In addition to the normal stuff, this week we got to do something special. Dallin graduated from the D.A.R.E. program at his school. It is a VERY big deal, and they treat it very similar to a High School graduation except that instead of wearing an ill-fitting black dress and funny shaped hat with a tassle, you get an ill-fitting nasty gray shirt with a lion on the front! They read his name and he walked across the stage shaking hands with local 'dignitaries' just as he will when he graduates from High School and College.
I am VERY pleased with his accomplishments!
Earlier that day we took Koda to the animal hospital to get his leg fixed. I was worried - not only because they were going to operate, but more so because he does not like being in a kennel and likes staying over night in a strange place even less. We tried to kennel him for a weekend once, and it almost killed him. When he got home he was understandably VERY sore and VERY tired. He spent most of the day like this. We were glad to hear that the tendon tear was only a partial tear, not a complete tear. The post-surgery puppy was the saddest thing I have ever seen!
They told us he would spend the first week carrying the leg really hard, and would start to try to 'toe down' at about 10 days. I guess the Vet really didn't have a good read on this PARTICULAR puppy! He began to 'toe down' on Thursday - not good. The Vet called Thursday to see how he was doing, but I missed the call, so I called them back Friday morning. I had several concerns, some of which had worked themselves out - like the puppy did not pee until Thursday morning. SO, he went from Tuesday to Thursday without peeing! I was afraid he would explode! He had 2 main problems with peeing - first was that he had just started to drink, so it takes a bit for fluids to work their way through. The other reason I think he had a problem was that he usually stands on his bad leg to pee, he then switches and uses the other one, but this change in habit seemed more than he wanted to deal with. By Friday I was concerned that he still wasn't eating, and what he was eating and drinking he was throwing up, he still wasn't peeing much, and he hadn't pooed, he was consistently 'toe-ing down' and was now chewing on his stitches. SO, we ended up back in the Vet office on Friday. After a good look-over, she took Koda's pain patch off of his leg, I guess he is like me in that he has trouble with pain medications. He was given a shot and medication to calm his tummy, I was told the lack of pee and poop was due lack of food in his system and he was not dehydrated. They gave me a 'cone of shame' to help with the chewing on the stitches, AND told me there was basically nothing to do about the 'toe-ing down'. So far we have kept a really good eye on him so we have not had to use the 'cone of shame', but that may change when we all go to work tomorrow. He has started eating well, is drinking and peeing, and using the leg more than he should. I have great hopes for a wonderful recovery.
Saturday Tacey's Basketball Team played the other half of the Sugar-Salem team. She came out with a few injuries. A not-skinny girl stepped on her leg and her finger. (That's her in the above picture.) In the end they lost by one point but I think they cheated because at the half, they used girls from their other team so they went from a 6 girl team to an 11 girl team. They know we are better than they are. . .
Only one more game - they have a buy next week. We are going to have to look for some opportunities for her to keep playing.
Dallin had a game later in the day. He is really becoming a good screen-setter. Maybe it is genetic! He shot a few baskets that didn't go in, but the fact that he is shooting is good. In the end his team WON!
McCade had a game at the same time Tacey did, so I don't have any pictures of the actual game, but this is the after-effect. He got a finger (not his own - it belonged to someone else) in his eye and it got scratched. His team got whomped. He really thinks he should wear an eye patch to protect it. Shane agrees; we don't want it to get infected right now. McCade could not be MORE excited at the prospect of wearing an eye patch to school. He thinks it will be 'soooooo coool'. I think it will give him a headache. I am also concerned he will talk in 'pirate talk' all day and drive his teacher nuts.
Koda is not being a good patient and is not taking it easy. It is nice to see his personality back. I think even with the leg in post-surgery mode, he feels better than he did before. I am hopeful.
Here's to hoping these stitches stay in until the Vet takes them out!
On another note. . .
Shane taught the boys how to text message this weekend. McCade has really taken to it. ( Go figure!) I have received 100 text messages in the last 24 hours, most of them from McCade. Most of them say 'p.s. this is from mac' at the end. Good thing I long ago added unlimited texting to my phone plan - thanks to Tacey. On the up side, it has been quiet as both of the boys took a phone and have been texting each other instead of talking - which inevitably leads to fighting. I was enjoying the peace until I realized the texts said things like 'your dead meat'. (bad spelling noted and included). *sigh* When are they going to get along?
Have a happy week!
Danielle
