A news spot!

Short and sweet.

IF the link is working check out this news story that showed on the local San Antonio station about one of our dogs from the shelter! Melts the heart huh? And if you want to see what he looked like when he came to the shelter check out the next link!

http://kabb.com/vod/videoplayer.shtml

click on the story from 12-19-08 titled Abused Dog Recovers

Then go to http://www.humanesocietyspca.org/wilbur.php to see what he looked like throughout his story

In the middle

Heya!

I know its been a while. Time sure does seem to fly! Christmas is in high gear and I keep meaning to send my cards out! But I have no beautiful pictures! Maybe I'll wait and send New Year's cards out so I can get pics of me and my "family".

Jason and I are doing very well, getting by on what we make and living life as it should be.

I found someone to ride Six for me. She's getting him into the mode of being worked on a regular basis. She found out, the hard way, that I actually knew my horse when I told her I wanted someone to push him but I didn't want to get bucked off. She didn't think he had it in him... HA! So as she layed in the grass looking up at him from the flat of her back him standing placidly nearby looking back at her, she found out he DID have it in him. But she also thinks he is very smart, and incredibly level headed. Good news! (Like we didn't know these things about my boy). So hopefully I will be able to send him out to a trainer in March or April to learn some more advanced things.

Sam is doing better. As if the weakness in his hindlegs wasn't bad enough, he had torn the Adductor muscle, or the muscle responsible for holding your legs together and keeping you from going spraddle legged. And he was having a really hard time getting around. But time heals and he's back to only limping a little and banging himself into walls. He is receiving acupuncture with electricity for his back basically twice a month and it seems to make him more comfortable. Not helping too much on return to function but he's happier. And that's important. See the pictures below. Yes, the second picture is of a horse, but it gives you an idea.

Work is a little stressful.

My DO (director of operations) or the Lady I call Boss, is having her baby tomorrow!! Its been a tough road for her and we are all excited that the new little girl will be arriving and giving my friend some peace.... Well at least peace meaning not causing her phsyical pain and nausea anymore. HOWEVER, our interim DO is a much different lady and has a much different style of management. I want nothing more than to develop a strong working relationship with this woman as I have with the DO. I have a nagging bad feeling that that may be a real challenge. I hope not. She is a very strong, very intelligent woman. She is also a very strong willed manager who likes to have every decision run through her. That's a challenge for me, yet another strong willed intelligent woman, used to making my own decisions. Its 6 weeks of limbo. I pray it works out.

Secondly about work, the Shelter is working on getting me a surgery suite. This includes being able to do spay/neuter surgeries for the shelter 4 days of the week and then supervising someone to come in and do surgeries for the public the other 3. It means I will also be able to do other surgeries like amputations, eye enucleations, ear canal ablations etc.... If anyone is looking for something to spend a couple hundred bucks on I could really use Atlas of Small Animal Surgery. $200 used. Yay. Late Christmas present to myself I guess. The fun thing about this project is that it will mean a slight increase in pay and I will take on management of another veterinarian. Who would have thunk? I haven't even made it a year in practice yet. :) So much to do!!!

Jay is also hoping to get a pay raise this year. He is managing the warehouse at his office, but is hoping to move from hourly to salary. He currently works 45hrs a week. OT is of course time and a half, so he has developed a spread sheet to show his boss that he can save some money and have more of Jay's time if he makes him Salary. :) So we should be sitting pretty for the next year, and get some of our bills paid off by summer. I'm excited about that.

I don't know if everyone knows, but I have a roommate. Chelsea moved in a couple months ago and we are so glad she did. She takes the second half of the house and has her own large bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room. She also sorta has the kitchen, which is great because she likes to cook for us! Having a roommate gives us a little more freedom with the animals, and the rent. It also makes taking care of the house easier since its soooo big for two people. Her bf may also move in in the summer. If that happens, then they will increase their portion of the rent and utilities and give us a little more money to pay on bills with! Cheers to that!

Also, my family took some pics at Thanksgiving, and I have included those as well.

So I guess thats the update on me. No new kids, or news, other than speculation. Talk to yall soon!

Renaissance

We went to Ren fest this weekend. I love having a man that is as into playing dress up as me. It makes things fun! Allie, Jay and I went to Renaissance Festival in Magnolia on Sunday. We went down to Houston Saturday night and spent the evening playing Rock Band 2 with two fellow veterinarians, Zoo Shokrollahi and Chrissy Minton. Chrissy is moving to California soon so it was a pleasure to get to see her.

Sunday we woke up rather early, having gone to bed at 2am anything is early, and traveled to the fair.

We arrived at 11am and snuck my secret prop into the fair.....

Yes, She is a live cat, though many people throughout the day thought she was an INCREDIBLE puppet. Many years ago, it was allowed to bring any and all pets into the fair. Over the past few years, that rule, as many others, has changed. Up till a couple years ago it was legal to bring small pets that wouldn't touch the ground, but I know now, that that rule has changed.

I only know because the man at the exit gate was flabergasted that I made it around the entire park without getting kicked out!

Hehehe.... She was out in the open for all to see.... Once we got past the entrance that is.

But she was ooed and awed over. Got pet many many times. And generally enjoyed the sights... I means smells and sounds of the Fair. She rode around on my arm all day without any fuss. Such a great cat!

We all had a great time too. Traveling adventurers/woods people. I made all the outfits in the two weeks leading up to Ren. They fit well and minus a few fabric flaws they looked good.

I even wore my shirt to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in the Woodlands and got a compliment on how cool it looked. Thank you Thank you.

Maybe I should give up vet med and go into designing....

Thanksgiving is coming soon, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing my brother. He has been in Arizona and I miss him.

I'm also researching good vacation spots for an intimate getaway next fall.... Something fun, adventurous, in another country, but not TOO expensive. Jason has never been out of the country, so we want to make it memorable. If you have any ideas let me know! On the research board so far: Scuba diving and Rain Forest hiking in Costa Rica, Snow Skiing in Argentina, Beach Combing in Peru...

Some new pics of Luna

So Luna is doing well. Still working on her training and haven't ridden her yet. I plan to do some ground driving with her this weekend and see where we are at with our basic commands, like woa. But she did get her first bath with me. Handled it like a pro. She was all shiny! I posted some before and after pics. Not as much dirt as when she first got here, but she's a beautiful shade of black and no longer has the parasite belly. She shows ribs, but we are working on that.

Beautiful floating trot!

Happy Halloween!

Notice the chick all in brown amongst all the beards? Well that chick would be me. I know you know, but whatever. That's my Ren costume for this year. Or as much as you can see of it from the pic. I am a Huntress, or Woman of the Wood. The big black and white kitty is my pregnant boss. All the bearded women are my clinic girls!

It was a good day at the shelter if very busy since one of the girls scheduled for the clinic was stranded in Austin and another went home sick. Very sad since Halloween is her FAVORITE day. Sorry Lori.

Six and Jason and I went to a sale this past weekend to show him off, get a little publicity, and help Sam (my old boss, not my dog) get a little better prices for his babies. It went well. Six did splendidly! Acting great and we rode for most of a morning. Had a great time, and came back fighting allergies due to the dust! Miserable! Here are pics of Six from that day. If you'd like to see pics of the babies we sold of his go to: http://www.moonwillowstables.synthasite.com/ and click on offspring. They sold for between $450-$900. Not bad considering most of the babies that age were selling between $200-300. His averaged around $650. One baby they brought sold higher. A stunning little black colt.

I plan to try to get him in some training in the spring, just not sure yet when. Then maybe a few shows. We'll see. Also, some fun things at work in the planning stages. Not allowed to talk about it yet, but hopefully soon.

Happier news

Sooooo, Sammy and I decided to give chance a try and we went to another vet for x-rays today. There was great news and there was weird news! So the Great News is first.

His cancer appears to be in remission.

All the lumps are still gone from his gums. And there is no sign of it in his lungs or enlargement in his lymph nodes. So we might just have beat the deadly ailment for now.

Now the weird news. There is also no apparent reason for his ataxia (falling about) and proprioceptive deficits (not knowing where his hind legs are). His spine, joints, and vertebrae all look great on x-ray. Two pairs of eyes could not find anything more than a tad bit of arthritis (normal for a 10yr old). His hips look excellent!!

SOOOO!!! That means he either has something soft tissue impinging on his spine or its a disease affecting his nerves. So we will try him on some antiinflammatories and steroids for a couple weeks to see if there is any improvement. If not, we will try a specialist for a procedure called a myelogram (injection of dye into his spine to better see the spinal chord on x-rays) and possibly surgery if that's determined to be of help.

So until then, Sam gets to borrow a wheelchair from work! Its pretty awsome. He's not sure about it yet. He's still a bit groggy from his sedation today so I'm not forcing the issue, but it should work great once he gets the hang of it. AND he can go jogging again.

Tomorrow I will take some pics and you can see how he looks in his.

ALSO

I have two new additions to my household. My roommate and I are currently sharing a foster kitten named Angel, aka Creepy Kitten, aka Oracle Kitten. I think you see the fact that she might be a bit "different". She has no eyes. She came to us as a 4wk old kitten with empty sockets. I had to send her back to her owner as she was too small, but told them we would find her a new home if they brought her back in a month. Well they did. She's so gosh darn cute! And friendly. She had no eyes, a small nose, and no ovaries, of all things. She is playful and affectionate and a real spitfire. Right now she has a cold, and we are technically seeing if she would fit well into either of our households for permanent.

The other addition is a 5 year old black Quarab mare named "Moonless Night" or Luna. Luna I purchased over the weekend after a small scuffle about the missing Coggins test. She took about 30minutes to get in the small trailer but otherwise did well. She is still too skinny and a bit jumpy, but she did very well in her first lesson today. I think she has a good head on her shoulders and if that proves to be true, then I shall keep her and breed her to a Friesian stallion this spring for a 2010 foal. Very excited about that. She reminds me a little of Quana 15years ago, so I see potential. Will keep you posted and post pictures as she gains some weight. For now here are a few of her as she arrived. SO VERY DIRTY!

More bad news!

So the day after I posted the update about my Sammy, I found my little bird, a black capped caique named Charlie, had passed away over night. No known symptoms or cause. He'd been growing more and more scared over the past 6 months and had even stopped trusting me. So there is a theory that perhaps he had an infection in his brain that was affecting him, but we will never know.

May God Keep my wicked little lovebird happy now.

He was the one in the midground of this picture....

My Sammy

So I have some bad news to post today.

For those of you who have known me a very long time, you will, of course, know my Sammy. AKA Sam, Samson, Ransom For A Song, Sambo, etc

Sammy was diagnosed in Feb with Mouth cancer. He had surgery and they removed as much of it as they could and sent it to the lab to figure out what it was. Unfortunately they could only limit it down to two different types. One was melanoma which is fatal within 3 to 12months and the other fibrosarcoma which is curable only with full removal which is impossible in Sam's case. In neither case did the vet specialist feel it was a "normal" cancer behavior.

We have mourned and kept moving and Sam has been doing really really well. 8months later and we were doing great. He's had some very bad days when he has trouble breathing (the next step for melanoma is moving to the lungs) and discomfort. I have controlled the pain with medication and he's been doing very very well.

This weekend I noticed that the lesions in his mouth have greatly reduced in size! It was amazing to see his beautiful gums back to normal except for some reddness! Then Monday we went jogging and I started hearing drag click drag click. I look over and my poor boy is dragging his toes. Dogs don't drag their feet like people do when they are tired. They only drag them when they can't feel them anymore.

So I tested him and sure enough, he has no clue where his back feet are. No idea where to place them. His walking is spastic and his hind limbs are weak. I plan to put him on some steroids to see what happens but it doesn't look good long term. As a vet, I would tell his owner to enjoy their time together and let him tell them when he was done. So that as the owner is what I will look for. The time when he says he has loved being here but it is time to return home.

Scorpions

So picking back up where I left off.

We spoke of many things. I don't remember most, but I do remember talking about Giant Scorpions....

Why, might you ask, do I remember a random conversation about scorpions that occurred over a year ago. Well, I will tell you. I hate scorpions. HATE them. I have been stung several times. One incident, which left a particularly deep scar occurred when I was but an impressionable 15years old.

I was sleeping all cozy like in bed when a sharp pain in my side awakened me. And before I was fully awake, as I started moving around trying to figure out what was causing the pain, the little bugger had stabbed me a full 6 times!!!

He ended up being the Rasputin of scorpions, taking a swim with turtles, a squashing, a stabbing, and finally being drowned in alcohol to kill him.

So needless to say I do not like the creatures. So Jason and I were glibbly discussing my dislike. We went our separate ways, he out with his compatriots and me back to my little barn apartment for the evening. I got there late, having talked with my parents for a while, went on my run and come back to shower. I undressed and walked across the room towards the bed. My foot was suddenly on fire!

I squeeled and hopped on my good foot across the room to make sure I didn't put my other foot down on the surely scurrying creature. For there was no doubt in my mind what caused the pain. A scorpion! There were dead bodies littered around my apartment each time I cleaned and I'd found a few alive. I fell to my side and dramatically clutched my aching extremity.

I called my mom to ask if she had any meat tenderizer and for sympathy. She sent my brother over with some ointment, no meat tenderizer, and some benedryl, cause I am allergic minorly and my tongue had started to swell.

My brother left and I texted the young man I believed to be responsible for my misfortune. I had no ulterior motive. I swear....

He did exactly like a knight in shining armor is supposed to do! : Oh that's terrible! I wish I could make you feel better!!!

So come over and keep me company. I suppose I will be up for a while now...

Sure! And I will bring some meat tenderizer with me. I am already at the store.

Excellent.

So I of course put my clothes back on and brushed my hair and waited.

He arrived and made the paste for my foot but gave it to me to put on, somewhat tentative to touch me.

We sat and chatted through most of the night. Me giving him all the hints that I wanted him to make a move on me, him ignoring them. Finally, after putting my feet purposefully in his lap and leaning over to touch his shirt to "inspect the fabric", he finally broke down and told me that he really liked me and wondered if we could go out some time. When I said yes, he asked for his first kiss. It was so romantic and sweet.

And the rest is history! We have been dating ever since and pretty much inseparable.

Next I will include a few tidbits about some of our other adventures but first I wanted to include some cute pictures of my big kids! The horses were out about the house a few weekends ago and got curious about what was going on behind those big tv screens called "windows". I don't know what they saw, perhaps their own reflections? But this is what we saw.

camping

The Story continues...

So we went on about last summer, unintentionally getting closer and closer. Well, unintentionally for me. Jason swears up and down that at the beginning, even though he had had a crush on me for ages, that he was still abiding by the whole guy's rule of "you never date the best friend's sister".

At one point he told his good friend Sam that I was the kinda girl that you married, and if he ever did manage to get me to date him he would make sure that it lasted. Sam, of course, told him to dream on.

So he kept coming over to play World of Warcraft. He and Justin managed to get me playing quite a bit last year. We would all play as a group, but Jase would haul his computer over to our house, hook it up on the table next to mine for a "lan party". Steven and Sam mostly just played from their respective houses.

We all went camping together at Ink's lake. They invited.... no wait, JASON invited me to go. I was the only girl. I got there a night late because we had a kickball game on Saturday in Austin. So I stayed with my sister Friday night then drove over after the game on my motorcycle.

I dropped it that morning, knocking the rear mirror off and spilling some gasoline, and embarrassing myself, though none of the guys saw it. We had a good time! Rented a boat, drove around on the lake trying to knock each other off the intertube and Jason and I talking on the bow about relationships with other people.

He and Justin and I shared a tent that night and all the guys piled in for talks until we were all ready to head to bed. That was the first night we shared a room, lol. And both of us thinking, what if the other one rolled over and we woke up wrapped in each other's arms. What would they think?

Hehe...

So needless to say he started coming over more often after that. Playing WOW with me to catch up to Justin who was always levels ahead and waiting for us. But he never made a move. When we were alone and I would let my knee touch his, he would pull away. LOL! Talk about mixed signals.

Then one day he asked me if he could join me for jogging. I was jogging almost every night at that point. He said Aurelio used to be his partner but their shifts had gotten out of whack and he needed someone to keep him motivated. So I said sure.

He came over in his indecent, black underarmor spandex jogging outfit and while I tried not to pay attention/laugh at his immodesty we headed out. Again, I was jogging a LOT last summer. He valiantly kept up with me though it almost killed him.

You see, he has never been a jogger. Always suffered from asthma. He had open heart surgery as a very small infant and the doctors didn't know if he would make his first birthday (like the kid in the picture). Now he has an awsome scar (Why sometimes I call him Shark-bait). But he kept up.

We got home, to my father's incredulous "are-you-purposefully-trying-to-kill-me" look. Which I shrugged and grinned and went inside. We both had a glass of water, sat and talked about odds and ends. Scorpions and how I hate them, among other bits of trivia....

The end of this beginning is yet to come....

To Be Continued:.....

On another note: Current update

First: My dogs and I went jogging today. 2.25miles. Hard for my eldest, Sammy to keep up sometimes, but he did well tonight. For those who don't know, he has mouth cancer which seems to be making its way into his lungs. He has mostly good days still, with a few bad thrown in. We hope he will make it a good nother year and prove the doctor's that statistics don't mean much when you want to live. But really just every day is a blessing to me. Its sometimes a challenge getting the young ones to understand the concept of healing. And sometimes its the old ones that do the worst job! They are so used to living in the country and being able to jog freely! The little ones need so much more socialization. Leo thinks he can take on other dogs and strangers. He doesn't realize if he just keeps jogging they will ignore him too. Here are a few pics of all the hot panting happy kids!

Second: I am buying a buggy tomorrow! Its for my wedding entrance. It needs a few touch-er-ups but it was a fabulous price for one so nice and much more than I was expecting. I kinda thought that all I would be able to afford was a little 2 wheel easy entry style cart like:

But instead, for just an extra $100 I got this one:

I am so very excited! Its a great investment. If Six does really well and I change the buggy around just a little, I can sell my services as carriage and driver to a couple brides and pay for the whole thing.

Lastly for the evening. My father had an excellent idea. I should use my brand new, beautiful, state of the art camera to blog about some of my patients. I thought I would start with the few I have at my house at the moment.

So tonight it will be Chevy: hspca-doc.blogspot.com

Good night!