OAMC - Follow Up

Thanks for the comments and questions on OAMC!

I'll do my best to answer them here.

1) OAMC is doable without a dedicated deep-freeze. Just look at this woman's freezer:

First, you will need to clean out your freezer and purge all old and unnecessary items. You may have to sacrifice your ice cube tray area, depending on the freezer. But, as you can see from the photo, most OAMC meals can be frozen in nice flat gallon-size plastic bags. These stack really well, so you can fit a lot in a small space.

It's important to keep an inventory of what's in the freezer. I recently started doing this, and it has been immensely helpful. As I use each item, I cross it off the list. I update the list on my computer and print out a new one each Sunday.

2) How many meals feed our family for a month? Well, we really aren't too legalistic about this. For an average session, I probably make about 6 recipes and double each one. Depending on the month's schedule (dinner at friends', vacation, church meals) I'll use 3-4 frozen meals a week. Doug always takes leftovers to work, so if he didn't do that, the meals would probably stretch further.

3) Nobody asked this, but it's something VERY important that I forgot to add. One of the FUNDAMENTAL KEYS TO SUCCESS (too much politics) is to have a plan of what you're going to eat on which day. When you forget to pull something out of the freezer to thaw, and dinner-time comes along, you're up a crick without a paddle. That's when we usually ding ourselves by getting Chinese or pizza. With a calendar of meals, I always have one or two things in the fridge, thawing out.

Another way around this is to always make at least one recipe that doesn't require thawing. For example, our chimichangas are put into the oven still frozen. They are good to use when I've forgotten to thaw something, or we've finished a meal sooner than I thought we would.

Hope this helps!

Surgery Update Days 29 - 33

We've just gotten home from a long weekend away. But that was no excuse for more drama in Sadie's surgery saga! I thought we'd finally have a week with only two vet visits, but last week there were four. Here's the run-down:

Thursday
Thursday morning, Dr. V called and left me a message saying that he had been thinking about Sadie a lot, couldn't sleep the night before and decided to email her case history summary to Dr. Jimi Cook to ask for advice. He wanted us to come in for x-rays to see if we could figure out why she was not putting weight on the leg. Guess he was concerned after all!

Even though I REALLY had to go home and pack for our big trip, I took her in that afternoon and had the x-rays done. The x-rays did show some swelling around the joint and a small little speck on the outside of the joint. Dr. V was not sure what the spec was, but he was worried that it might be a little piece of bone that had gotten logged there. He said that if that were the case, he would have to go in and remove it.

Dr. V left when we did, to drive the x-rays over to an orthopedic surgeon in a neighboring city to give an expert opinion. Let's call him Dr. K. I don't think we've used that letter yet... Anyway, I received a call later that night from Dr. V, with good news. The little "spec" on the x-ray was not a bone chip, but a calcification on the lateral meniscus that he said was unrelated to the TightRope. Dr. K said the amount of swelling was normal for 4 weeks post-op. He also said that there was very little swelling around the bone tunnel and actual TightRope, which is good. If there was an infection, there'd be excessive swelling in that area. He also said that the TightRope itself was positioned correctly. Dr. K thought that if there was no infection, Sadie would recover well, with proper therapy.

Dr. V asked me to come in early next week to send another fluid sample to the lab to do a cytology and again make absolutely sure there is no infection. He also lifted her "bedrest" restriction, saying she could walk from room to room, and even go up the stairs - slowly. He called in a pain medication prescription for Sadie to a vet near my parents' in Chicago.

Friday
Friday morning my husband and I had to leave our girls and Sadie with my parents, as we were flying to Texas for a wedding. My parent's LOVE Sadie and were great to take up her care while we were gone. Dad picked up her pain meds at the local vet and after 1 hour of taking it, said Sadie was noticeably different. Her personality perked up and she started to put weight on the leg!!! For the medical people reading this, she is now getting half a 75mg tablet of Deracoxib each day.

Saturday
Sadie has been doing great. Appetite is still hearty and she's putting weight on the leg. Dad wasn't real keen on the wrapping techniques I showed him, so he bought a box of giant Band-aids and put one on. There was hardly any seepage left, he told me.

Sunday
We returned home in the late afternoon to a NEW DOG! She was walking on the leg 60% of the time and was SOOOOO happy to see us. We had to very strongly scold her as she tried to run and jump all over when we came in the door. I don't think I had even realized it, but Sadie's personality had been rather depressed the past few weeks. But it was amazing the difference. She was chewing on toys (hadn't had interest before) and the tail was going non-stop.

I took off dad's band-aid from Saturday and there was just a tiny 1/4 inch spot of fluid on it. That is NOTHING, people! The hole had almost completely closed.



Monday
We are home now, and I picked up another 5 days of her two antibiotics. We go to Dr. V tomorrow for the panel to be run, but I just don't think there's any chance she has an infection. She was just in pain from the swelling. With the pain meds, she is a totally different dog. We'll see, though. That is the final test. Once the incision is totally healed, we'll take her for a consultation for rehab and water therapy. I promise to bring my camera for that - it will be pretty funny I'm sure.

The Once-A-Month-Cooking Post

Here it is - by popular demand - my post on Once-A-Month-Cooking (aka OAMC).

The Definition

Spend one day cooking enough meals to feed your family for a month. You cook double or triple of each recipe and put it in the freezer to be thawed and eaten later on.

For us, we dedicate one day every 5-6 weeks for OAMC. I usually create "the plan" during the week, go shopping Friday night and cook all day Saturday or Sunday. Doug watches the girls while I concentrate on cooking. We have a deep freeze, but you don't need one to do this. See this example here to prove it!

My Motivation

OAMC is really the single most money-saving thing that we do for our grocery budget. Yet, while I was initially attracted to OAMC for frugality, I've found it really saves my sanity as well.

With two small kids, it's hard to cook a homemade meal with little hands constantly pulling at my pants, and the incessant WHINING: "I'm HUN-gry, I want to help, I want Mommy to read a BOOK!" It's so much better to turn on the oven, pop in a pan and play with the girls until the timer dings. Ahhhhh...

My sister, Sharon, also loves OAMC. She and her husband Chaz both work full-time and don't have a lot of time to cook meals when they get home from work each day. OAMC is perfect for them.

Plus, OAMC is good for you, because you are cooking homemade meals and can control the type and quality of ingredients that you use.

"The Plan"

Ok. So how do we do this? First, I come up with a list of recipes that I want to make for the next month. I try to balance these out, so it's not ALL chicken or ALL beef or ALL Italian, etc. I have some tried-and-true recipes that we love (see here on my recipe blog) and I love trying one or two new ones each time. I also take into consideration what's on sale at the grocery and what I have on-hand in the freezer.


I then come up with my shopping list. I use a computer program called, MasterCook, which is great for OAMC. You can select your recipes, set how many of each you want to make (double, triple, etc.) and have it automatically create an ingredients list for you. It's not perfect, but does a decent job of combining ingredients and will even sort them by grocery store location. Faster than I could do, anyways! I print out this list and go through the house to cross-off items that I already have on hand.

Shopping

Pretty self-explanatory. I shop and purchase everything on my list. It never fails to amaze me how little I actually spend for a cart full of ingredients, knowing that it will feed our family for many weeks!

I shop without kids. This is CRUCIAL to saving money, as you can concentrate on finding the best deals (coupons/generic/manager's specials).

The Execution

Most OAMC'ers will tell you that they create a plan of attack, where they first cut all the veggies and then cook all the meat, etc. I pretty much just do one recipe at a time. If we've got 6 lbs of beef to cook, I'll probably cook that all at once and put it in the fridge, but I do the rest one at a time.

After each recipe has been cooked and cooled slightly, I package it up for the freezer. Whenever possible, I like to put the food in a gallon-sized freezer Ziplock bag. (FYI - the generic brand hasn't cut the mustard for me, so I buy Ziplocks in bulk from Sam's Club.) Otherwise, I make casseroles and lasagnas in foil dishes that I wrap in aluminum foil and freeze.

I label each container with the recipe name, date and instructions for cooking. I often quickly print off the "after frozen" instructions from the computer and tape it directly to the container. It's easier to do this than to look up the recipe each time you pull out a meal. Plus, if you decide to give one away to somebody else, it will be clear what to do with it. (Make sure you say whether to thaw or not to thaw.)

If the recipe calls for cheese or some fresh herbs to be sprinkled on after baking, I will store these in smaller freezer bags (or vacuum bags) alongside the meal. Just make sure to label these so they won't get used for something else. For example, a little bag of mozzarella cheese should be labeled, "Jumbo Shells."

For soups and soup-like recipes, I have a special way of getting it into my bags. I first label the freezer bag with a Sharpie, and then put it into a plastic drink pitcher. Then I ladle the soup carefully into the bag, so it doesn't splash over the sealing strips (I'm picky) and cool the whole thing in the fridge. Then just pull it out, seal and store.

Sometimes I use a straw to suck the excess air out of the bags, a cheap vacuum effect.

For Beginners

If you enjoy cooking and think you'd like to give this a try - do it! Maybe start off with 2 or 3 recipes and double each one for a start. I usually only make a single recipe of each new recipe to make sure we like it, anyways.

Resources

Here are a lot of resources that I use to find recipes, and learn more about how others do OAMC:

* Recipezaar OAMC Recipes
* NyeSista's Recipes (my family's recipe sharing blog)
* Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook
* Dream Dinners Cookbook
* Once-A-Month-Cooking - the original handbook for OAMC, written by my friend's aunt!
* Beth's OAMC Page
* Recipezaar OAMC Plan Forum
* Robbyn's Friendly Freezer
* Deb's OAMC Keeper Recipes

Surgery Update: Day 28

Another day, another vet visit. :-) Saw Dr. V this morning and he thought Sadie looked much improved. He said not to worry at all about the internal pocket, about the drainage, about her not putting weight on it or the turned in toe. I guess that the pocket that Dr. D was concerned about is "the path" from the TightRope, according to Dr. V. He said it will take time, but she'll heal up just fine. He did say that it will take some special therapy, though, and again mentioned the famous hydro-therapy. But again, that cannot begin until the wound is healed. I asked about packing it with something to help that internal pocket heal faster, but he said he would want to consult with Dr. Cook first.

He said no walks right now, but we could start manipulating the joint gently, while she's laying down, for 5 rotations twice a day. I told him I was very concerned about her not putting her leg down at all, and that she won't even put it down when she poops. He said it will come back in time. The tech said that her dog did the same thing after his surgery, but he's fine now. I was tempted to ask how long his wound took to heal, but didn't.

He flushed out the hole and rebandaged it up using the new stirrup method. He also sent me home with the special tape that he used. My tape just isn't sticky enough. I will post again with pictures and description of how to do this bandage on a dog's knee. Hopefully it stays on as long as last time!

Here is a shot taken head-on, directly between her front legs. It looks like a side-shot, but her leg is just that twisted:


Dr. D called me back Monday night after talking to the therapist they use, and she agreed that we can't do the water treadmill with an open wound. No surprise there. But there are other things we can try, like a dry treadmill, or even some special machines that they have to stimulate the muscles. I guess a therapy session will run about $120. Ouch. That was not great to hear. We can't afford to do many of those right now.

So - where does this leave us? I don't know. What do we do and who do we believe? I have been challenged personally to trust God and know He is in control. Things have not gone according to MY plan, but God knows what plan will bring Him the most glory. I believe He brought Sadie into our life, as she is the perfect dog for our family, and I believe that He cares about her, too. My friend Kristy reminded me that "if God cares about the sparrows, he certainly cares about Sadie and her leg."

Luke 12:6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God."

Nature Walk

We've had some fabulous fall weather lately. Sunday, I decided to take the girls on a nature walk through the woods behind the school across the street. There is a gravel path that they use for cross country meets.

We had a great time finding different shapes and colors of leaves and nuts. We even found a feather and a few wild flowers. Shortly into the walk we noticed a couple coming out with two cardboard boxes. Later on, a grandpa and little girl went by on their bikes. He stopped and asked if we saw where the people were with the boxes. His theory is that they found a pecan tree and were collecting nuts.

Cool! So we went home and I looked up pecan tree leaves and what their nuts look like. We went again today, with Doug, but didn't find any pecans. Oh well!

Here's the haul from Sunday:


C brought home some unexpected visitors:

Surgery Update: Day 26

Tomorrow marks four weeks from Sadie's TightRope surgery. I went for a check-up with Dr. D. I was hoping he'd be impressed with the improvements in the hole. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Dr. V faxed him the information from Dr. Cook, about not putting in a drain tube, so he was aware that we didn't do that last week. He just said that he'll follow whatever Dr. V would like for Sadie's treatment to be. However, he didn't think that it was any better than last week. The hole is closing up from the outside, but it is still just as big on the inside and still seeping fluid. He was again concerned if the outside healed up too soon, we would have issues with the fluid building up on the inside.

Sadie's hip area is very noticeably bony and scrawny. I mentioned this to Doug yesterday. Dr. D says it is because she has lost so much muscle in that leg. It is just skin and bone, no muscle. That is also why she absolutely WILL NOT put weight on the leg. She just hops around on three legs and never sets down the bum leg. When she stands straight, the hurt leg just limply hangs there, with the toe slightly turned in.

Dr. D warned me that this is not good. The hole is still there, and not healing. We can't start the highly recommended water therapy until the hole is closed. And the longer we go with her not using it, the more we risk permanent disuse. (Yeah, I still don't know how therapeutic water therapy would be with my massively aqua-phobic Dobie, but we've GOT to make it work for her. There's no choice. It's the best thing for her rehabilitation.)

Even if she were to heal up fine, he is concerned that having not used the leg in so long, she will not go back to using it. In his experience, that is the case. He pretty much said that we should not expect her to get back to 100%, even if everything goes well from here on out. He tried to prepare me for the possibility that she may never use the leg again.

But he also said that maybe she will start improving very soon and we'll be able to start therapy and get some usable back. He doesn't know. Nobody knows. I certainly don't know! He's going to call the therapist and let me know what she thinks.

I got into the car with the girls and just started bawling. Again. I've shed so many tears over this dog! I thought that we were doing better, but now I just don't know.

I realize that I'm not really "giving this to God" as Doug keeps reminding me to. I feel silly and selfish even asking others to pray, since this is orthopedic surgery on a DOG and really not important compared to all the crushing humanitarian issues in our world today. I don't know why, but I can't let it go. Then I think, what if this were one of my girls? How big of a mess would I be then? All my flaws of control and worry are totally being brought front and center through this situation. If Sadie's doing well, then I feel great. If we're getting bad reports, then my world is crashing down. That's how I feel right now.

We'll see what the rehab therapist has to say about her case and I go to see Dr. V on Wednesday. Should be interesting.

Leaves

The girls have been enjoying playing in the leaves in our front yard. Our tree has been one of the first in the court to start dropping it's leaves, so it's a kid magnet.


They also provide Mommy with some great photo ops: