Back from Vacation

God did I ever need that. It was exactly what i needed to clear my mind and recharge my flat batteries. Mr Beebs is falling down just as bad as before and yet is very high spirited as well. He eats well...plays with his toys in fact steals them out of Sydney's mouth.
Today we go to Eddies' wheels and pick up his custom wheels. I am hoping he adjust well to it and it will allow him to go out to the park once again and back to his therapy dog status.
Thank goodness the hospital in Georgia was able to send me all the records they had on Beebs. The missing culture and sensitivity panel was in there and the recent ones I collected had no such paper. So...I do have the original from June 2006.I also ordered a book on law and legislation which is a guide to how it all works. I'll be studying that and compiling my case for our state legislatures now that I've got tin a little rest and much needed peace.
I'm taking my camera and video camera so that I can get photo's of the wheel company and Beebs trial run. I may even post it on Utube....
Not sure about continuing ab's....he had deramax today and no tramadol yet. He seems just so happy to see me after ten days and wouldn't stop licking my face.I bought both my guys squeaky toys from Nantucket!
Fingers crossed...

Hanging in the In Law apt.

leaving today with mixed feelings

Well we are going away for 10 or 11 days starting today and I'm relieved and afraid at the same time. I did put Mr Beebs back on ab's for damage control.
The dogs are both now living in our basement which is converted into an inlaw apt. There is no way he can get on the stair climber and join us upstairs at this point and I wonder if ever again. I spend half my time down in the basement and the other half feeling guilty upstairs.
I hate this situation. Maybe after a week of rest...I'll be able to put him in a sling and bring him upstairs once in a while with help. His back leg is really doping badly.The Dr W who said it was very stable was dead wrong..the radio graph shows "extensive" damage.
So.....his wheelchair will be ready when I return so I'll drive the 2 hours up north to have them fit him and bring it home.
I am not getting a lot of support in the vet community for my legislative agenda.In the end...it will better serve them if they do get involved and do have a say otherwise...the public when hearing the facts will most likely vote for change.
I'm feeling depressed these days...its as though my brain and body can only take so much grief before it starts shutting down. I need this vacation to go smooth. I have a big battle ahead and a very handicapped boy to take care of. Re charging my own batteries and getting some peace would be wonderful.Now I know why caregivers have such a high burn out rate. At least a nurse gets to go home after 8 hours or so.This has been 24/7 since June 6 of 06.I'm not the same person I was when this started. I truly believe that if i didn't re-direct this grief it would have eroded me down to a clinical condition. Its my love and passion that has kept my head above water...its so unfair.Poor Mr Beebs. Well off we go I've hired a baby sitter/ house sitter for the entire time who is wonderful with the boys and they love her.I'm leaving her emergency instructions, my truck, and meds galore. Oh please let this next 2 weeks be uneventful God...for all our sakes.

Not sure what to think or do anymore

I did see the chiro vet today and she did another treatment on Mr Beebs. He seems to be doing slightly better...BUT...she says that the load on that back leg is taking a beating and it will only get worse.Also there was something in the radiology report that mentioned septic condition in the existing back leg.In other words infection.So he has been off ab's for 3 days and this vet says and I'll call her Dr C for chiro says leave him on them until I return from vacation. My reg. vet Dr D. says stop them there is no infection.Vets 3 and 4 both Dr. W's decided it is systemic and he requires 3 solid months on ab's. With out a culture from the joint which I will not do for all the tea in China..its a guessing game. I also mentioned to her that I would need guidance from the vet community regarding legislation.She seemed reluctant/ hesitant.Not entirely disinterested just afraid to be dragged into something her collegues might view as betrayal. One way or another I'm going to move ahead on this and just ordered a law book which will walk me through the process and help guide my direction.The vets who get onboard now will save themselves alot of grief down the road.Whatever precedence is set in Ct courts will be just that. So...I'm hoping these reasonable , good people will want to be part of animal protection along with consumer protection. I can't make anyone do it but it would sure give them their say and afford a reasonable bill in the end.

The vet told me today that in her small practice she has already worked on 5 dogs who had complications from TPLO surgeries. She said when she was in vet school they were all the rage but now its become clear that they are problematic and the complications can be devastating. "Mr Beebs is an example of the worse case scenerio besides dying on the table."

Here's a photo of her chiro gun

on our way...Mr Beebs and Sydney

Driving an hour to the vet chiropracter...who is the closest I could find here that was available.

more chiro

Well we have vacation planned starting this Friday and I've hired a fulltime dog sitter. I'm feeling worried because we will be out in the Atlantic sailing and won't have any fast way to return. I'm going to look up flights on and off Nantucket and if something does happen we can leave the boat where ever it is.
Its been like this for a year...always wondering IF...if I should go anywhere.
The massage treatments seem to help a bit because after them Mr Beebs hops around a fair bit better than he did 3 days ago. We go to the choro vet again tommorrow for another adjustment whcih i hope continues to help. I got a digital copy of his x-rays and radiology report. "Extentive osteoarthritis". "The possibility of acute sptic arrthritis -on-chronic disease cannot be completely ruled out" This comes the radiologist himself.
I'm glad I got him the wheel chair now. Anything at all that relieves his suffering is what I'm after. I have thought of just how far to take this...all week. I asked 3 different vets that know, see, and can acess his condition and they all said "No". So I feel like Beebs and the docs are saying....he want to live.And he does...tonight i made pasta and sauce and he sat there licking his chops at me like hint hint...

more news...not good

Well I spoke with my regular vet today and he told me he did get the radiology report back regarding Beebs back leg. The first word listed was "extensive" arthritis which would explain the pain he must be feeling. I was afraid all along of amputating for this very reason. The vets who did do the amputation said "Oh that legs really solid" Very stable.Its only bone growth.
So....last night I sat on the floor with my Dads massage machine and went up and down his spine and leg for about an hour. Today he is popping along pretty well compared to 3 days ago when he was just collapsing. The nerve probably was pinched in his back. We go back to the chiro vet tomorrow for another adjustment.If this continues to go "well" I will keep this up. Otherwise my vet said he could inject something directly into the dogs joint which works very well.They have done this on race horses for years.At least we are not totally out of options. I really thought that I would be putting him down this past week.It was that bad. I'll go massage him some more and make sure he has his deramax and tramadol.I don't want him to be in pain.