A Dog On My Head (And a Recipe)

Hello from Snowy World!

You all were so sweet to check in on him yesterday; in fact, my hit counter was the highest it's been since starting this blog. It's quite obvious that Snowy is a very popular Teacup Maltese Dog Person.

I also appreciate the words of advice you shared in helping us deal with all of the post-operative challenges; thanks so much for taking the time to sign in with a comment or e-mail us personally.

Last night was Sarah's night to be "on call" with Snowy; she slept with him in Nathan's bed since he gets very anxious if he's not close to one of us at all times. She was up with him at 2 am and then I got up with him at 5 am to take him outside.

He came back in and immediately wanted to go outside again.

At 5 am. When it was freezing cold. And I was so tired.

After I had finally convinced him that he was done going to the bathroom and that he should stay inside for a while, I lay down the couch and tried to get him to settle in beside me. He flung himself up and down trying to find a comfortable spot, with his little cone getting caught on couch corners, pillows and me.

Finally, he found a spot he liked.

It was on my head.

I sighed. I said, "Snowy, I love you a lot, but you can not sleep on my head."

When I reached up to adjust him to another area, he decided he had to go outside. Again. Where it was still cold.

He came back in and went through the whole "running up and down the couch, bumping into corners" routine until he finally once again settled himself into a comfy spot.

On my left ear.

After about thirty minutes of going in and out, and various couch maneuverings, the two of us finally found sleeping positions that were mutually acceptable (which meant he was NOT on my head) and slept another two hours.

The swelling around the surgery area is really giving him fits in making him think he has to go to the bathroom when he really doesn't. So far, the only two places where he is happy is outside (tied up to the swing) where he assumes The Peeing Position about every 30 seconds or else inside, tucked up very close to Steve, Sarah or me. So we're all three taking turns doing "Sitting With Snowy" duty. (It's my turn now) Overnight, Steve will be "on call" while Sarah and I catch up on our sleep.

It's sure a good thing we love him so much!

Here are a couple pictures from Steve's Assigned Snuggle Time with him before bed last night. He was cold and shivering so we put a towel and a robe over him. He was quite happy with that scenario; warm coverings and a human being to hang with. Little spoiled doggy!





Yesterday, I also promised a few pictures of Nathan. Before I post those, though, the question was asked why he and Meagan were so dressed up in the picture I included yesterday; it was because their college group at church went to a dinner theater.

A cute couple, I must say!



Nathan. Being Nathan.


With college friends doing what college friends do.





And lastly, I have another recipe for you. (By the way, if you ever want to find any previous recipes included on this site, scroll down the right column to where all the subjects are listed and you'll find a recipe category there.)

This recipe is wonderful because you can have it ready for the oven in less than five minutes. You can either bake it at 300 degrees for several hours (3-4) or put it in the crockpot all day. I usually double it because it makes wonderful leftovers.

NO PEEK BEEF STEW

1 lb stew beef-one inch pieces (can add more or less beef according to what you have on hand)
1 envelope dried onion soup mix
1/2 C red wine or cooking wine (Note: any alcohol content burns off in the cooking, leaving just the flavor)
1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
four ounce can of mushrooms, drained (I leave this out since I'm not a lover of mushrooms)

• NOTE: Some of my readers shared a few variations to this recipe: You can use real onion instead of Lipton soup, add cut carrots & potatos and cream of celery soup. Can use water or ginger ale instead of wine to dilute soup. The ginger ale seems to tenderize the meat.

Mix all ingredients. (Now wasn't that easy?)

Bake in an oven or put in a crock pot.

Serve over noodles or rice.

It's especially good for a cold October night OR it's good to put in the oven before church on Sunday morning. Come home and lunch is just about ready!

Alrighty then. Sarah is just finishing up school and then she and I are headed out to a thrift store to stock up on a few more winter basics. Steve will take over in the Sitting With Snowy Department until we get home.

Yes! It's Another Post

This is my third post today; do I win any sort of award?

A few of you asked how the house showing went. We heard back from the realtor and she said that the people loved the house and the overall "look." However, they had wanted a master bedroom on the first floor.

Sigh. It would have been nice if they would have confirmed that little detail before we spent two hours (with a recently discharged-from-the-hospital dog) cleaning and rushing about like crazy people.

Snowy's had a challenging afternoon at home. Most of his sutures are in his abdomen but they also placed one stitch in an area that makes him feel like he has to go to the bathroom.

All. The. Time.

Without exaggeration, he has asked to go outside fifteen times today and when he gets out there, he will do his little "leg lifting" routine twenty times. Then he'll come inside, sit there for about five minutes and act desperate to go outside again.

Since we are not supposed to let him run around our fenced yard (running isn't good for his stitches), we can't just let him out the back door like we usually do. We have to take the leash and walk him around and wait for him to do his leg lifting routine over and over and over. And over and over and over and over.

It's a good thing we love him!

We did take his cone off for a while to see if that would help him eat; he did well for about thirty minutes and then Steve noticed him trying to lick his stitches. When Steve tried to stop him, Snowy snapped at Steve. (Which is very unusual for Snowy; I think he's still "emotionally" raw from the weekend.) And so we had to put the cone back on, where I'm afraid it will have to stay. I'm not sure how we can get a dog to eat with a cone on but I'm sure we'll figure out a way!

He seems anxious a lot of the time; the only time he's calm is when he's sitting with one of us and wrapped in a blanket. I can certainly understand how he must feel; he just spent three days having some very uncomfortable things done to a very personal part of his person. He was in a strange building with strange people and a lot of things hurt and he had a needle in his paw and he was not with people he knew and loved. I'd be surprised if he wasn't a bit traumatized.

Although he usually sleeps in his large kennel at night, we figured that for the next few nights we'll have to take turns sleeping with him so that he has someone near him all the time. Steve and I were saying that dealing with him right now is very much like dealing with a two-year old!

I know that as each day goes by, he'll feel better and be less stressed out. It's just nice to have our family circle complete again--well, except for Nathan.

And speaking of Nathan, I asked his girl friend, Meagan, to take a few pictures of him. She sent me several which I'll post tomorrow.

For tonight I'll just post one of them. Looking at the picture makes me miss him all the more, but it also makes me thankful that he is in a place where he is happy and he is in God's will, pursuing his calling and vocation. (Not to mention, pursuing a certain lovely lady.)

That makes this mama heart smile!

One Happy Doggy!

Okay. Let me take a deep breath and try to gather my thoughts.

In between taking Snowy to the vet in Smithfield on Friday morning, racing him to Raleigh for surgery on Friday afternoon, traveling to Manteo on Saturday morning (with worried phone calls to and from the vet surgeon en route), having dinner with some wonderful Manteo-ites on Saturday night, doing rehearsal and service Sunday morning (with another phone call to the vet tucked in there), eating lunch with missionaries to India after church, doing the 3-hour drive home to Smithfield Sunday night, unpacking when we got here, doing a little home school, running to the hospital to pick up Snowy this morning, cleaning the house in a hurry and then leaving the house an hour for the showing this afternoon, I'm not sure whether I'm coming or going.

What I am sure about, though, is that having Snowy snuggled beside me in my chair while I type is worth a whole pot of gold! The poor guy is wearing a cone thing over his head (to keep him from scratching or licking his sutures) but he's keeping a good attitude about it and seems to be able to take naps and rest in spite of it.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The first hug
(You can't see them, but there were some happy "other customers" and hospital employees looking on.)



Snowy looks a little "mellow" because they still had him on some pretty strong pain meds.




On the way home, I felt just like I was holding a new baby. I had his blanket along and he fell right to sleep in my arms, just the way a newborn would. And the funny thing is that the cost was sort of similar. (Well, it's not really funny funny, but you know what I mean.)



Out exploring the yard; you can see how thin he's become.


The plan for right now is to keep him on pain meds and an antibiotic around the clock and on Friday take him back to the hospital to see if his sutures are ready to come out yet. If they are, his cone can be taken off. If not, we'll check back in with them early the following week.

I feel so bad for him having to wear the cone; it makes eating and drinking quite a challenge!
Sarah is his official water bowl holder.



He's also not supposed to run or jump or do anything to disturb those stitches; unfortunately (or maybe I should say happily), he's starting to feel so good that running and jumping is just what he wants to do! It's going to be an interesting few days as we try to keep him quiet and feed him around that "alien cone" he has to wear!

Let me close by saying once again how blessed we feel to have our little friend returned to us; when the doctor called us on the road Saturday and said he wasn't doing well, I went into the bathroom at the gas station we had stopped at and just sobbed. It was unthinkable to contemplate him never coming back home again and even with all the extra meds and precaustions we have to deal with this week, it will all be a labor of love.

Snowy says thanks to all of you for your concern and your prayers. He also says to tell you, "I am one happy doggy!"

Here are our three kids




And this week's star of the Smith family

Writing With Snowy

A longer post will be coming soon; this is the first chance I've had to sit down today.

We had just gotten home from the pet hospital, gotten Snowy settled in and fixed ourselves lunch when the phone rang. We were asked if we could be out of the house in 45 minutes for a showing and had to be gone an hour.

So! We're now just getting back from that little jaunt.

Thankfully, Snowy is right here beside me in my "writing chair" so the chances of another post coming soon are very good!

Snowy Happiness

We talked to Snowy's doctor on the way home from Manteo and the first bit of news we heard was that Snowy had removed his own catheter! (A self service patient.)

After I got done wincing a little over the "ouch factor" involved in that sort of maneuver, I was actually kind of encouraged because it sounded to me like he was getting a little of his pep for life back. Up to that point, he had been so listless and demoralized and seemed to have given up the fight. Pulling out a catheter takes a lot of spirit! He was basically saying, "Look people. I am so over this place!"

And then the doctor told us he'd been eating a lot better today and had had a bowel movement and was doing better urinating. (Sorry if this is too much information, but at this point in our life, we just feel pretty jolly about those kinds of details.)

So here's the good news! If nothing changes overnight, the three of us will head out tomorrow morning for our Fetching the Fine Furry Fella Foray. I'll be sure to get pictures of the reunion.

I'm sure he will be traumatized for a while since he's just gone through the worst three days of his life; Sarah and I have many plans in place for holding him and petting him endlessly. He will be one spoiled doggy.

I can't tell you how worried we have been and how dreary life was looking for us if he hadn't pulled through this. Most dogs go home the next morning after this surgery but he just wasn't bouncing back; yesterday, we were concerned about whether or not he would even survive.

After that phone call from the hospital this afternoon, however, our gloomies have been replaced by a big ol' dose of Snowy Happiness.

Hallelujah and hooray!

________________

The question was asked how old Snowy is. On October 31st, he will turn ten. We got him when he was just a few weeks old and he traveled with us to about thirty-five states, "helped" me home school the kids, and nursed Sarah through cancer treatment. For those of you who have pets of your own, you know what I mean what I say he is a beloved member of our family.

We're headed back to Smithfield in a couple minutes.

We're expecting another call from the animal hospital any minute; we did hear from them this morning. They said that Snowy had another tough night; they finally decided to go ahead and sedate him again and insert a 12-hour catheter. He's still in a lot of pain and on his IV's and meds. We definitely won't be picking him up today.

A sad, stressful day in the "dog department. . ."