Life's Lemons

Awhile back Mommy tried to sell our Lemonade Stand but we had no takers. We've had way too many lemon's thrown at us AGAIN and frankly, we are soooooo tired of it! But what can a person or a dog do about it, right? So we're back to making lemonade.

G-Pa Bob is still in the hospital. Today will be his 13th day in there. He is enjoying the excellent care, pretty nurses, nice therapists, and of course, the 3 square meals a day. Isn't it always about the food!

It's been determined that as of now, his body is no longer producing any new blood cells. He has been receiving blood transfusions from the Blood Bank. Remember people, your donated blood can help people like G-Pa Bob stay alive. The only way to find out why he is not making new blood, is to do a bone marrow test. Our Doctor highly advises against it due to many factors like age, health, etc. Mommy will not put him through that. Unless a miracle happens, he will require transfusions for the remainder of his life. We think they should install a device in him that will ding really loudly and say "oil change required."

The Neurologist has determined that G-Pa Bob has Hypothyroidism and they gave him a new daily medicine for that. The other big concern is that he now has Foot Neuropathy. In his case, this means that his brain is not telling his feet what to do so when he tries to stand up he wobbles and falls down. They attribute this to hitting his head in the kitchen on the 13th. He has taken 4 hard blows to the head in less than a week. These have really taken its toll on his "coconut." Poor G-Pa Bob, doesn't know which end is up anymore. The Neurologist said his brain remains in a "dream state" even when awake. Mommy has been spending most of her time sitting at the hospital with him.

If all goes well today, he may be transferred over to a Rehab Facility for care. They were going to move him yesterday, but he required 2 more units of blood and by last night there were no longer any beds available at the facility. The facility will check his blood weekly and will take him to the hospital as an out-patient for any transfusions needed. We really miss having him at home!

Daddy is doing well with his recovery and that makes us all happy! They removed the drainage tube and his 6" incision is healing nicely. Still no lifting us up or driving, but we're all getting used to that. So Mommy has to do all the work at home. She does it all late at night when she gets home from the hospital.

Muffin had her annual exam and shots last week and this time did NOT get sick from the shots like she did last year. That's bcuz the Vet gave her a shot of Benedryl first. Butt, we did get a call last night and she has a low glucose level. WTF! Mommy will have to take her in next week for another blood test to re-check it.

I, Lily Belle, go back in mid April for my kidney re-check.

Amongst this all, Mommy got an e-mail the other night from someone up the road from us (a newer neighbor that she didn't know) that his 16 year old doggie who is deaf and blind wandered away from the yard. As soon as Mommy arrived home from the hospital, she hopped in the golf cart and joined in the search party. The owners were frantic trying to find their sweet girl. We live in a huge, private community with 3 golf courses so we knew it would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. There are lot's of ponds and lot's of alligators too which made things worse. Mommy helped search for days and hours, as much as she could. Wait for it..... There is GREAT news! Isabella has been found and is doing well. She wandered about a mile away from home and was found by some nice lady who took her in and fed her and loved her. She took her to the shelter and from there was reunited with her owners. A very happy ending.

Well there you have it furends, the latest news from our end. We sure wish we had something better to report. Maybe we need some Fairy Dust sprinkled over our heads.

Oh, we forgot to mention how Mommy is doing..... All we can say is she's "tough like bull!"

Mommy is trying to keep up with all of you in Blogville and tho can't comment often due to lack of her time, she is there lurking in the background.

Love you all!

Hugs,
Lily Belle



Sunrise in our back yard