Raci

So much to catch up on, or more than you really want to know

        Well to begin with and as most know that my dog Babe has passed. It was hard to deal with and doubt I will ever get over her , she was a great dog and in retrospect I have to say I may have seen signs of her time coming around. And in contrast I have found another dog I am trying to save and so far have been successful and possibly what has stirred me to start writing again. Her name is Raci. She is in stark contrast to babe and I will go into detail about all of that later. I also need to catch you up on some other facts about my life I haven’t shared too much about , but feel it is important to share at t5his time. Somewhat so that you understand my frame of mind and need to express myself.

        The miracles of medicine have shown some light on me. I said to myself years ago that I would never let myself undergo surgery on my back, but as time went on and further deterioration of my back left me dragging my right leg and being in constant pain and a future of steroids to possibly ease some of the pain I was experiencing.

        I had heard of some amazing medical breakthroughs and consulted with my Dr. as to what could possibly be done. He was clueless but instead referred me to a specialist. after testing It was determined that I could possibly benefit from a major back operation and insertion of steel pins and a cage to separate the discs and relieve the pressure on the nerve root running down my leg. In fact 3 discs were going to be affected by this operation and a fusing into my hip bone would permanently arrest the degeneration of disc space and ease my pain I was experiencing.

      The miracles they are performing in medicine now–a–days reminds me of a story i heard about this young baby that was born without any eyelids, his poor eyes had nothing to bat away dirt and debris or alert your nerves  to the possibility of something foreign accidentally being projected into the eye. This is a rather serious and rare condition but was easily remedied by taking a portion of the tip of the foreskin of the baby’s penis and stitching it on the eyelid. Minute hairs now would eventually be replaced by darker curlier hairs later in his life. A simple solution to a problem that would eventually manifest itself if nothing is done, and Of course it really doesn’t affect his vision but none the less he will always be a little cock eyed.

       Well it was 4 weeks this past Friday since I have had surgery. The leg I was dragging has seen a reduction in pain and nerve response. As well I have noticed an improvement in my left leg as well. still I am awhile from saying I am having total success in having this operation. I was told it would take about 6 weeks to have substantial recovery. Across my lower back I am still having problems and it affects my ability to walk long distances. I can make it into stores including Walmart and have found some therapeutic value of walking behind the cart. I am starting re-hab this week and will spend time in the pool and on exercise machines as I try to strengthen those back muscles. I would be  happy to just walk longer distances of a couple hundred yards , or avoid that low back pain altogether.

     They went in and cut right over the old scar I had from a previous operation and made it longer to acco0modate the work they needed to do. Discs were trimmed or removed and an elaborate stainless steel cage was built in my lower back with the pins holding my vertebrae at the proper distance thus separating them in the process, muscles and tendons were cut and re-stitched back together, as well that at one point there was a concern that I had lost some spinal fluid and there was a hole in the sack that surrounds my spinal cord. All of this has healed back in very well according to a multitude of medical personnel that have had the chance to check it out. All I can do is take their word for it.

      So in that regard I guess if I have some back pain still, it in some respects could only be expected. Still I want to be able to go and do without regard to what I have just experienced or are still experiencing. This includes the monetary cost of the whole thing. I am looking at close to 170000 dollars but that is insurance scare you money, and instead Cleveland clinic settled for 17000, plus a thousand here and there for this and that. My cost so far is around 4500, I imagine by the time they are done. I doubt I have seen all the bills yet. Still for 4500 if I was buying a car I would expect I could find me a nice old muscle care with a decent paint job for that price. With a rebuilt motor and sound suspension could easily last me quite a while. In fact I have been looking at hummers owned by the government for that price and they seem reasonable enough.

      The money I spent is nothing really if it brings me comfort and reduces the pain I was experiencing even just sitting at the desk writing as I am now is an improvement over the pain I was experiencing before. So far so good is all I will say and will move on from there.

     I woke early this am and immediately thought of my new dog and realized something about her that I have been kicking the thought around as to why I have never heard her whimper, whine, bark , or cry out  since I have had her.  She has a problem digesting and now I feed her mostly canned food and also I buy chicken slices and hold those in my hand so that she has to tear them out of my hand. If I don’t do this or watch her portion size she will hack up what she eats in a foamy mess. She re-eats it much to my disgust, but it seems to be the only way she has survived so far. She has spent most of her time under the influence of an Amish breeder and she had a goiter removed , but she only knows what has happened to her and as I go along I wonder if she hasn’t had her vocal cords damaged or removed to prevent her from barking or even uttering a sound. I couldn’t shut babe up and now raci is the opposite. I feel sorry for the dog and I am doing my best to accommodate her and her condition, including multiple feedings at all times of the day. Part of the reason I was up at 3 this am. I feed her more often but less at each feeding. It seems to be working.

        She is now eating small amounts of dry food and seems to be able to keep that down. I also feed her scrambled eggs. She likes them well and hardly has a problem keeping them down. Babe would eat once a day and she would eat dry food and most of the time I would share with her , and she would eat her dry food only after I had fed her for the day. In fact babe was eating her supper when she passed. I doubt I will ever forget.

       Raci has an appetite despite having the problems she has. I was hoping it was just a phase she was going through, but now I tend to think she is mute, and never will make a noise, as well she will take a while to fill out . She has gained weight but she still has ways no go. The idea of her waking me in the case of a fire may be impossible unless she comes and grasps me with her mouth. This is something I need to work on with her. Not just for my sake but hers to. I want her to come and grab me if she needs water or to go outside to go to the bathroom. This is something babe did almost right off the bat, Raci needs some work. Raci is a smaller dog but I think she has the potential to get bigger as I think she is still somewhat young.

      I didn’t want a puppy to start all over with, and besides there are so many throw away dogs, that I figured a rescue would come along. She has. And she is a handful, including for the reason she is named Raci is because of her running away. She did it the first day and just recently made a dash for it, so I have kept her on a leash since then , it is tough for both of us. I do have a cable run for her though. But walking her long distances is hard on me now, but a lot easier than chasing her all over god’s creation. She does have moments where you can tell she is happy. Sherry my sister makes her happy, being free, and me returning from store when she is locked inside. A whimperless dance is usually executed.

        Well this is enough for now and don’t want to burn myself out, instead I need to write more often. I will cover some topics in more detail as I go along. But for now this should be enough.