Saturday, December 19, 2009

Good news all around!

Landry had her surgery: had a 10 lb. growth removed from her abdomen! Poor thing! She feels and looks a lot better now! They did remove her spleen, which dogs need about as much as we do.....not at all.

So Carol and Mark are truly celebrating this Christmas. Now the challenge will be to keep her away from her stitches. She likes to pull stitches out. Even when she's half out from anesthesia, as the vet discovered the last time she had surgery.

I got my "stitches" out yesterday. They weren't stitches, but staples. A tech took them out and it didn't hurt much at all. They were all amazed at how good my suture line is healing. It really is quite special. Janet took me to get them taken out. Lynne was going to take me, but came down with a nasty cold....so I'm glad that I got Janet...who is on the OTHER side of the same cold.

When we got back it was noon....I had a little of Carol's chicken soup and then went up to bed and slept for five hours!

The nurse told me to double up on the Miralax....take it in the AM and the PM and take another dose of Colace. Seems like every two hours I'm doing something to help my bowels....when are my bowels going to start helping me??? It's not like I'm eating a whole lot....I dropped four lbs.,
but there has to be something up there! Little pieces of chicken, some crackers, maybe some rice krispies???

I guess I'm as ready as I can ever be for Christmas. I have my presents, just have to wrap them. The kids will be coming over Wednesday. Have to find out when the Huskies vs Stanford game is...I bet it's the same time that the kids are here. We'll be going up to Phil's for Christmas Eve, where we always have a great time.

I wonder if I can get my hair done before Christmas. Sandy is going on Tuesday....she was able to switch her appt easily. Maybe they have a space for me. I need a trim. My last trim before it gets shaved off!

I see Dr. McCourt the first week of January and I'm sure they'll set me up with my first chemo appt. I don't want it to be the Friday that we are going to Maine for Camp Husky. I'm going to push for starting the middle of January.

Get it going and get it over with.

Tonight we are going to have a big storm. Figures that Sandy has to work. Which means that she'll come home to a snowed-in driveway. She was hoping it would snow on Sunday as they originally said. Then she could sleep Sunday night and clear off the snow in the AM. It rarely works out that way. Good thing we invested in that great snow blower last year!

Rocky likes the snow, even though he has the thinnest coat of all the dogs. He likes to go out and fly around...which makes us nervous that he could injure that surgically repaired leg, sliding around out there. So, he'll be happy tomorrow and Lily will be too. She loves the snow too.
Truman and Bubbles...not so much!

Well....I have a quiet day ahead of me....in the recliner, Rocky on my lap under the snuggy throw, Bub in Lily's bed, Lily on the floor, snoring. Nice.

I leave with this thought? Am I wrong for thinking very very bad thoughts about Joe Lieberman? I used to love this guy......not anymore!

GO HUSKIES!!! The new guy plays tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Update to the post I did this morning: Landry had her spleen removed. The tumor (?) weighed 10 pounds! The doctor doesn't think the tumor is malignant and it had NOT spread to other areas....don't know what the first vet saw on the images. They also found out that Landry has only one kidney! Don't know where the other one got to. It's very rare for a dog to be born with only one kidney...but if there is a dog like that, it figures Carol and Mark would have it living with them!

So, we are cautiously optimistic here. She is spending the night at the vets. Hopefully the sweetheart can come home tomorrow.

We are so happy for her and for Carol and Mark...and her "brother" Porter, who was a wreck today while she was gone.

Oh, and they did show Sandy in the gas wars piece on Channel 3. Fortunately for her they cut out the part where she said, "this is great, my dogs are happy and I got gas!" Of course, it would have been THE BEST if they HAD let that stay in! HA HA! I would have laughed myself silly and so would everyone else who knows her.

She looked so cute on tv.

Home

Came home yesterday, climbed the stairs, put on my pjs and went to bed. Slept for five hours. It felt so good!

Carol brought over a huge pot of homemade chicken soup. Came up to see me. She got bad news about Landry yesterday. She has a splenetic tumor. She hasn't been eating right for two weeks and her stomach looked big....for reason. This news made me cry. I feel so bad for Landry and for Carol and Mark. They have had so many heartaches with their pets. Carol is taking Landry to the vet in W. Hartford today...he may do emergency surgery. The tumor is wrapping itself around all kinds of organs and it's moving fast. I hope it works out all right for Landry...she's such a sweetheart.

I had some of that soup last night, a small bowl, along with a piece of Canadian brown bread toasted. It was delish. No comparison to hospital food.

Poor Bubbie cried when she saw me for the first time. She grabbed a toy, came in the bathroom with me and cried and ran around in circles. It was cute and heartbreaking at the same time.

Sandy went to run errands and left Lily and Bub home with me....we all got in the bed and that's when I took my long nap. Didn't hear Rocky barking later and didn't hear when the Overhead Door guy came to fix the garage door. I gues I was out like a light.

Did I write here how I broke my glasses in the hospital? They just fell apart...just like they did a few months after I got them...cheap frames. The nurse got me a roll of tape and I would have to retape it three-four times a day. Sandy finally brought me my old glasses when she came to visit on Sunday and you know what? I seem to see better with the old glasses than the new ones. I think I'm going to ditch the graduated lenses (or whatever the hell you call them) next time. I'll stick with bifocals.

When I lay on my left side it hurts like hell...but it also gets the gas blowing out. It took a few hours to work last night, but when it got started, the results were fantastic! Lily was also blowing farts and between the two of us, the air was "special" in the bedroom last night.

Great to sleep in my own bed. That hospital bed was the worst. There was a "hole" in the middle that would really hurt my back. Enough of that...it's over.

I also didn't have my little snuggle bunnies (Bub and Rocky) in the bed with me in the hospital. Last night they both snuggled up to me. Rocky would lean over and kiss me every once in awhile in the middle of the night.

We started watching the last Star Trek movie on the Blue Ray player last night. Sandy had bought the movie on blue ray. That movie is fantastic. We had to switch it off as Sandy was getting tired, I could have stayed up to watch the whole thing...it was that good.

Sandy took Rocky and Truman to their PT appt this AM. I read in the paper that gas in Colchester is the cheapest in the state...so I called her to suggest she tank up while she's there. She did and the guy from Channel 3 was there doing a story on the cheap gas and interviewed her. She might be on tonight. We'll have to record it. I want to hear that voice on the tv.

Well...Bub thinks Sandy is home, she's barking at the door. I didn't hear the garage door, but I have headphones on. Oh wait....they are home!

Gotta go.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Going Home

Big day today. Sandy will be en route in an hour or so. I'm getting out this morning. Had some rough patches over the past few days with the gas, but last night I blew out a HUGE amount of gas and this morning when I woke up, I felt FANTASTIC!

Katie, the resident that I know from UConn came in this AM and took out the Jackson Pratt drain that was in my right side. That went well. I gave her my email address and she's going to drop me a line from time to time to let me know how she's doing. I really like her and she likes me. Nice person.

Every day is pretty much the same here. I have my little routine now. I walk, eat, wash up, play on the computer, sleep, eat, walk, walk, walk, and sleep. Play on the computer some more. I'm so glad I am connected via the laptop and the iPhone. It makes the time pass faster and more pleasantly.

So, that's it from here. Going home. Will be happy to be in my home, with my puppies, in my own bed, on my own toilet, etc. Eating Jean and Carol's food. It's going to be so good.

I don't know when I'll get back to this blog again. I hope within the next couple of days. Maybe sooner. We'll see.

Until then,