Category: Life

John and Rebecca joined us for dinner. Interesting conversation, as usual!

Goodbye, Gruve. Hello, FitBit.

Gracie woke me up at 1:45 this morning, all anxious about something. She was panting and had her ears twitched back like she was hearing something. She wasn’t trembling, nor was her neck twisted, so I don’t think she was in pain. Within a half hour she had settled at the foot of the bed. Weird. We have another funeral today. The remote connection to my office is working, so I can work from home this afternoon!

Click on the image above to download a PDF flyer with details.
Or, here’s the official link: CampOut2011
NO! You do NOT need to register or make a donation!
Hamburgers/HotDogs for Dinner, S’mores for Bedtime Snack, Pancakes for Breakfast! Geocaching. Kid and Dog Friendly! We’ve got a canoe, kayaks and a paddleboat, so bring your lifejacket! You can even BYOB (Bring Your Own Boat), there’s room at the dock. Fish or Swim.

I picked Avery up at Amy’s office. We stopped at REI to pick up a new bike trailer. While we were there we measured her feet for sandals and she picked out a few things to wear for Farm Camp this summer. We stopped at my office to see how the new server installation is going and I wanted to show her the Robin that’s building a nest outside my office window. We met Steve for lunch at Harvest Moon. Spent the afternoon baking carrot cakes in the shape of a bunny face. Avery came with us to Mass. A busy day!

Gracie is doing much better! She has a very noticeable gimpy gait and the knob in her right front paw comes and goes. Gracie can now turn her head to the left. I’ve got her down to just 75mg of Rimadyl at breakfast and bedtime. She’s on reduced rations (aren’t we all?) since her activity level is down and she can’t afford to carry any extra weight.

Gracie’s original Meds: Carprofen (generic Rimadyl) 75mg every 12 hours. Methocarbamol 500mg every 8 hours. TramadolHC 100mg every 8-12 hours. Gracie isn’t going to get better. Neither acupuncture nor chiropractic therapies are appropriate. She’s got a neurological deficit in her cervical spine. Down near her shoulder blades. This deficit is what’s causing the deterioration of her left front leg. She’s becoming more reliant on her right side. And that’s problematic because she’s got arthritis from old injury in that foot that didn’t heal properly. The constant shuffle between the two legs/feet is making things worse. She’s not a candidate for surgery. They showed me how to massage her left neck area in an attempt to keep that as loose as possible. We’ve taken her off the Methocarbamol because it’s not a muscle issue. We’ve also reduced the TramadolHC. She needs to be in enough pain to make her aware that too much movement only increases the deterioration of her spine. Eventually that left front leg will start to fail her. The Vet saw early evidence of that when he was analyzing her gait today.

Gracie was in so much pain, I took her to the Emergency Vet about 1 am. It’s been a long and sleepless night for both of us. Gracie likely has herniated disc(s) in her neck. There’s a weird round shape below her chin on the X-ray, but they feel it’s unrelated. While they can see it, they can’t feel anything. We’ll worry about that later. Right now she’s on two kinds of pain killers and a muscle relaxant. There’s not much can be done right now but try and get her resting comfortably. Gracie seems to be finally resting. She appears comfortable. Drugged into a stupor is the reality. I’ll drop her X-rays and history off at Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital on my way to work so they can be prepared to see her first thing tomorrow morning. Gracie seems to be doing a bit better this evening. She walked out in the yard, laid down and enjoyed the beginning of sunset. She seems to have a bit more mobility in her neck. She’s not trembling like she was. The drugs are working!

Poor Gracie is having trouble with her neck again. I’m going to take her to the Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital. I gave Gracie 75 mg of Rimadyl this morning and 500 mg of Methocarbamol about 5:30 pm. Gracie has gotten worse over the course of today. At bedtime I’ve given her another 75 mg of Rimadyl and 500 mg of Methocarbamol. I hope she can get some rest tonight. Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital opens at 7:30 in the morning.

I took the long way to Harvest Moon: 54:31, 10.64 miles, 11.7 mph, HR=122.