Rhett Update

Ok, so we're well into the 3rd month of recovery following Rhett's broken leg.  At the  moment, he's in a soft bandage-- the splint/cast bandage thingie was removed last week.  His xrays showed some improvement with bone starting to fill in around the fractures! Yay!

One more week of this soft cast, then it's removed and he goes to bare leg.  He's cleared for LIGHT exercise... he's been up and down the street in the front now a couple times and around the block (it's a short block) once, grinning all the way.  I'm still supposed to keep him separate and confined, and carry him down stairs and keep him from jumping off the couch, etc.

So, there ya go!  I'm looking forward to things being normal for him again.  He hasn't enjoyed this at all.  I think the confinement was worse for him than the pain.  He's always been such a good dog, he's rarely heard the word "no" before.

Rhett's Cast is Off!

Rhett got his soft cast yesterday off and is recovering here at home.  He's rather annoyed with me because  I won't let him lick his incision, but he's doing all right.

He's got a "cone of shame" he has to wear when I can't be there to watch him, or at bedtime when we're sleeping.  That could contribute to his general state of annoyance... just a little. :)

Here's a closeup of the leg itself.  When I think of how bad those x-rays were, I'm very relieved at how well this seems to be healing.

What a huge, anxiety-provoking week!  But at least things seem to be going well...

Rhett's Broken Leg

 Well, the last twelve hours have been exciting...and by "exciting" I mean "nervewracking and heartbreaking."

Rhett broke his leg this morning when I let him and Phantom out for their first morning potty break.  My mom was staying overnight here, with her dog Zoe.  Last night, Zoe played quite a bit with both borzois before bedtime, and all three dogs charged around the yard, running and chasing.

This morning, mom wasn't up yet and Zoe was still in her bedroom, but the instant I opened the door to the back yard, both borzois charged out in full-on "playtime" mode.  Both charged out the door, across the porch and-- as usual-- leaped from the top step of the deck down to the yard, completely ignoring the 5 stairs in between.

Borzois are notorious for being crybabies... and Rhett is one of the biggest crybabies of them all.  In fact, he earned the nickname "sissy mamma's boy dog" because of his general sensitivity.  Many times he's taken a wrong step and tweaked something, then sat down and cried till I came and looked at it.  Yelps, whines, and various distress noises-- yep, Rhett's just expressing himself.

But this time?  I saw him land, and instead of a yelp, it was a shriek.  I've never heard a noise like that come out of a dog before, and when I saw his front leg dangling uselessly at the wrist, I KNEW with that sickening certainty that twists knots in your stomach that something was terribly wrong.

Rhett just cried and cried, shaking and screaming.  I had to grab Phantom and drag him inside, yelling for mom as loud as I could. Phantom's a little over a year old and he's a good puppy, but he's way too enthusiastic and not at all empathetic.  He did NOT understand why Rhett didn't want to play, and his friendly jostling wasn't helping.  I hated leaving Rhett out there, but it had to be done.

It's hard to describe the feeling of utter helplessness you feel, when someone you love is hurting.  Rhett shaking and crying with an obvious serious injury just rattled me right to the core.

The big stroke of luck?  My mom was here!  She's a infrequent overnight visitor as she's been back and forth between here and Omaha taking care of the Grandparents.  She's a retired nurse, but more importantly, she was able to get  the vet called, get our stuff ready, and pull the car around so we could get Rhett transported.  As for getting a badly injured borzoi into a car?  I have no idea how I managed it, but somehow I did.  I cradled him in my arms the whole way there.

 When we got him to the vet, the news was NOT good.  Rhett had pretty much shattered both bones right above the "wrist" on his right leg.  See the break, on the upper left part of the photo?

Below is another view of the injury, from the front.

This is pretty awful.

Once we had the Xrays in hand, the vet, Companion Care on South 48th Street, here in Lincoln, Dr. Doug Oxley, DVM called an orthopedic surgery specialist in Omaha, to try to get Rhett scheduled for emergency surgery.

Dr. Oxley stabilized the fracture with a splint bandage and gave Rhett something for the pain so he'd sleep for the whole trip.  It worked well... he snoozed in the back of mom's car, all stretched out with his hurt leg propped up on a handy box.  

We arrived at Midwest Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Omaha at about 1pm, on 97th and Mockingbird.  They're right next to the Animal Emergency Clinic I've always used, so it was easy to find.  

Good news:  Surgery, complete with two plates to knit the bones together, went well. He should be able to come home tomorrow morning.  It was tricky because of the location of the break, but the plates went in nicely and have stabilized the fracture so far.

Bad news: The cost.  This initial surgery is going to be between $2500 and $3000.   I've raised about half of it so far, between my savings and relatives kicking in. I hate even saying this, but honestly I could use the help.  Any donations of any size will be gratefully appreciated.  

Follow up appointment at 9am tomorrow.  He should be able to come home...  and then the healing can begin... 

Settling in...

I've had possession of the new house for a little over a month now, and have been living here for a couple weeks.  Although my list of To-Do's is long and mighty, I'm picking away at it a piece at a time as my fluctuating energy levels allow.  It seems like I'm making progress.  Slow, steady progress, but progress nonetheless.

I 'll put up some "before and after" photos soon, I promise!  

Painting still needs to happen.  The kitchen needs a lot of touch up work before the fridge and freezer move to the right wall.  I want that done soon... I want some ice cubes, dangit!  Now that the washer/dryer stack are out of the bathroom, it can be finished painting, too.  There's a spot in the dining room, and more work on the stairwell, and lots of detail left to do in the bedroom.  Looking forward to that... I have a cool headboard and some nice art to put up.  It should remind me of a springtime garden all year round.

I think I'd like to have some kind of official "housewarming" thingie the second weekend of July.  Hopefully I'll have it pretty much put together by then.

"I can has cheeze?" 

I'm blogging.  Rhett is watching me.  Either he approves of my blogging efforts, or he approves of the blueberry cheese, beef jerky and 70% cocoa dark chocolate I'm nibbling on as a late LATE dinner.

Eh, I'm pretty sure it's the cheese. :)  I'll save him an itty bitty piece... because he's Rhett.

He's no LOLcat.  But he's mine. <3

The Next Stage

Well, tomorrow's the day.

After 2 1/2 years, I finally will have a place to call...

HOME.

What makes a home?  I think it's all about comfort level.  I'm not someone who is comfortable in other people's space.  Because my fibromyalgia issues can overwhelm me fairly easily... especially on bad days... it's important for me to have a "greater than average" control over my surroundings.  If I don't?  I end up unfocused and ultimately non-productive.

Now I'll have my own space... shared with no one other than dogs and guests.  I can unpack boxes that have been packed since October of 2008.  I can break out the art supplies, D&D books, and the crockpot to make hot nacho dip.  I can take a shower so long and steamy that I run out the water heater, eat breakfast in my underwear and think about the future.  I can get some work done.  I can take a nap.

I can finally breathe.

My life's still a work in progress, but I've learned that just about anyone who's paying attention could say the same.

Bring on the next stage!

PS:  You know what else makes a house a home?  A puppy!   Thank you to Aria Borzoi in Texas for sending me Rhett's nephew, Phantom.  Yes, he's still a puppy... not even a year old yet!

Pushing the Paperwork...

Oh yes... it will be mine! :D

Unfinished Art- Dragonborn Warrior

Here's what I was working on today. This is a Dragonborn Warrior, a character in a Pathfinder D&D game.   You can see the progression from rough sketch to partially finished ink.

Usually I like to get the character name before I'm drawing 'em.  Sometimes, the name really suggests the character- pose, gear, and facial expression.

 But this poor dude?  No name... well, he's got one.  I just don't know it.

I shot these with just the phone on my camera, so I could keep showing 'em off to the player during the workday.  I figured, some places have "casual Friday."  He should get "character Friday."

This will look really cool when it's done, I think.  Also, I'll be attempting my first "digital colorize" on my computer, using "Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011" and my really cool Lenovo X220 Convertable Tablet laptop.

Just thought this would be a little fun to show off.  Eventually I'll have the finished piece on my art site and, of course, DeviantArt.  My account on DeviantArt is "evermancer."  

Don't forget to look this guy up, if you wanna see him finished.  Good old dragonface what's-his-name...