She’s home!

Exactly one week from the accident, Mabel came home.  We’re so happy she’s back and walking (with all 4 legs).  It’s been a draining week - which felt like a year!

resting in front of the fireplace at Grammy & Grampie’s house
(shortly after she trotted quickly into the living room and pooed on the carpet)

despite the devil eye’s she’s an angel

‘thank you, dad!  i love you!’

 

Visiting Hours

The vet where Miss Mabel is currently residing has fabulous visiting hours (about 13 of the 24 hours is ours!).  When we go there, they bring her into a room with a blanket and we can stay until we want too.  Wade and I went to see her yesterday and, although the digital camera has died, I took some average photos with my phone.

Her fancy cast.  They change the artwork daily.  The day before this was tulips.

 

‘Oh, mom….why are you taking a picture of my bald bum??”  The black speckles on her hip are actually part of a medicine patch…it’s not a wound. See how she’s butt-sitter??

Forever bonded.  Wade saved her life.  Literally.  He held an artery closed during the trip to the vet.  Thank God for Wade. 

And the pathatic look of a pup who hates the cone head.  Poor thing. 

If her leg looks ok tomorrow, she can come home!!  She’ll have to go back every other day for a cast (and artwork) change though.  Surgery on the leg is still to be determined, but amputation is no longer a consideration!

Putting complaining in check

Frequent things I have complained about:

- I have a headache.
- My finger hurts when I bend it.  It might be broken.
- I’m tired.
- I don’t want to get out of bed and go to work.
- My commute is too long.
- Gas prices are too expensive!
- Family Guy was preempted by basketball.
- Stupid co-worker won’t stop talking to me or bugging me or existing.
- That guy knew he needed to be in that lane.  He does it every morning.  Why is he STOPPED in this lane with his blinker on when this lane should be moving!?

This is just a sampling.

We can all learn a lot of Mabel.  Hit by a car on Thursday.  Near death Thursday afternoon into the evening. Almost lost her leg on Friday.  Ironically a broken hip helped deter us from removing her leg.  Hip reconstruction on Saturday. A day of rest on Sunday.  Parents told on Monday that the leg that was under consideration has healed more than ever expected.  Monday afternoon she stands up FIVE times on her own. Her only complaints:

- This silly purple cast is keeping me from running.
- My bum is cold because I have no fur.
- I want to go outside!!!!!!
- The Elizabethan collar doesn’t really “work” for me.  Can you see it’s keeping me from biting at my wounds?

For all of you who sent her good thoughts, they really seem to be working.  Keep them coming!  She’s not out of the woods yet, but she is on her way!

Mabel in the sunshine less than a month ago.  Hope she’ll be back there soon.

 

Putting her back together.

Mabel’s surgery went well.

The left hip was connected enough that the surgeon left it as is.  The right ball joint was in bad shape, but he did his best to piece it together with a metal plate and some screw.  He’s hopeful.  The left leg in question turns out to not be as bad as we initially thought.  It’s still horrible, but promising.

It is ‘degloved’.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  her foot bones are exposed, but the surgeon was able to put in some stitches and that may help encourage the remaining skin to heal back together.  Whatever the outcome, he confirmed our decision to keep the leg for now and it is reassuring to have that.

The vets have been so spectacular and she is in really great hands. 

We went to see her this morning and besides being ‘naked’ from the waist down, she looks good.  She was slightly perky - as perky as can be expected on a morphine drip.  She moving (not walking) a bit.  Despite the pain, she may actually be enjoying the luxury of the heated cage.  

They don’t expect that she’ll be coming home for several days, but as long as she’s moving forward, I’m ok with that.  I miss her. There is definitely a void here without her.  However we have seen much more of the cats the past couple of days.

Keep sending the good wishes.  I think they are helping her.

Stable Mabel

Yesterday:

We waited in the morning for the vet to call.  When she did, it was to let us know that Mabel was still doing ok.  Stable Mabel.  She sensed that Mabel was in pain around her hips, so she wanted to do another x-ray.  I authorized and then we made an appointment to come up in the afternoon to see her and discuss our surgery options. 

The ride up had only one moment of me bursting into tears.  Mainly I was just nauseous.  We go there and they put us in a room so we could see her.  She was all doped up…or little pup high on morphine.  The vet was blunt.  She was not happy out the x-rays.  She pulled us in the back to show us. 

Mabel’s pelvis is shattered.  The unclear image that only a trained professional can read was crystal clear.  All those pieces were supposed to be together.  It was like a puzzle.  She explained that this meant lots of surgery, and we still needed to decide whether the left leg was staying or going. We decided to go the safe route.  If you can consider it safe.  We decided to keep her leg.  Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.  Plus keeping it will be less strain on her during the hip recovery. 

We left that night awaiting a call from the surgeon and trying to to second guess our choice.

Today (so far):

The surgeon just called.  He is kind and most importantly, conservative with surgery.  We had authorized a cat-scan so they could see the break better and this was very beneficial to our surgeon.  The good news was:  the hardest part of the pelvis to fix appeared to not be broken!  Phew. More good news: the ball joint that was shattered seemed fixable.  He is going to do what he can.  If not, he’s going to cut that part of.  Evidently she really doesn’t need it - she’ll create a new joint.  Ok.  Next - the left leg that we thought was separated at the hip may not be.  He’s going to play that on by ear, but he thinks that her ‘butt muscles’ can hold it in place while it heals.  Again, though, he has to wait until he actually sees it.  He fully supported our ‘keep the leg’ choice and told me he’d seen a lot worse. 

She’s spunky.  She’s young.  She’s small.  She’s lean.  She’s got a good shot here.

He left me with this:  “She’s got a big fan club here.  We’re all going to take care of her.”

 

Oh, My Mabel

Please, please, please bloggers: I am begging you all to pray, think, send good vibes…whatever positive thing you can do. My Mabel is in not good shape.

Yesterday afternoon she was hit by a truck. My poor husband watched it happen and then promptly sprung into ‘dad-mode’, didn’t panic and got her where she needed to be. 

She is breathing on her own, they don’t think there is any internal bleeding, and she’s pretty doped up.  Her back left leg though is destroyed.  Wade and I are currently faced with the decision to operate and fuse her leg back together or amputate.  We heard just now that her pelvis on her right side may be fractured as well. 

Any advice from the pet-people and the ‘I’ve been thru this’ people and anyone in general - please comment. 

 

FIVES!

Hallie universally tagged people, so I’m taking advantage.  This is a fun one.

5 Things Found In Your Bag…

1. a change purse that is made from a baby sock

2. Purel.  Never ever ever ever leave home without it.

3. My inhaler

4. Usually my iPod, but that is currently on my desk

5. SoftLips Wild Cherry chapstick.

5 Favorite Things In Your Room

1.  My shoes!!!!  I have a wall of them and they are pieces of art!

2.  The TV in my closet.  It’s not a focal point, but it is in the perfect spot to watch TV from bed.

3.  My bed of course.  Specifically when I am in it with Wade and the 2 dogs.

4.  Lily of the Valley perfume. 

5.  The framed photo of Alex just after she ran over to visit the horses next door.  She rolled in their poo and came back with a grin on her face.  It’s the best photo of her.

5 Things You Have Always Wanted To Do

1.  Visit all the major league baseball parks in America.

2.  Pet a large wild cat (I.e, a tiger…not a feral stray cat that is overweight)

3.  Write a book

4.  Go on a safari

5.  Go through my life without any anxiety.

5 Things You Are Currently Into

1. Exercising on my elliptical machine and simultaneously watching Weeds on my iPod. 

2. Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream

3.  Planning my July trip to the Bahamas and elsewhere.

4.  Spring!!!! (anyone know where it went?)

5.  Procrastinating rather than working.

5 People You Want To Tag

1.  CodyBear (or his mom)

2. JC

3. Mike

4. There Will Be Chocolate

5.  Sockgirlie

Attic findings

On Sunday I was able to spend some time with my parents and have a great dinner and catch up.  Again we’ve gone too long in between visits and it was really nice to just go and relax with them.  Wade wasn’t able to come with me this time, but when he does go, my mom always has ‘projects’ for him - i.e., fix the closet door that’s off the hinges).  This time, being just me, I was given the project, which turned out to be delightful.

My mom and I went to the attic and she requested that I go through all my boxes that were there.  The number of boxes totalling 10(ish) - I didn’t need to complete the project in one day.  I knew I had stuff in the attic, but I didn’t realize how much.  And I was not aware of exactly what the contents were.  So we sat down and I grabbed the first one.

Little did I know, that my mom saved every paper I have ever written and every picture I’ve drawn and every card I received from friends and family.  And this is not including the things I gave to her and Papa.  It was wonderful! 

I was thrilled when I opened one box and found all of my journalism articles from college.  I thought they were gone forever because my computer was struck by lightening.  But they were ALL there and, better than the hard drive copies, these were the edited copies. 

Delving into the boxes more, I found stories I had written when I was 5:  My Cats -written & illustrated by yours truly.  It won an award.  At least according to the paper time line I made of my life up until the age of 7.  I found documentation of going to see Peter Rabbit on Easter and made the bold statement of “you should have been there!”  (what kid talks like that???).  There were multiple stories about my family and how much I love them even though Sister Carrie (as if she were a nun!) was mean to me sometimes. 

And then I came across the box that held the diaries.

Diary 1 was documentation of ages 11-15 and Diary 2 was 16-17.  The diary after that turned into a ‘journal’ and after awhile I threw it away.  I strongly considered throwing these away, because just looking at them made me uncomfortable.  I knew that that the girl who wrote all those entries was long behind me, but part of me was upset that the girl was once me.  Socially awkward, unattractive Elizabeth.  Elizabeth with low self-esteem.  Elizabeth who wanted to fit in.  Elizabeth who, as it turns out was boy crazy, but the boys didn’t like her back.  I knew it was all in there and I didn’t want to relive it.  But I did.  And that’s when I discovered:

~ I was writing about the Gulf War and how I didn’t really “get” it and in that same entry my sister came in to tell me that the war was over going to be put on hold for a few years.

~ My hand writing changed depending on my mood.  When there were some bad times with my sister (which I hardly wrote about) my handwriting looked… angry!

~ There is humor in looking back on how I desperately wanted my friend Kevin to “like like” me and he just didn’t.  Ah, hindsight….if I only knew then that he would come out of the closet in a few years, my heart wouldn’t have hurt so much.

~ Assuming my diaries were truthful, I had many more happy times than the upsetting times I associate with the high school years.

~ The people I mention the most are the people who are still in my life: My family, aforementioned Kevin, and a couple high school friends - the only 2 who were at my wedding.

~ I remember some things wrong.  If I was under oath I would have sworn that the day I took Tim our prom pictures was the day I got in my first car accident.  Evidently the car accident was a week later.

My mom asked why it made me uncomfortable and why just thinking about the girl who wrote those diaries was bringing tears to my eyes. I couldn’t really explain it.  But that girl made me who I am today.  I grew from those experiences and I learned from them.  And although these will be under lock and key forever, they will not be in a trash can, because it would be wrong to throw away those memories. 

 

Drive-Thru Cat

The alarm went of the other morning and I was just lying there enjoying the sun.  As I pondered why I wasn’t still asleep, as there is usually a series of ’snoozes’, I heard a meow.  It was not the usual meow of “Hey! I’m on the wrong side of the bedroom door and I know you’re up so get your butt out here and feed me because I have NEVER been this hungry before!”  It also was not the meow of “Mom! Mom! Mom! I brought you something that I just know you’re going to love and just so you know I killed it first!” 

Nope.  This was the meow of someone in distress. 

I evaluated where the meow was coming from because it sounded like it was right by my head.  Which just isn’t possible because a.) cats aren’t permitted in the bedroom at night and b.) the layout of the room wouldn’t allow for cats to be by my head.

So I got up.

I followed the cry and found my little girl, Chloe (who is strictly and indoor cat), at the bedroom window!  This is the bedroom window on the second floor.  And she was on the outside.  Evidently climbing up the roof (which does go all the way to the ground at one point…old houses are weird…) and wailing through the window was the best approach.  I opened the screen for her so she could come in. 

Poor Chloe was then faced with a big decision:  Come in the through the window and brave the world of Mabel (who had discovered this fabulous creature at the window) OR stay outside in the wild.  She did not choose the lesser of two evils and instead braved the attack of the Beagle. 

All is well now and she’s inside safe and sound.  But I couldn’t help but wonder if she was really just hoping to pick up her cat food at the window and keep moving. 

All under one roof

The past two weekends have been full of interesting events here at work.  There were all sorts of critters about and some of the oddest combinations of events occurring simultaneously.

Starting with two weekends ago…

On one side of the building we had a very low maintenance auction.  There were two rooms full of seized firearms, crossbows and swords that were all being auctioned off to anyone who was interested. 

On the other side of the building were 800 girls who resembled something out of a horror movie.  They were all part of an Irish dance academy.  And this is what they all wore:

The auction minded its own business and no one would have know they were there.  The girls, however, bounced up and down with their curls taking over the building.  For eight hours.  With an electric keyboard providing the tunes. 

Then this weekend was another oddity.

Downstairs we had an archery competition.  Oooo.  Cool!You might say.  But no.  You would be very wrong.  It was three days of sheer boredom.  It was like watching paint dry.

Upstairs there was a large event, the had a very deceiving title:  Yager, Weekend of the Diamonds.  I was so sad when this got assigned to another manager, whilst I was going to be dealing with the wannabe Robin Hoods of the world.  But despite its glamorous name, there were, in fact, no gemstones involved.  

Diamonds happens to refer to the title one receives if they sell enough soap or energy drinks.  This was a convention along the lines of Amway.  So basically, it was two days of brainwashing from this guy.  (highly recommend you take the time to read that article…it’s hilarious)

The highlight from this weekend was being on the escalator with a guy who was needing assistance locating his event.  He asked me what was going on and I explained to him that it was a convention comparable with Amway.  He then proceeded to dramatically hold his head in his hand and state (loudly). “OH! Don’t even say Amway to me!  I HATE Amway! UGH!”  I smiled sheepishly at the 50 or so folks surrounding us who were about to embark on their journey to Diamond-hood.