This afternoon my Dad suffered a mild heart attack. They found three blockages and placed a stent in one of these. They will have to place the other two stents separately in the next few months. Barring any set backs, he should be fully recovered within three months. He will be in the hospital for the next two evenings. I am hopeful that all will go well and he will come home Friday.
I wanted to let everyone know about this so you wouldn't wonder why there may not be any new updates for a couple of days. I will be up at the hospital quite a bit of the day tomorrow I would imagine. Keep him in your thoughts just like you have with Sweetheart.
Sweetheart is still doing fine by the way and is on track to be spayed Tuesday. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I hope I get my Dad home safe and sound for Christmas.
Love to you all.
Jess
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Pigpen!
Spay is scheduled for next Tuesday, December 28th. And I am NOT happy about it. Yes, I know, spaying is the right thing to do. Believe me, being in rescue, I know this. However, I HATE having to put her through more pain. Plus I don't want to see a scar on that pretty, spotted tummy :( Oh well, it is better than her having puppies and that is something I DO NOT WANT. :)
I told Les to tell Dr. Kolar to make sure that when he sews her up that all her spots match like before. :)
I will keep everyone posted on her spay surgery. Paws and fingers crossed that it all goes well. I am also going to have him do another full blood panel to see how much her counts have improved from August.
Below is video Les shot this evening. You can see my fat self in it quite a bit. He needs to learn to crop those images out. :) Hope you all enjoy our little pig pen. Cleo and Sweetheart have dug my yard completely up. It looks like war has been waged on our yard.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday
Mid-way through the work week. I am sitting at work and just finished browsing through all of the blog posts I did in August. Even though I have been dealing with Sweetheart for four months now, it is hard for me to believe she was really that emaciated and that her leg was that bad. I look at Sweetheart today and she just isn't the same dog. She is so healthy looking now and so FULL OF ENERGY. I have always been grateful for her amazing recovery but reading back in the blog to the first weeks makes me appreciate her all the more.
I watch her play and sleep and eat and marvel at her. I must admit, I can't stop patting her little thighs because it is so amazing to me that she regained so much muscle back after not having any. Watching her run is breathtaking and watching her pounce on tennis balls like a puppy is a joy.
I have started to ponder adopting her myself. I do not know if I will do it or not. I know I probably shouldn't adopt her since I already have three of my own but I would love to have a therapy dog and I think she might be able to pass the certification. My first greyhound I ever adopted, Bavarian, is twelve and a half and he is getting raspy in breath and slower in movement. He will not be with me too much longer I fear. While Sweetheart could never replace him in my heart, she would be a good grey to fill some of the void his loss will undoubtably create.
I am going to keep thinking about it and I plan on looking into therapy certification. She still needs to be spayed and that will happen soon. I still have some time to contemplate adoption. If I do adopt, it will be the third failed foster of mine. I guess that isn't too bad after fostering for five years!
I will try and get some pictures of her for you all in the next few days. She looks exactly the same but I know the blog is better when I put pics and video on it!
I watch her play and sleep and eat and marvel at her. I must admit, I can't stop patting her little thighs because it is so amazing to me that she regained so much muscle back after not having any. Watching her run is breathtaking and watching her pounce on tennis balls like a puppy is a joy.
I have started to ponder adopting her myself. I do not know if I will do it or not. I know I probably shouldn't adopt her since I already have three of my own but I would love to have a therapy dog and I think she might be able to pass the certification. My first greyhound I ever adopted, Bavarian, is twelve and a half and he is getting raspy in breath and slower in movement. He will not be with me too much longer I fear. While Sweetheart could never replace him in my heart, she would be a good grey to fill some of the void his loss will undoubtably create.
I am going to keep thinking about it and I plan on looking into therapy certification. She still needs to be spayed and that will happen soon. I still have some time to contemplate adoption. If I do adopt, it will be the third failed foster of mine. I guess that isn't too bad after fostering for five years!
I will try and get some pictures of her for you all in the next few days. She looks exactly the same but I know the blog is better when I put pics and video on it!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
All I want for Christmas is a fully healed leg!
Yes everyone, that is all I want for Christmas and I just might get it. You be the judge. I took these pictures of Sweetheart (she was quite unwilling as she did not want to stop playing to pose) a few minutes ago.
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| Inside of leg. No you are not seeing things, the inside of her leg is TOTALLY healed!!!! Remember, this was down to the bone not but 4 short months ago. |
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| Outside of leg! |
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| Another closer shot of the outside of the leg. LOOK at all the new fuzzy white hair growing back! |
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| Front view of the leg. |
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| Close up of the fully healed inside portion. |
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday 12/06
As I write this, I am looking at Sweetheart lying on the floor without a care in the world. I feel so lucky to be able to take care of her and to count all the spots that have popped up on her tummy. :) I really do feel she is a miracle dog. I have never seen a dog heal so quickly when faced with so much adversity.
She continues to do great. Eating wonderfully and playing with Cleo and I like a 2 year old should. She loves to play with toys and to wolf bite me when I 'get her'.
Sweetheart has discovered a new little 'game'. When she comes in from outside, she will jump on the couch and lie down where she lands. Below are a couple of pictures of her lying awkwardly where she landed.
The pictures below are of her passed out on the couch. She crawled up there with me as I was watching TV this weekend.
She continues to do great. Eating wonderfully and playing with Cleo and I like a 2 year old should. She loves to play with toys and to wolf bite me when I 'get her'.
Sweetheart has discovered a new little 'game'. When she comes in from outside, she will jump on the couch and lie down where she lands. Below are a couple of pictures of her lying awkwardly where she landed.
The pictures below are of her passed out on the couch. She crawled up there with me as I was watching TV this weekend.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Friday!
I am sorry I have been so quiet this week. I am neglecting Sweetheart's fans! I wasn't sure how many of you were still following the blog since some of my recent posts haven't generated too many comments. I defnitely want to keep everyone updated about our little Sweetheart if everyone is still interested in following her story!
Sweetheart's leg still looks about the same *sigh*. The bandage is still off and she is still not fussing with the open wounds too much. She alernates from using three to four legs at various times. Her weight is holding steady. Her energy is phenomenal and she is definitely showing that she is a two year old at times (chewing a few things in the house, bothering the other greys, barking outside like a fool)!
Yesterday when I got home from work I brought her outside by herself. I brought some leather work gloves out with me and she went crazy for them. I wouldn't let her have them, instead I put them on and 'got her' with them. This made her act all goosy and she started running big circles around the yard. When she was running she would act like she was going to run into me and then she would turn really fast when she came to me, almost like she was trying to fake me out and make me think she was going to get me. It was so funny I just laughed and laughed. I ended up kneeling down and she finally finished her sprint and came over to me and leaned on me and let me love on her. It was is so fun to watch her run. She LOVES to run and she runs like a little foal, legs going every which way when she takes off!
So, all in all, Sweetheart is doing great. Her leg is just something that is going to take time. The skin that is there is pretty thin, which is just a part of the side effect of the deep wounds she suffered. Her skin being so new and thin makes it take longer to heal and any nick she may get in the new skin just takes that much longer to heal.
She finishes up her antibiotics tomorrow morning! She likes taking her medicine because it involves a piece of cheese. She can be in a dead sleep but as soon as she hears the rattle of the plastic covering the cheese, into the kitchen she bounces. If I am take too long in giving her the cheese she kind of talks to me and stomps around (making me giggle of course). She will miss her twice daily cheese sessions when the antibiotics are over. :)
I will try to get some pictures of Sweetheart this weekend. She isn't the easiest subject to capture on camera. Every time I try and take a pic of her she moves and ends up looking like a dork in them. :)
Today is Friday!! I am ready for the weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend. If there is anything you want to know about Sweetheart or about her recovery, let me know. I love all of your comments and questions.
Jess
Sweetheart's leg still looks about the same *sigh*. The bandage is still off and she is still not fussing with the open wounds too much. She alernates from using three to four legs at various times. Her weight is holding steady. Her energy is phenomenal and she is definitely showing that she is a two year old at times (chewing a few things in the house, bothering the other greys, barking outside like a fool)!
Yesterday when I got home from work I brought her outside by herself. I brought some leather work gloves out with me and she went crazy for them. I wouldn't let her have them, instead I put them on and 'got her' with them. This made her act all goosy and she started running big circles around the yard. When she was running she would act like she was going to run into me and then she would turn really fast when she came to me, almost like she was trying to fake me out and make me think she was going to get me. It was so funny I just laughed and laughed. I ended up kneeling down and she finally finished her sprint and came over to me and leaned on me and let me love on her. It was is so fun to watch her run. She LOVES to run and she runs like a little foal, legs going every which way when she takes off!
So, all in all, Sweetheart is doing great. Her leg is just something that is going to take time. The skin that is there is pretty thin, which is just a part of the side effect of the deep wounds she suffered. Her skin being so new and thin makes it take longer to heal and any nick she may get in the new skin just takes that much longer to heal.
She finishes up her antibiotics tomorrow morning! She likes taking her medicine because it involves a piece of cheese. She can be in a dead sleep but as soon as she hears the rattle of the plastic covering the cheese, into the kitchen she bounces. If I am take too long in giving her the cheese she kind of talks to me and stomps around (making me giggle of course). She will miss her twice daily cheese sessions when the antibiotics are over. :)
I will try to get some pictures of Sweetheart this weekend. She isn't the easiest subject to capture on camera. Every time I try and take a pic of her she moves and ends up looking like a dork in them. :)
Today is Friday!! I am ready for the weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend. If there is anything you want to know about Sweetheart or about her recovery, let me know. I love all of your comments and questions.
Jess
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