My Poor Baby

I was able to pick Sadie up this afternoon, by myself. THANK YOU a MILLION times, Kristi, for watching the girls during their nap so I could do that. It's a 40 minute drive each way and I would've had to do it during evening rush hour, otherwise. Yuck.

Sadie's doing well. Still a bit drugged-up and dopey. Hopefully she'll get some appetite back tomorrow. She was crying for a while in the car and then fell asleep. Same story at home. She just wants to lay down and have her ears rubbed.

We are to keep her on a 3 ft. leash or in her kennel at all times for the next 4-8 weeks. And I have to put the dish collar on when we can't be with her.

Here's a post-op picture. If you're into medical stuff, feel free to zoom in and count the dozen staples in her knee!

Sunflower Girls

I had F and C make a cute fall craft today. Didn't they turn out well? It involved two of C's favorite things - cutting AND gluing!

Surgery Success!

I just got a call from Dr. V, as he had just finished Sadie's surgery. She did great! She was supposed to go in at 8:30 am, but they had a heart operation that took precedence. I can understand that. Here's all the gory details:

• On first glance, he thought her ligament was about 60% damaged. He applied a slight pressure to it and it instantly snapped in half. Dr. V said any one big impact she had could have easily broken it all the way, so we definitely made the best decision to do surgery now.
  
• Her meniscus was not damaged at all, which is very good news
  
• He trimmed the torn ligament, inserted the TightRope apparatus and double tested the joint. He was confident that it is very stable and was extremely pleased with the result
  
• The whole thing took 1 1/2 hours, his best one yet
  
• She's the 18th one he has done
  
• Sadie will start some morphine and be there overnight and most of tomorrow
  

I'll get a call tomorrow morning to update me on her condition and let me know when to pick her up! I'll post a picture of her in the lovely purple cone collar we bought for her to wear. She's going to LOVE me...

Thanks for your concerns and prayers. I'm so relieved that it's done and now have to steel myself for her long recovery process.

The Latest and Greatest

sewing project! Any guesses as to what these rich fabrics will become?

A Decision Made

I talked with our vet Monday morning, regarding our decision to forgo surgery and see what happens keeping Sadie on restriction for 8 weeks. He was not in favor of this at all. He even said that he feels that making the decision to postpone surgery is the same as making a decision not to do it at all. His reason was that her arthritis would progress so far that many benefits of the TPLO would not affect her. I told him that I did not want to do TPLO because I feel it is just too invasive, and asked if he knew about the brand new Tightrope surgery. He said he was aware of it, but thought it was basically a "glorified banding technique" which has historically not worked for large dogs. But, if we were interested, he did know a doc who was performing the surgeries in a neighboring city. Yes I was interested! So the next night, Doug and I took Sadie to see "Dr. V" in Fishers.

Long story short, we liked him a lot, asked many questions, got estimates for everything related to the surgery and gave it a lot of thought and prayer. It is still expensive, but only half of what TPLO would be and sounds like it is a great alternative. Dr. V thought Sadie only had a partial tear, which is good.

I have her scheduled for this coming Thursday. She will be on extreme restriction for 4 weeks and then can start some light daily walks. After 8 weeks she can take some longer walks and after 12 weeks max, she should be 100%! This is a new surgery and so no long-term promises can be made, but with all my research and "gut" feel, this is the best option for her. She's only 4 years old and we hope to see her back to running and jumping and frisbee catching for many more years.

Thanks for all the support regarding this. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to talk to you about it. It feels good to have the decision made. Now we need to pray for a successful surgery and speedy recovery. I'll keep you posted!

My Foray into Breadmaking

For the last couple weeks, I've been baking my own bread. I've been interested in doing this for a while now, and finally gave it a go. I found a great whole wheat recipe, here, which has been very yummy. C will even eat the crust, since it is very soft and the same color as the bread. It's easy, fun, healthy and frugal!

I got some books from the library and plan to try some other recipes, as well. I'd like to try some homemade English muffins and making my own pita pockets, too!

Spoiling the Dog

My parents came to visit this weekend and mom helped me make a new dog pillow for Sadie. As you may or may not recall, the last one bit the dust after a yucky kennel accident. But seeing as she's having to have extra rest time these days, I thought a good quality bed would be nice for her.

I thought we could pull one off for cheaper than PetSmart and get a custom fit, to boot.

Here's the cost breakdown:
* 2 inch, high-density foam (24" x 39"): $15.20 (used 40% off coupon)
* Sherpa Faux Fur: $12.49
* 24" Zipper: $3.59
TOTAL: $31.28

Not a huge cost savings, compared to this one, but Doug likes that it's reversible since we made the whole pillow out of the fur.

We also got her a new collar to wear around the house, so she doesn't "jingle" so much. She is usually a naked-necked doggie, but since we're leashing her so much, she has her collar on all the time. She's getting so spoiled!