Guns

A post by Tombo and all the hub-bub over the guy carrying the gun in Phoenix while Obama was in town, started me thinking about guns.

Growing up, I was very, very afraid of guns and did not want to be near one. One day, I decided I had to beat that fear of guns so took a gun training class at Shooter's World where I learned gun safety and how to shoot and take care of a gun. Taking that class, made me lose my fear of guns (I'm really afraid of snakes too but have no plans of getting chummy with one in the near future).

I never became some whacko nut job over guns and/or gun rights but I did buy my own gun (a Glock 19)
which has not been fired in ages and I really need to get it out and go shooting. I don't even know if Shooter's World or something like it is still around.

I bet most of my friends have no idea I have a gun.

Ramblings

Addie is now cancer free and no longer wearng the e-collar. At first, I wasn't going to take any photos of her because she looked so undignified and pathetic but then I decided to take them from the back view so her face is concealed in order to "protect the innocent."



But now, here she is in all her glory without that collar.

Look Ma! No wires!

I'm posting this blog from the cabin in Prescott. Our new next door neighbor advised me he had an unsecured wireless network that we could hop on any time we wanted. So I did. Very, very cool.

I'm excited because the cabin is pretty rustic and doesn't even have a working T.V. although it does have a working VCR (see what I mean about rustic? Does anyone use VCR anymore?) So it is really great to have the latest and greatest technology free of charge

GOOD NEWS!

The vet called yesterday and said Addie did indeed have a malignant neurofibrosarcoma but because she took so much tissue from the surrounding area, the histopathology report came back indicating she had "clean borders" meaning she got all the cancer cells. When she told me that, I started to tear up because it was such good news. I really didn't know what I would have done if she said further treatment would be needed, i.e. radiation/chemo. But now, I don't have to think about it.

Apparently, Springer Spaniels are one of the breeds predisposed to these types of tumors so in the future, if I feel any more bumps, I need to get her back in because the chance for reoccurence is pretty good.

Bad news is she has been licking the wound so she will now be wearing the e-collar for another week until the stitches are removed.

Big sigh of relief....

Addie's progress

Today is day 5 of Addie's surgery. She's getting along but getting along slowly. Thursday and Friday have been better than Saturday and Sunday. You can tell she is in pain but she's not crying or mewling which is good. I would probably fall apart if she did that. The vet was very surprised she was walking at all since the scar is so long and she took so much tissue. So, I think she was very pleased about that.

We try to watch Addie as much as possible in order to keep her from lickng or chewing the wound. So far, she has not done much of that at all. She came home with an Elizabethan collar but I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible, although, she has had to wear it for several hours.

She goes to the vet again for a re-check. I hope the vet will allow her to go on short walks because it seems she really wants to. The stitches don't come out for another week and a half and the report as to what the tumor was is due this week or next. I'm worried about that.

Shenanigans & Surgery

Yesterday was Addie's surgery and while she was in the hospital, Roscoe launched a terrorist attack on our house. Our house is set up so we can close up the entire kitchen and then there is a doggie door in the kitchen door allowing the dogs access to the backyard. So while we are away, the dogs are contained in the kitchen but can go outside whenever they want.

Apparently Roscoe did not like being left along.

He dragged out a box of canned refried beans, ripped the box apart and then put a tooth hole in one of the cans. How he did this, I don't know.




Then, he decided to break down the cat door in the master bedroom, grab one of the horizontal blinds and rip it down to the floor and leave teeth marks in that. As far as we can tell, he cannot get his entire body through the cat door so somehow he did this just using his head and neck. Again, no clue how he could do this. We had to seal up the broken cat door and will have to make a better fix in the future



Addie is probably doing as well as can be expected. She is sleeping a lot but still wags her tail and has not lost her voracious appetite. The scar is probably 15" long.

Some humor

Dogs

Addie and Roscoe have both been scratching like the dickens lately and licking themselves...a lot. I have also felt some lumps on both of them so figured they were due for a vet appointment. Recall the vet that I loved so much has moved away so I now have another vet and have only met with her once. Was not overly impressed but then no one will compare with Dr. Hirsch so it's really unfair of me to try and compare.

This time, I was a little more impressed with her and she spent a lot of time looking over both dogs. They both had to have their anal glands expressed (not even going there) had their ears looked at (Addie's are infected again) and both were prescribed some antihistamines for the scratching. Roscoe's lumps were just sebaceous tumors or fat deposits and nothing to worry about but Addie has a suspicious lump that might be cancerous so she goes under the knife on Wednesday. The doctor said to get her in sooner rather than later. I'm very worried about that but I'm also worried about how to care for her after the surgery. The lump is in a really bad place on her flank which will definitely limit her walking ability and since she will have a lot of stitches, I need to keep her out of the pool (no easy feat) and no walks while she heals. That's the first worry. I have not even started to think what will happen if it is cancerous. One step at a time.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me

Skulls are very popular lately and have been for awhile, not just among the biker dudes and dudettes but all other walks of life. So, here is my contribution to "skullduggery"






The black material is window screen that I bought from the Home Depot. Surprisingly, it's very easy to sew on and even though this is the third item I have made from window screen, it is the first time I have machine embroidered on it. Although, it stitches out very nicely, it's still not the same as embroidering on cotton and it wreaks hell on the rotary cutter. All in all, it turned out quite nice and it will be one of the items I will try to sell at the firm's holiday boutique.

Here is another bag I made as well: