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. . ."

Snowy Is In ICU

On the drive here to Manteo, the doctor called about Snowy. She said he is not bouncing back like they had hoped, hasn't eaten anything at all and has been able to urinate very little. He is in the ICU and on Valium, morphine and IV fluids.

They were about to give him a high dose of steroids to reduce inflammation but needed our permission first because it can have serious side effects. They were also going to sedate him and put in a 12-hour catheter, but when they tried that, he actually leaked a little urine so they're going to wait on the catheter a little longer and see if the steroid reduces inflammation enough to bring about results.

Sarah and I had another Snowy Cry Session after the doctor's phone call; it's terrible to think of him being in such pain and having to be away from home and away from the family he loves.

The doctor said if anything changed in the middle of the night, they would call us. Otherwise, we'll get a call in the morning to let us know how his night went and another call in the afternoon to see when he might be able to go home. They won't discharge him, of course, until he's eating, his pain is manageable and he's able to urinate. (And in the meantime, the bill goes up, up, up! Yikes.)

We're about to head out for a dinner; I'll be in touch if anything changes.

Thanks for your prayers for peace and comfort for little Snowy and for his family, as well.

The Fifth Smith

The hospital called this morning and said that Snowy can't be discharged today after all. He's still in quite a bit of pain and unable to urinate so he has a catheter in and is still on IV meds and fluids. They also did an ultrasound and said there's a lot of inflammation issues that need to be resolved before he can be released.

And it really worked out okay because we were in sort of a quandary about picking him up today and then either traveling with him (a challenge for all involved) or leaving me behind to care for him, which would put a bit of a dent into the music line up since I play the keyboard for the worship team.

We'll either pick him up tomorrow evening when we get home or on Monday morning. And believe me, when he gets home he will be hugged, and cuddled, and petted, and patted and spoiled rotten. (Not that he isn't all the time anyway!)

A few of you mentioned pet insurance in the comments and yes, that sort of thing actually does exist. Steve did some research on it last night and it's about $30 a month. We may look into giving that a try since enormous vet bills are not our list of favorite things.

Again, thanks for all your sweet comments and prayers for our family. We are so happy to know that our beloved "Fifth Smith" will be back home with us soon.



We'll head out to Manteo in a couple hours. We'll be attending a dinner tonight, have the service in the morning and then turn right back around and head home tomorrow night.

Our realtor did get our offer written up and presented to the family who owns the house that we're hoping to rent/buy. We should hear an initial response from them early next week. If all goes well, the very earliest we could be in the house is December 1st. We're not sure of all the details yet, but for the month of November, Steve may just end up moving to Manteo by himself with Sarah and I driving over on weekends. That would keep us from having to move so much family stuff over there until we actually have a house to move it all into.Lots of details to work out.

Happily, Nathan will be here at least a week in November which is just exactly the right timing to help us pack. Hurray for a strong and wonderful son!

Time to go finish the packing that was interrupted by the doggie emergency yesterday. Thanks for checking in!

Snowy Update

It's been a very long day as tears and love were all wrapped around one white, 5 1/2 pound package and delivered to the surgeon at 2 pm.

We met with a doctor who explained that they would do blood work first thing. She said that since Snowy hadn't been able to urinate for so long, toxins could very well have built up inside his body affecting many different areas, including his heart function.

She then explained that during the surgery, the surgeon would first attempt to push the (huge) kidney stone back into the bladder and then make an incision in Snowy's abdomen and remove the stone from that direction. That would be the best case scenario.

She said that if that didn't work, there was the possibility that they would have to re-route his "plumbing" altogether so that for the rest of his life, he would urinate like a female dog instead of a male. (That scenario had something to do with fissions and scar tissue that would make urinating difficult or impossible the "old" way. That would also push the cost of the surgery to over $3,000 instead of "only" $2,000.)

We sat in that little room and filled out forms and signed papers having to do with "Do Not Resuscitate Orders" and what we wanted them to do if he had a cardiac arrest during surgery. By the end of it, we were both broken down in tears and basically cried all the way home.

Sarah spending a few last minutes with her dear little companion at the doctor's.

When we got home, the three of us sat at the kitchen table and had a pretty serious and heartbreaking talk about how high the expenses could go and how much we thought we would be able to justify paying if it went way up over $2,000.

That is NOT a conversation I ever care to have again with my daughter. Snowy has been her shining light throughout the worst months and years of cancer treatment and to contemplate with her that he could be at the end of his life was a conversation that was beyond excruciating.

Although she was teary eyed, she was also level headed and she bravely told Steve and me that she understood that as much as we all loved Snowy, there were financial issues to consider as well, in light of our recent (almost) year of unemployment. We all finally agreed that we would just wait and hear back from the surgeon once he got into the surgery and could actually tell us what direction the surgery would end up going.

There were more tears, a family prayer and a hug before we all drifted away to various parts of the house to just be alone.

And also to think about a beloved white doggy at the hospital, with needles in his veins, love in his heart, and a difficult surgery ahead of him.

They said we would hear something around 8 pm. I'll let you know. . .

BREAKING NEWS!

Just as I finished typing this, the hospital called.

Snowy came through the surgery very well and thankfully, they WERE able to get the stone pushed back into his bladder and remove it! Woo-hoo!

He is still on IV's and on morphine and isn't quite awake yet, but they said if he starts eating a little bit tomorrow morning, we can conceivably plan on bringing him home tomorrow afternoon. (The hospital is about an hour away.)

We're still not sure what we're going to to do about Manteo; Steve, of course, will go tomorrow regardless, but we'll have to see how well Snowy is feeling before we decide what Sarah and I will do.

Thank you for your kind comments, thoughts, and prayers!

We are one very happy, grateful, Snowy-blessed Smith family tonight!!!!