done.

9/24 Good bad ugly

The good is that my relative came though surgery like a trooper. He is strong and solid and I'm so grateful. Will protect his privacy and not give details of his surgery and his identity, but we shed tears of gratitude.

The bad is that the surgery took more than 5 hours, and because of delays we were at the hospital in Springfield for over 11 hours. Yikes. A long day. But our relative slept through it all. :)

The ugly is my throat and ear. Omigod. But luckily I felt good all day and just relapsed on the way home.

Time for bed.

And tomorrow both my animals get fixed. Poor babies.

9/4 Ugh, yikes, shit, etc., plus good old Gus

It would cost $2200 to get my car completely fixed. Of course that's at the Kia dealer and I know it would be cheaper elsewhere. But still...it's going to be a hell of a lot no matter where I take it. The three seatbelts in back cost $500 alone. (Yes, Quincy and Cookie cost me a lot....)

I'd be better off buying a new car. But... (insert all the reasons I can't afford to buy right now).

Tomorrow Gus is going to Doggy Day Care for the first time. I'm going to Springfield all day, so it'll be nice that no one (Jan) will have to put him out over lunch time. I want him to get used to the place because in a few weeks I'll be in St. Louis for four days and nights, and he'll stay at the same kennel. I think he'll love it there. Tomorrow is supposed to rain so they put all the little dogs in the training room with a door open so they can go outside when they need to. Gus will have a ball playing with lots of other dogs.

Last night was a stitch. When Cindy was walking him I drove by and parked at QU. He saw me and went nuts. In fact he even got loose from Cin and ran after me. It was so cute. He really wanted me. But of course Cindy was able to get him back on track after I gave him some attention.

Not feeling too good, so after checking the computer, will go to bed. But Jill has given me a super idea. Her company, Advanced Bionics, made an instrument for pain, that's inserted right under the skin. You use a remote control and it works just like the treatment I got at physical therapy. There's a new pain doc in town at QMG who uses it. We'll see if it's a possibility. I'd love to have another option besides surgery.

9/4 No major news

First thanks to Jan and Cindy for taking care of Gus while I was gone. He loves both of you, that's obvious.

Doc said I should think about surgery. No surprise. He also said that if I live 20 more years he is confident I'll have the surgery sometime because of the severity of the stenosis. I wasn't planning on surgery but if I need to have it sometime it would be smart to have it younger rather than older, I think. Will see another neurosurgeon in October.

Am in a hurry. Will post more details after work.

7/23 Puppies and doctors and stuff

Today Gus and Snickers are at the groomer's. They're getting a "face, feet, and butt" trim. So they'll still be nice and fuzzy and adorable.

Got a call from Wash U Medical Center in St. Louis to screen me for the neurosurgeon appointment. Now they'll give the info, plus the MRI results, to the doctor there and they'll call me back with an appointment. There are no choices about date and time. So I'll wait...

Also, we're setting up the next epidural. They'd told me I may need more than one. Unfortunately I was only pain free for one day and it started to get worse day by day.

So there it is... but tonight I'm having potatoes, sweet corn, tomatoes, and cucumber and onions. And yeah--it's going to be great.

7/9 Doc appointment

Saw him at 6:30 AM.

Guess it's worse than I thought. A lot worse.

The stenosis and arthritis aren't pushing against nerves like I thought. They're pushing against my spinal cord. That's why my shoulder and neck hurt too. If it was lower on my spine, it would be pressing against individual nerves.

Recommended I see a neurosurgeon ASAP and also recommended I make an appointment at Barnes or somewhere else out of town so I can get a second opinion immediately regarding the necessity for surgery. Will talk to my private consultants about other doctors out of town. (Jan and Jane, get ready.) :)

Also, he said the main thing to remember is--"If it hurts, don't do it." Told him my house is a wreck because of that very reason. Originally I thought I could do stuff and just pain would result but no additional damage, but he said that's not true. I could hurt myself worse.

The good news? My systolic blood pressure is 110. I attribute it to my puppy.

I know there's more, but I need to get back to work. Love you all.

4/19 Poor, poor Pete

I was going to write about the fact that I don't have any fingerprints. It's true, I don't.

But the worst thing happened today. My sister Jane and her husband John (who we call Pete) were here helping me empty some boxes and put books away. Pete was carrying a box out to my car and one of my dogs pushed him or tripped him or something. He fell on his hip, and couldn't move. We thought he'd broken his hip, so we called an ambulance. We found out he broke his right femur in at least three places. He's in surgery right now. And I came home after he went upstairs. Jan and Tim, Joe and Cindy, and Jane's friend Deb were all there too. Deb is staying there with Jane.

I couldn't stop crying. Partially from guilt, I guess. One of my dogs caused the fall, plus if I'd gotten everything done they wouldn't have been here helping me.

Our brother Joe said, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Pete is just great though. He doesn't blame me at all. He and Jane both keep saying that it's just an accident. Pete has diabetes though and lives with so many consequences of that disease, so I worry about him.

Jane will call me tonight when the surgery is done, and I'll go back up tomorrow to spend time. In the meantime I'm praying.