Baxter is FINALLY having surgery!

Praise God! Baxter will soon be out of pain and be able to run and play again. We had a long & thorough consult/exam with Dr. Cor today. We've gotten Baxter down to 37.5 as of today on their scales. He decided it was best to go forward because Baxter can't lose any more weight without activity though he had first said we'd have to get to 35. Baxyer has his surgery next Wednesday, the 31st. He will stay two days then be confined at home 3 days. We are not going to have to kennel him. Dr Cpr thought it was great idea just to remove bed frame & box springs with just mattress on floor. It isn't too big of a step for him. Then to go outside, we can use my own wheelchair ramp out the front door as he can't do steps for awhile. I've seldom ever had to use this, but it's great it will be needed now. The name of surgery is very long, and I didn't write it down. But it's drilling into the top & bottom parts of knee. A heavy wire-like suture is threaded into the holes and pulls it together so it doesn't slip out. He showed us models of how things are now and how it should be. Finally, he had me feel Baxter's knee. When he barely moved it, it just slipped right out. This part of knee isn't suppose to move at all. He said we should expect 80 to 95% approval. However, very small chance that he might need another surgery which would lock the knee all together. The surgery he is having is $500. The other one is $5,000. Soooooooooooooo, we really hope this will do the trick. We were also able to get ALL of Baxter's records from Anita out here. Even the notes didn't make sense. "Dog is dragging legs-- possibly spine problem." But we just knew there was something definitely very wrong that she wasn't catching. So very thankful God led us to the right hands. We are sure Anita meant no harm. It is just some Vets are more experienced, and Dr. Cor has been practicing a long time. We have 7 perfect days to prepare home. Don will be home and not out of town. It's just God's perfect timing. And we have insurance on Baxter! So I'm praising God for this. It will take a total of 2 months for full recovery, but then we will be on the other side. Pain Free! Able to run! Thank you, Lord!!!

Baxter to finally have surgery consult

It was a month ago today that we celebrated Baxter losing a whole pound with only 3 1/2 more lbs to lose before approved for his surgery. Yet no matter what we've done, he has now only lost 2/10ths of a pound. We called Dr. Cor to update him. We are so thankful he has agreed on a surgery consult next Tuesday, the 23rd. He sounded like he was going to go ahead with it, explaining that a dog will reach a maintenence weight and can't lose any more without activity. He said he would hope that after surgery, with Baxter being able to move about and exercise, that he could lose the extra weight at that point. This has been our thoughts for awhile. How can he lose anymore if he can't run around to burn calories? We are so excited for Baxter to finally be out of pain and be back to his happy, playful self. Don is calling our contractor friend to build a ramp off our deck right away as Dr. Cor said they can't do steps for awhile after surgery. And we aren't going to keep him in a kennel for recovery. We're just going to lower bed off the frame so he doesn't try to jump on ottoman to jump up with us. (He has slept in our arms since a baby) We'll just join him on his level for awhile. We'll have all the surgery info Tuesday. What perfect timing God has!

Ramah Day with the dogs

Everyone was blessed today as we all headed out to Ramah Wildlife Area. There is no one there anymore-- its just brush & plains as far as you can see. What an awesome place for no leashes! Eva was the first one to take off and run as a fast as she could. Just running feels so good! We covered about 1/3 of what use to be a lake. And Baxter? He mostly walked but with a brisk pace. We gave him a pain pill before heading out. On the way home, we stopped for his weight this week: he lost one whole pound in 7 days. We are 3 1/2 pounds away from surgery. Way to go, Baxter! Interestingly enough, after we got home, it began to snow & hasn't stopped. I love God's timing. He is never late, never early, but always on time. He sure led us wisely today!

Eva gets over on me

Eva is a challenging dog to train/teach. She is so very young, stubborn and absolutely no training her first year as puppy. I started her with easiest trick to learn: "shake." It has been several months, off and on. I finally put some treats in bathroom, and would take her in there, away from any distractions from her pack. She has allowed me to pick her foot up each time and has received a treat afterwards. I just knew the poor thang must have gotten in trouble for pawing at people. This is why she was struggling, obviously. But finally, I began with-holding her treat. It took Eva about 2 minutes to figure out that she wasn't going to get the treat. Lo and behold, Eva lifted her paw! Again and again and again she responded to the request. She lifted her paw all by herself to get the treat. Oh well, she certainly had a good time with me lifting her paw for her and getting treats.

Ciggy breaks arm

Last Friday, Ciggy broke her arm while taking out the trash. Ciggy has been my home helper for a long time. She is like family. We heard her screams & raced to her where I couldn't even touch her hand or fingers. Took her to E.R. where X-ray showed she broke her radius in 4 different places. She sees a surgeon today. She is sorely missed. We are keeping up with her and have a temporary in meantime.

update on Baxter

We've had a wonderful evening with Baxter. With the extra meds, he has actually ran around some with a lot of tail wagging. He enjoyed his second helping of green beans tonight PLUS we made a broth for him-- about 1/4th cup beef broth to 2 cups water. He gulped this up and felt his belly full. I'm so thankful there was/is more comfort we can give him. Oh! And he definitely enjoyed some play time with the new toys. Anything Eva wanted, he wanted more. LOL

Our sweet beagle boy, Baxter

I feel like I'm going down the same road as I did with Sasha: a road of pain with a dead end. Yet I know the Lord brought this creature into my life for a reason. There's a reason for all this. Baxter has so many health issues like Sasha did. The biggest one we are facing now is his spine/knee needing surgery, but he has to lose more weight before Dr Cor will do it. Yeah, I could go find another Vet, but I've known Dr. Cor over 20 years, and he knows what he is doing. We started this challenge over 60 pounds. We are now down to 39.5. He can have surgery at 35 pounds. My heart just sunk yesterday when I saw that number. I thought he'd be at 38 or 37. It's what Dr. Cor calls "tough love." Watching Baxter starve, listening to him cry, seeing him fight over a tiny rawhide. It's like Don says, "Can you imagine losing half your body weight?" And the anger I have towards Dr. Baker for not treating him right for over a year which worsened his joints the whole time. And I feel soooooo guilty that I didn't realize his weight was so serious. So dumb for not thinking of the inuries it could cause. I called Dr. Cor today for anything more we could do. I've been praying for God's help. Maybe He would answer through Dr. Cor. He did. Dr. Cor said Baxter could have 1 cup of green beans with breakfast and dinner. Doesn't sound like much, but we both raced to give him the Green Giant green beans. We were happy watching him have something special-- just to be able to eat. And he'll get another cup tonight. He was allowed raw carrots unlimited, but he wants no part of that. And we can do unlimited rawhide and increase the pain meds and anti-inflammatants. So--- it is Hope. I think we all need Hope in every situation in life. Our Hope endures. Pending our weather, we're going to try & get everybody out to Ramah state park near us so everyone can run--including Baxter. We have a bunch, huge bunch, of new toys to run after. So we are gonna get there. Four more pounds. But for now, we will aim just for one. Lord, help us be good guardians over him who you created. Give us wisdom, discipline, and perseverence! We are nearing the end of this race when the runner becomes so exhausted they can't take another step. But give us that euphoric rush where we suddenly feel such a soar of new energy to run yet another mile. Thank you for providing for Baxter. I forget you're in charge, but you are. I just let it go, Lord. Take it. Take it all from me as I surrender. For we seek your peace amidst the storm. Be my peace, Lord. Be our peace.

My grandkids & Sister, Sara, taking care of them so sweetly

My beautiful husband is home

My husband, Don, has to travel sometimes with his work in hospital advertising. We both hate being apart as we can't sleep without our bodies wrapped around each other. He had just finished a Tuscon job which took him away a lot so we enjoyed last week together. Then yesterday, he woke up at 4 AM and drove through a couple hours of snow to get out of Colorado and then onto Whichita, KA. He worked all afternoon and all of today, up till 3PM. Then he drove back home. That is a lot of driving & working, just enough time to sleep. That's how bad he hates being away. We, (myself, 4 dogs & 3 cats) were elated when he got in around 9 PM tonight. We have our feet entangled together in bed as I type. Thank you, Lord, for keeping him safe on the road and for such a prosperous 2 days in Whichita.

And now, if I can work my way through the cuddling dogs on our bed, I'm gonna be back in the arms of my beautiful husband and be able to sleep!

My mother & step father

Be Still my Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9zHn4QSH-8

Snow Day

We were supposed to get a storm over-night, but it didn't happen. Just some fresh pretty snow. Don left at 4 AM to drive to Whichita, KA, and he got there by 11 AM. This is a fast hospital so he will drive home tomorrow night. This is my blog. I got inspired by my neice, Michelle.