Monday, June 21, 2010

Family Emergencies

I'm really glad I've been obsessed with taking pictures of my ankle. It allows me to go back through my collection and see first hand the progress I've made.

This is what my ankle looked like on April 1st. At the time, it was a breeding ground for deadly bacteria. They were well on their way to borrowing a deep hole in my shin.

Imagine waking up one day and seeing this as your new ankle and foot. Hilarious, right? What a great April Fool's joke.

So I'm afraid I've got some bad news concerning our dog, Spunky. Last Tuesday, after returning from the veterinary, Spunky began to show signs of severe neck pain. We took her to the animal hospital Friday night. She was prescribed some medication to reduce inflammation.

I took her to the veterinary again today and received some more bad news. X-Rays show that she has some mineralization in the disc between her third and fourth vertebrae. This means it's developed over the course of most of her life, so nothing acute caused her pain last week. The disc problem is likely due to her tugging (and I'm afraid to say, our tugging) on her collar during walks. We feel terrible. The good news is she has no neurological deficits, so she is not in any life threatening danger.

The Spunkster is about to undergo some major lifestyle changes. Her activity level has to be dramatically reduced, and if her symptoms don't improve after a few weeks, she's facing surgery. If you've ever met Spunky, you know how difficult this transition will be for her. She's usually a 90 mph dog.

First, I hit a tree, break an ankle, and visit the ER. Now, our hyperactive, smelly, hilarious, and sweet beagle has a bad neck and makes the trip to the Doggy ER.

That leaves Brooke as the only family member without an ER visit in 2010. Maybe we should encase her in bubble wrap to help prevent what appears to be inevitable.

1 comment:

  1. It's weird how some people look like their dog...I guess you and your dog act alike. You two have so much in common, guess you both need to learn to relax. Yeah, right. Like your dad needs to learn to sleep in. Ain't happenin! Give spunky a hug for us. And Brooke an even bigger one. I like the bubble wrap idea!! Love you.

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