Gone to the Dogs

One would think that taking care of mom and having the nickname, ChemoSabe, that I would be able to manage my own emergency at Conley’s Corner, but noooooooooo!

I awoke in the early morning hours on Wednesday to the sound of my husband yelling, “Honey, Come here. Ryker is bleeding.” For those of you that do not remember, Ryker (aka “The Killer) is our oldest furbaby. I just about broke my leg running down the stairs to get to the kitchen. That is where I found my husband trying to wrap the bleeding leg of our dog.

Of course, I am trying figure out what the heck happened. And my husband said that when he let him outside, he though he had cornered a cat or something. Now, I am by no means a wound expert, but this did not look like a cat attack to me. It was more of a laceration than a bite/claw wound.

As we pin the dog to the ground and blind him with the beams from flashlights looking for other signs of injury, we are debating on what to do with him. Do we take him to the doggie emergency room? Do we wait until the morning and go to our regular vet? I had no idea what to do. At 10:30pm, the options are pretty thin. While his wound was not gushing blood, it was bleeding and of course I was worried that he had been attacked by a wild squirrel or some other rabies carrying critter.

But after we looked him over, cleaned up the leg to the best of our ability, and got the bleeding to stop a bit, we opted to wrap it up and take him to our vet first thing in the morning. Our boy wasn’t in pain and he managed to limp up the stairs and curl up on his pillow in our room. Needless, to say, I did not get a good night’s sleep because I kept checking on him to make sure he was breathing and wasn’t bleeding to death – I know…I am such a worrier! Imagine how many sleepless nights I had with momisan!

In the morning, I call the vet and they were sympathetic to my motherly meltdown and told me to bring Ryker in ASAP. When we got there, they tried to look at his wound, but he would not let anyone touch it, so they opted to sedate him and get it all cleaned up. Now, before I left, they asked me to stay while they “juiced” him up with a sedative. And as the medication started to work its mojo, my boy started to go all limp in my arms – which brought me to tears. It’s been a rough year, people….I am an emotional wreck!

On the way home, I stopped off at Casa de Longo to visit with mom and as soon as I walked into the door, she asked what was wrong. I filled her in on the events that had transpired at Conley’s Corner and she reassured me that Ryker would be okay. For the record, mom loves “my boys” and they her. They say that dogs can learn up to one- hundred vocabulary words, and “grandma” is on the list. They get all excited when they hear her voice or see her. Dogs are very astute.

I spent a few hours visiting with momisan and I was there when her nurse Nancy came by – such a sweet lady! And it just so happens that she brought the ‘Dolly Momma” some great news. I had blogged a few weeks ago requesting extra prayers for Nancy’s sister, Cindy. She is undergoing some pretty intensive treatment for breast Cancer and Nancy shares our blog rantings with her. Well, it turns out that the Cancer in her sternum has decreased! Who says miracles don’t exist or prayers are not answered. We will keep on praying for Nancy and her sister, Cindy. We have made them honorary members of Team LoCo. Keep on fighting and know that there are people out here who are praying for you and wishing you well as you continue on your journey.

I left Casa de Longo a little after lunch. But little did momisan know that I would be sneaking back later in the evening. The wingman, Andy, had called me the previous night and said he was going to swing by the Longo household to do a little gardening for mom. I asked if he needed any help and he said if I had the time to come on by.

My second visit to Casa de Longo was around 3pm. I arrived to find mom sitting in the living room and as I filed past her with flats of flowers and veggies, she asked what I was doing. I told her that Andy and I had secretly plotted to swing by and plant a little “Spring Love” in her garden. She got all sniffley.

Andy and pop took the back of the house and he tilled the soil and dropped the tomato plants in for mom. I took the front and planted the flowers in her pots and flowerbeds. I am happy to report that mom is feeling much better. She had no problem dictating the proper placement for her flowers…she’s such a little Mussolini…but we love her to pieces and knew that she was a little disappointed that she wasn’t able to do some spring plantings. So we gave her a small garden for her to tend to. For those of you who receive tomatoes from the annual Ida Longo co-op program, I am sad to report that this year; the bumper crop will be significantly downsized. We may have to utilize a lottery style system or have a smack down in the backyard – last man standing gets the tomatoes! :o)

If you thought the Food Fairies were cool, you should see how quickly those Plant Pixies can work their magic!

I left Casa de Longo and headed to the vet to pick up “my boy.” I had a consultation with the vet and it turns out that Ryker had a pretty sizeable laceration that required seven staples. And as they brought him into the room, leg all wrapped up and wearing a fashionable cone to keep the leg from getting licked and scratched, one would have thought that we had been separated for months.

It’s Saturday morning at Conley’s Corner and I can say that I am definitely experiencing sleep deprivation. The dog can not go outside and run free. He must be limited to short walks and to make matters worse it has been raining. So each and every time we take him out, we have to wrap his leg in a Ziploc bag and tape it up. The cone is also proving to be a bit challenging for him. He gets stuck quite a bit, so it’s hard to leave him unattended at night. My life has literally gone to the dogs.

Last night, as I was changing his bandages, momisan called to see how “her boy” was doing. I explained to her that he was okay, but taking care of him takes a little flexibility on our part. Of course, that comment begged mom to ask, “Who was a better patient”?

I told her it was hard to compare since I didn’t have to cram her legs into a Ziploc bag or adjust her cone to keep her from biting/licking her stitches! ;o)
She just laughed and said to give “my boy” an extra belly rub and tell him that grandma loves him.

So as I blog my latest entry, I can not help but look down at the fury little face with a tail wagging a mile a minute. That’s his way of saying, “thanks for taking care of me.”

Just goes to show how compassion, love and care can be interpreted by all of God’s creatures, big and small.

Spread some love today!

Val