Gracie

It has been awhile since I blogged, but things have been a little crazy. Our most recent event involved our little, precious dog Gracie. She had an accident on New Years Day morning trying to jump on the bed to visit her Grammy and Papa (my mom and dad). She fell off the bed and either landed funny or twisted on the way down and slipped a disc in her neck. When it first happened she appeared paralyzed from the neck down, but after 30 minutes or so she started moving her back legs. Her front legs were a different story. We took her to the emergency vet because she could not move her front legs or put any weight on them. If we tried to stand her up she would just collapse and fall head first on the ground.




The vet (Dr. Smith) was great and very optimistic that Gracie would recover, but by the looks of her, we really had our doubts. Dr. Smith said this wasn't the worse case she'd seen and said Gracie should recover in about a month. They kept Gracie over night and we came back the next morning to pick her up.



Our instructions were to keep giving her the medication (steroids, pain killers, muscle relaxers, and an antacid) and to restrict her movements and come back the next day. Gracie couldn't do anything for herself. We had to hold her to eat and drink and assist her in going outside to use the restroom. This involved allowing her to walk on her back legs and holding her front half off the ground (it was quite funny to see myself and Dusty duck walking around the yard holding our dog and cheering when she went to the bathroom). It didn't help matters that Texas had the coldest temps in 10 years the week she was completely immobile. The temps were in the teens and 20's with single digit wind chills and our sweet little dog does NOT like the cold. She would shiver and was completely miserable.



We kinda had a routine down, but then the fun began. The medicine caused Gracie to have explosive diarrhea, and I mean explosive. This occurred hourly. My dear, sweat, husband stayed up all night with her taking her outside every hour. Needless to say, we went back to the vet. This one was just a normal vet office close to our house. He gave her meds for the diarrhea which was basically just 1/4 of an Immodium tablet twice a day. This vet wasn't as optimistic as Dr. Smith. He said that if she doesn't start improving soon, we should look and seeing a Neurologist and consider surgery. This option usually runs around $5000 and that just wasn't in our budget. He told us to come back in a couple days. We went back and he repeated what he said and we told him we were willing to wait this out to see if she improved. Surgery wasn't really an option for us because of the cost. We were going to try and rehabilitate her and even considered getting those wheels for dogs if that didn't work.



Well to try to make this long story a little shorter, this past Monday, Gracie turned a corner. She was starting to get stronger and was able to stand on her own and take a few steps out of her kennel. I took her outside and basically had to let go and see what would happen. Well, my amazing little girl started walking on her own. She walked like she was drunk, but she was still walking! It was a great sight to see. I called Dusty to tell him, but he really didn't grasp what I was trying to tell him. I knew he had to see it to believe it. He got home around 8 that night, and I immediately told him I needed to show him something. I got Gracie and took her outside. I set her down in the grass and she started walking. He was so excited and you could tell it was sinking in--she was going to get better!



So, it is now two weeks since the accident and Gracie is walking on her own. She still has moments of weakness and her balance and strength still need improvement, but we are on the road to recovery. For all of ya'll that prayed, we thank you.



I'll try to keep this current.

OCD

I talk about Gracie a lot, because she's a very special dog. One example of this is her OCD. Most of ya'll are thinking there is no way you dog has OCD, but I'm here to prove you wrong.


Recently, I had to park my car in the cul de sac near our mailbox, because Dusty’s truck was blocking the drive into the garage. Since I normally park in the garage, there are usually not any cars parked near the mailbox. Well, Gracie also knows that there are normally not any cars parked near the mailbox. I opened the front door so she could see out and walked into the other room. All of a sudden I hear ferocious barking and I wonder what in the world could she be barking at. I assumed it was the neighbor’s cat, but he was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that she could see was my car. Yes, my car is what she was barking at. You see, it was out of place and Gracie doesn't like it when things are out of place. There isn’t the first time Gracie has went crazy because something has been out of place. She started barking one time at the kitchen counter because I hadn’t put the bananas in their usual spot. She also woke me up one night barking at my backpack hanging off a dining room chair. The backpack was slightly unzipped and hanging open, and this really freaked her out.

I took a picture of her staring out the front door at my car. She finally figured out it wasn’t going to hurt her and calmed down. . . .crazy dog!

56 Degrees!

I know, I know, it has been awhile, but the weather has been so beautiful it is really hard for me to waste the days typing on the computer.  Nothing too exciting going on, just the same ole same ole. . . .
It was a beautiful morning (56 degrees)!!!  I made it through my entire 13 mile run without soaking through my clothes!   Other than that I didn't do a whole lot.  Dusty and I went to the Home Depot and got some fertilizer to plant the tree is parents got for us.  It's an oak tree and it's already around 10 feet tall, so Dusty had to dig a really big hole!  I went and donated blood while he was digging. 

I think it is going to rain a lot this week, so maybe I'll do some more updates.  I want to get some pics of Kristen and Mike's wedding on here soon. 

Guess that's all for now!

The BOO BOO

So, Gracie has this toy. . .actually to be more specific she's on toy # 3. This toy is referred to as the Boo Boo around our house. It's one of those stupid looking dog things made famous by the Pet's Mart commercials. Gracie absolutely loves it--we have to hide it to make her stop playing with it. The only problem that we have encountered with Gracie's obsession with this toy is she also likes to destroy the toy. By destroy, I mean pull out all the stuffing until all that is left is the cloth cover. Once this task has been accomplished I usually head to the store to buy another one. So as of this date we're on Boo Boo #3. We started with a purple one . . .

moved on to the blue one (no pic), and now we are on an orange one. . .

Gracie's obsession makes me laugh, so I've decided to start documenting the Boo Boo's over the next year. Any time Gracie get's a new Boo Boo I will let ya'll know.


Gracie received her first Boo Boo in June of 2009. So now begins the count to see how many Boo Boo's will meet there demise by June of 2010. Any guesses????

Slow Mo

So, last weeks 15K didn't go to well.  I felt great up until mile 7 and then the heat and humidity really got to me.  I felt like I was running in sand and not going anywhere, but I trucked along in my sweaty glory until I reached mile 8 and then it just got worse.  I was starting to get goose bumps (sign of dehydration) so I took a brief walk to get some water and gatorade.  During this time, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to take a hit off my inhaler--which I did and all was well.  So, I start jogging again and probably made it a quarter mile or so only to realize that I no longer have my inhaler.  Great . . .now what should I do.  I'm not really having any trouble breathing, so I could leave it behind. . . but then, it is pretty new and it would take at least 2 days to get a new one and it cost $30 dollars. . . so, ugh. . .I guess I'll turn around and see if I can find it.  So I start running away from the finish (this is a mental beat down) and ask some people (heading toward the finish) if they've seen an inhaler on the ground.  Luckily a man (not a nice one or he would have picked it up) said he saw it about a quarter mile back or so.  To make a long story short, I finished.  It just took me a lot longer than planned and I felt like poop doing it.  This was probably the worst race I've ever ran. 

But on a happier note, my friends did really well.  Ester got 3rd in our age group (Female 25-29), Amy got 12th, and I got 25th.

So, I took the past weekend off from racing and will try my luck again this upcoming weeked at the Tour des Fleurs. I'm running the 20K so it'll be slow and steady.  The race starts at the Dallas Aboretum and it goes around White Rock Lake.  I did the 10K last year and had a good time so this year should be fun, plus the Aboretum is really pretty this time of year. 

Nothing else too exciting going on.  Dallas Cowboys won and it rained all weekend!!  Couldn't ask for much more.

Big D

This is a pic of some of my running friends. . . Amy (in blue), Sam, and Ester (in pink). This was taken before The Big D marathon. I did the half marathon, and Amy did her first full! Ester and Sam helped coach Amy all the way through her 26.2.

We did this at the beginning of April and it was actually still cold then-thus the long sleeves. I'm going to try and start taking my camera to the races, so I can get some more pics to post on here.

Snot Great

I've got a snot problem. Not feeling too bueno. Thanks goodness for puffs plus w/lotion (product shout-out). . .best invention for allergy sufferers by far! I've got a 15K tomorrow morning, so I hope I get all the snot out today. Hope everyone is having an excellent labor day weekend. Wish I could think of something more entertaining to write about, but all the medicine has got me off my A game.