Dusty - Our Little Enigma

We took Dusty back to Newmarket on the 29^th December for x rays to see how he’s progressing. He was walking well and his incision had healed so well you could barely see it, so I hoped they’d say he was doing marvellously. But there is only limited healing of his bones. We came away feeling rather down.

Almost as soon as we got home, he started biting at his leg and on Saturday he made part of the scar pink and sore so it was back on with the dreaded lampshade.

We took him to see our vet when we took Harley in. He found that Dusty’s kneecap is now loose which can be a complication of the surgery and he would need another operation to fix it.

We couldn’t get back to Newmarket this week, so our vet did the x rays to check the implant is still okay as they were worried that something might have gone wrong with that. We then had a worrying wait while the orthopaedic surgeons looked at the results and decided what to do.

Today we heard that the implant is fine and when his bones have healed, he will have to have another operation to sort his kneecap out and in the meantime, more x rays in a few weeks to see how he’s progressing.

We’ve done everything we’ve been told, keeping him on the lead unless he is in a small confined area with nothing to jump on, carrying him up and down stairs and in and out of the front and back doors. Visitors are kept to a minimum and he doesn’t get to see any other dogs. He has a good quality diet and hasn’t put on any weight and he is never left alone even for a minute.

When his little people come to see him, they crawl in on their hands and knees so he won't jump up at them!

I’m still sleeping downstairs with him so there’s no risk of him jumping on and off my bed and it looks like I’ll be doing so for the foreseeable future.

I am looking on the bright side of things and the bright side of this is that I don’t have to traipse across muddy fields in the cold and wet. And looking ahead, when he can go for proper walks again, we should be approaching lovely spring!

Hooray for Harley

This time last year at not a lot more than a year old, Harley had gingivitis and had to have her teeth cleaned because they were smothered in tartar at the back. They did lots of tests at the same time, chief suspect being Feline calicivirus.

All came back clear. But FC can give a false negative and our vets still suspect this is the culprit. Six months ago her gums were still red and Neal said she would almost certainly need her teeth cleaned at her next appointment and possibly a repeat of the tests.

She has dental food, dental treats, L-lysine chews and Plaque off (thanks again Pat!) and at her six-month check-up yesterday her teeth were clean. Gums a bit red (but nothing like as bad as before). Tom said they probably look worse than they are and she shows no sign of soreness or pain.

I was so pleased that her teeth were at least clean. Such a contrast to last year when they were so bad, they didn’t know if she’d have to have any removed (she didn’t). She passed the rest of her health check with flying colours and has even put on a little weight!

So for Harley a grand start to the New Year. Something I am very happy about and thankful for.

Hope everyone reading this has something good going for them just now and that it carries on.

Happy Christmas!

Just popping in to wish everyone who reads my ramblings a very happy Christmas (I promise to keep this short). Thank you for sticking with me and for your kind and generous comments.

I don't have any particularly festive pictures, but I like this one of four of my grandchildren (there is a fourth one buried in there) having a cuddle with Olaf. "Why is he so big?" one of the smaller ones asked. "Because he's eaten too many mince pies," I said to which I got a long suffering look, a groan and, "Don't be silly, Grandma. He's a snowman."

Happy Christmas!

Lots of Love,

Teresa xxx

Books, books, books...

  

As we’re hurtling towards the end of the year, I thought I’d write a post about some of the terrific books I’ve read this year.

When I was a child, one of my favourite books was one I inherited from my sister called The Girls’ Book of Heroines. I don’t have many books that I’ve kept from childhood, but that is one of them. I used to read it over and over and still have an occasional dip.

This year Debbie Blake’s, Daughters of Ireland: Pioneering Irish Women was published by The History Press. I treated myself to the paperback and oh my! I planned to dip in and out over time, but ended up reading it cover to cover over several days. I had the same feeling reading that as I did my sister's heroines book, this sense of discovery about amazing women, but in much more depth of course.

I found myself reading bits out to my husband. A truly inspirational and eye-opening read about fascinating women. As a footnote you can find out more about #Distractingly Sexy  posted by female scientists on Twitter.

Most recent book read was Milly Johnson’s Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café. Another one I couldn’t put down. I love Milly’s books and have enjoyed every one, but I think this is her best yet.

Here is a list of some of the other books I’ve read and enjoyed (I'm too lazy to write reviews, but you can check them out on Amazon and "Look inside"). There are more, but I can’t get to my notebook where I write down every book I read as it is buried under a pile of presents so I’ve had to rely on my memory (not very good as I know I’ve read far more than this). I’ve put links to the books on Amazon and Author blogs/websites where known.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

The Birds, The Bees and Other Secrets by Frances Garrood

Short Story Secrets: Turning Words Into Money by Hettie Barton

Not A Drop To Drink by Patsy Collins (You can also find Patsy at Womagwriter)

Tying Down The Lion by Joanna Campbell

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (And it's going to be on screen! Can't wait!)

Edwins Baby & Other Stories by Susanne Ross Jones

Dreaming Big & Other Stories by Susanne Ross Jones

Elizabeth is Missing by EmmaHealey

Poison (87thPrecinct) by Ed McBain

Wolf Hall & Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill

The Positively Productive Writer by Simon Whaley

Give Up Ironing: A Writer’s Guide to Time Management by Kathleen McGurl

Ghost Stories and How to Write Them by Kathleen McGurl

The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory

Edit is a Four Letter Word by Glynis Scrivens

I’m always on the lookout for book recommendations, so if anyone has any ideas, I’d be grateful!

Update on Dusty. Four weeks now since his op and we have at last dispensed with the lampshade. Next week he goes for his first hydrotherapy session – as he loves swimming I’m hoping he’ll enjoy it! It will be nice for him to have a change of scene. He’s getting very bored and regularly empties my paper recycling bin for me!

And in other news, while I am sleeping downstairs with Dusty, someone else has taken over my side of the bed. I just hope she moves over and gives me some room when I can finally go back to my bed!

Dusty's Progress

A week ago today we picked Dusty up from Newmarket.

This is how his leg looked on day 3.

Day 3

On Day 4, he went to our vet for a check-up. She was a little concerned about his temperature being high, but said it might be because he was stressed. And he was very stressed. He shook and shivered the whole way out there – and was as calm as anything coming home.

So to save us going back and forth, she gave me a thermometer and asked me to check his temperature later that day. It had gone down by the afternoon. By the next morning (Wednesday – day 5) it had dropped further.

I have to keep taking his temp twice a day in case it spikes again.

I have also been massaging arnica into his leg – keeping away from the wound – to help with the bruising.

Carrying him up and down stairs and in and out of the back door, I pulled something in my back so I stopped being a stubborn control freak and let the males in the house do some of the carrying up and down. Pleased to say my back is now feeling much better.

First big step was that the fluid around his ankle had gone by day 4 and he is now putting some weight on his leg, not a lot, but it’s a start. He walks best if he walks slowly and as Dusty has never done anything slowly in his life that is a big challenge.

We’re keeping visitors to a minimum, but he’s had a few this week. The kidlets have all been very good, keeping low so he won’t jump up and putting up with being bashed with the e-collar.

Visitors

Sleeping downstairs on the floor was what I expected to be the hardest part and it turns out to be the easiest and best. He settles down in his cave which he loves, kicks his duvet out and goes to sleep. I haven’t closed him in there yet. At the moment I’m letting him come and go as he likes to move to his bed, or my bed (on the floor) or up by my head next to the gate.

I couldn’t get a very good photo of him in his cave as I have the lights low when we settle down for the night.

In his cave

At night he wears a soft neck cushion as well as the e-collar as a couple of times I have caught him just about to lick at his leg. He is something of a contortionist.

The worst part of this so far is when he decides there is something up on the side which he absolutely must see and tries to jump up. Even picking him up and showing him there is nothing interesting to see doesn’t help. He needs constant supervision and that is stressful. You wouldn't believe how long it's taken me just to write this post!

Monday he has his 10 day check-up. I think the next step will be dispensing with the e-collar which should be sometime next week. I'm looking forward to that as much as he is! No more bruised shins!

Dusty's op!

This week Dusty will mostly be wearing an e-collar

Well things have moved along a bit after a worrying time since last I posted. Tom checked out Dusty’s leg and was concerned about the swelling round his stifle joint. Mainly he wanted to rule out that his jaw and knee problems could be related (must admit that had crossed my mind too) and might be indicative of an auto-immune disease.

So off we went back to Newmarket on Thursday where they did scans and x rays. The phone call when it came said he needed TPLO (tibial-plateau-levelling osteotomy) surgery for a cruciate ligament rupture on his right hind leg and that they had a slot for the next day (Friday) if we wanted it. You can read more about the procedure here. There is an x ray picture of the plate and screws which looks just like Dusty’s.

It was a relief that there was no auto-immune disease though – a bright side at least.

His op on Friday lasted for almost four hours. For the next few weeks we have to make sure he doesn’t run, jump or climb on anything.

At the moment he has to wear an e-collar until the wound has healed which should be in about 10 days.

We were shown his scans and x rays when we picked him up on Saturday. They also found the top of the tibia on his left leg is an odd shape and his kneecap is slightly in the wrong place. As well as that, there is a fragment of bone floating round in there. Not causing any problems at the moment. I asked if it was the result of some injury and he said no, just a mystery thing he was born with.

Finally falling asleep on the journey home

Anyway, he was over the moon to see us and happy to be coming home – it’s a 90 minute journey and yesterday it seemed endless. Tried him in the metal crate when we’d been home for a while and he said no thanks to that – he went so crazy I was afraid he’d hurt himself. We’d never used it so little wonder he doesn't like it. I’ve ordered him a soft one like Harley’s – only much bigger and hoping he finds that more comfortable.

Hopefully he will love his soft crate as much as Harley loves hers

In the end we made the smaller end of the living room into a pen and I slept down there on a chair bed with him so he could move about in a small space but had nothing to climb on.

Today he is in my office with me upstairs which is more comfortable for him. I carried him up and have a gate at the top of the stairs to stop him escaping down. It’s more comfortable for me too than sitting on the floor downstairs with him to stop him jumping up on the sofas.

This week we’ll take him to see our vet for a check-up, then hopefully once the wound has healed he’ll be able to start short lead walks.

Oh and I am having to do exercises with him, but the minute I start he sits down. He likes the leg massages though!

Patsy Collins - Firestarter

I'm delighted that Patsy Collins has agreed to do a guest post right here about her new book, Firestarter. You can find Patsy at Words about writing and writing about words and at Womagwriter's blog. But that's enough from me. Without further ado it's over to you, Patsy.

It's said that an author always puts something of themselves in their main characters. I don't do that deliberately, but I suppose it's inevitable that our thoughts and experiences influence whatever we write.

Alice Bakewell is the main character in my new novel; a romantic comedy called Firestarter. I set most of the story close to where I live and wrote the majority of it in the camper van, so she and I do have locations (around the New Forest and a trip to Wales where things get steamy*!) in common.

*Steamy for Alice that is. I'm keeping quiet about my own trips over the border. There's such a thing as over sharing.

Alice is very pretty, bubbly, curvaceous and has long hair. We could be twins! OK, maybe not. She is slightly younger than me (a mere 22 years difference) and her hair is sleek, glossy black, not a riot of unpredictable red. She straightens hers - every day! Neither of us is skinny, but Alice's curves are flaunted in fashionable clothes which she actually enjoys shopping for. I had to push my imagination to its limits for that part. Her social life was quite a stretch too as she has one.

She's a maths whizz with a sensible job which she's very good at. I had a proper job, in an office and everything, once. No really, I did.

A slightly offbeat sense of humour is something Alice and I share. Everyone finds Brussels sprouts fairly hilarious though, don't they? We also both find creative ways of getting even with people who've annoyed us. Alice has slime-ball Miles Molde manoeuvred into drinking her dad's terrible home-brew. I just write about it happening.

The pair of us both enjoy our food, especially cake. I'm blaming most of my curves on researching Alice's eating habits. I had to do a LOT of research. Her mum uses unusual recipes which I had to invent for her. Alice gets invited to classy parties and events where fancy food is served. I don't, or at least not often, so I had to cook my own fancy nibbles. You can't just make one of each, can you?

All that eating means Alice and I need to find ways to burn off the calories. Alice does aerobics and zumba. My imagination was put to use again there. I agree with her there are more useful ways to exercise. There are more fun ones too. See my comment on over sharing.

Conservation work is Alice's useful way of keeping fit. It's something she's surprised to discover she enjoys. It's handy that she does, as the wildlife sanctuary is the place a certain hunky fireman spends a lot of his free time. Volunteering there helps Alice get close to firefighter Hamish. She also learns a lot more about birds, including her, and my, favourite - oyster catchers. Hamish is particularly interested in rather rare red-footed corvids. Thanks to Alice's ornithological education I'm now a little more knowledgeable about our feathered friends. (Haven't mastered photographing them though!)

Alice has a real thing for firemen. Fit, strong firemen with muscular thighs. All her fantasies feature a fireman, some even involve his uniform - at least to start with. First he rescues her from a perilous situation, holding her safely in his strong arms, then there's mouth to mouth and of course he'll need to gently but thoroughly check her for injuries and then ... Oh gosh, I've used up nearly all the space Teresa allocated me, so there's no room to continue, detail my research methods, or even say if I share Alice's opinion of firemen. What a shame.

Thank you, Patsy. Firestarter is available from Amazon. I can't wait to read it!