Thankful Thursday

Lately it has been tough to come by reasons to be thankful, or maybe we should say it is easier to find reasons to be unthankful.  But today we are going to put on a happy face and just be grateful for life as we join Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Mostly we are grateful to have so many good friends in our Blog Pals who continue to send us good thoughts and wishes for all of us.  Cards, gifts, messages, posts, and prayers - we thank you all.

We pups are doing OK.  Lightning is trying very hard to take it easy when he goes outside on his own.  The system we have with our neighbors to make sure their dogs are not out at the same time as Lightning is working very well.  The stairs are the biggest problem for him.  We have had some icy days when he has slipped a bit, but for the most part he takes his time.  A neighbor tried to create a ramp for him, but Lightning is not one for change, and the ramp really freaked him out.  He has some days where one of his back legs bothers him more than others, but we are doing our best to manage his comfort level with meds.

Timber is more or less OK too.  He definitely shows signs of missing his sister Misty.  He can be pretty mopey at times, and he has only just recently started to play more with his toys.  At night he is very quiet and usually just lies down with his head under the sofa:(  But we all know that with time he will adjust.  Once Mom can get out walking again, he will be happy to go for some long walks. 

As for the peeps, well, let's just say it has been a slow road to recovery.  Dad has had some scary eye issues, no surgery, but some emergency visits to the eye specialists.    This week the pressure in his good eye skyrocketed to 41!!!  That is considered dangerously high.  He does not tolerate steroids very well, but the steroid drops are needed to control the inflammation in his eye.  If it isn't monitored carefully, his glaucoma gets out of control.  The problem is that it isn't easy to recognize the symptoms of high eye pressure because he has so many other things going on in the eye.  For now, he is off the steroids and the doctors managed to get his pressure down to an acceptable level with some diuretics and an additional glaucoma eye drop.  He will be checked again next week.  Then the decision will be made about whether or not to try the steroids again.  His doctors don't always agree on the path forward.  One says he should never take steroids, and the others think he needs the steroids for his scleritis and inflammation.  A real catch-22 for him.

Now for Mom - what can we say that is good?  Well, for starters, she is finally getting some sleep at night.   The pain in the HELLbow area still wakes her up multiple times a night, but at least she is able to get back to sleep.  She is also happy that coffee and tea now taste like they are supposed to taste.  It took about three weeks for the aftereffects of the anesthesia on her tastebuds to disappear.  And that is a good thing because our Mom loves her hot beverages.

She now can use her right hand for a lot more things, like typing, writing, using a manual can opener, opening the mail, showering, etc.  She can't get food to her mouth very well with that arm, though, and fixing her hair with just her left arm and hand is really funny to watch.  She has OT 2-3 times a week for 45 min.  Then she has to do her exercise routine - heating pad, massage, exercises, icing - 3 to 5 times a day.  Each session takes about 45-60 minutes to complete.  It literally takes up most of the day. The therapist says she is doing well and is about where they expect her to be at this point.  There is still a lot more to be done to get the "bend" and "straighten" close to 100%.  She is just hoping she can get pretty close to that mark.  About a week ago, she saw her surgeon who was pleased with how the incision was looking , the little bit of movement she had, and how the hardware inside her arm was holding up.  He removed about 35-40 (!!!!!) staples from her incision.  She has some steri-strips in a few spots where the skin still needs to heal a little more.  She also has to wear a compression sleeve to keep the fluid retention down.  One of these days we will see if she will post a photo of the artwork the incision has left on her arm:)

Lastly a number of you have asked if we have had any news about Misty.  The lady who has her now called Mom a week or so ago to ask a few questions about Misty.  The call was so upsetting for Mom to go through that Dad has said he thinks it is better for now if we don't try to keep in touch.  From what little came of the conversation, Misty is doing OK but still pretty confused and anxious.  In due time, Mom will have to take one of us to the vet place for one reason or another, and that will be very hard for her since this lady works there.  The first conversation with our vet will be hard for her too.  Enough said.

We are also trying to get Mom to help us with commenting on your posts, but it still makes her very sad when she has to sign off with just two pack names and not three.  We also need to change our blog look, but we really don't want to forget our little girl.  Thinking on that one . . .

So as we read back through what we have shared today, we are trying hard to focus on the good things happening.  That is the only way to move forward, right?

Woos - Lightning and Timber