FINALLY FRIDAY

Well, after all the waiting and wondering, there is only one more day until we get to snuggle up all cozy and warm in our beds and wait for Santa Paws to arrive.



Lightning is practicing but his perky ears say he might be peeking.


Ciara and Lightning:

Mom, you keep saying we have been bringing lots of mud in the house, but do you see any mud on our paws? They look pretty clean to us.

Mom:

Yes, you two have been tracking mud in the house all week, every time you come in from outside. And you KNOW it isn't very much fun for me to clean your paws and wash the floors. I may be using two arms and hands now, but that gimpy arm still isn't working that well.

Many of you have been asking about Mom and her broken arm. It has been seven weeks since the disastrous fall. Things are progressing, albeit VERY slowly. She is now able to do many things, but she is still not able to do much that involves lifting more than five pounds or twisting her wrist into a palm up or palm down flat position.




As you can see, it is looking much better, still some swelling, but healing nicely.



She has to wear this wrap for 12 hours at night. If you look closely, you can see a bandaid-shaped pink thing under that wrap. It is a piece of silicone that is supposed to help flatten the scar and soften the scar tissue so more mobility can be achieved.



Here are her "torture" tools. She has physical therapy twice a week and comes home very sore. On the far left is her wrist brace that she wore on her wrist at night until about a week ago. It helped to alleviate some of the pain at night, but it also made her wrist very stiff in the morning. Now she goes without it but wears the wrap we described above. In the lower center of the photo is that pink strip of silicone. Next to the silicone you can see her "silly putty". Actually it is called theraputty. She does a whole bunch of exercises using that blob. The little twin bipeds like to get their play-doh out and do the exercises along with the Momster. At the top of the photo is a green stretchy band that Mom uses to help her be able to turn her palm flat down and flat up and to build strength - a very painful trick. You can also see the weight - she has graduated from a one lb. weight to a two lb. one this week. She has more exercises she does with that. And lastly you may be wondering about that hammer. No, she is not doing any construction work here. The hammer is what she calls the worst of the torture tools. She has to hold it at the very bottom of the handle, keep her elbow tightly at her ribs, and then turn her palm face up and face down for a count of 30, then repeat three more times. The weight of the hammer head helps pull the hand farther than it is willing to go. It hurts a lot, but she says she won't get her full range of mobility back without the pain. She is just grateful for the many little things she can do now that were impossible just a few weeks ago. The doctor says it will be at least another five to six weeks for full recovery.

We are her cheerleaders, rooting her on as she spends time on her exercises. But we have a hidden agenda. We are all hoping to get our walks back on schedule. So far Phantom and Thunder have each had one short walk, the first in over seven weeks. Once again, we thank you all for your good thoughts and wishes for her.



Dear Santa, we are all trying very hard to be good, look at what a great photo op we let Mom have.

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning