Where's Molly? ...

Minx is still very confused, and we believe sad, about the sudden and continued absence of his very good friend Molly.

Since there would be no one at home for a long time on the day of Chandler's surgery (2 weeks ago today), I asked my friend Patty to stop by and give the dogs a rawhide bone around lunch time, which would keep them busy and happy until someone was back home around dark. Shadow does what she does and took hers immediately down to the bottom of the yard and passed through the fence to Pumpkin - her puppy that Lala has. Minx was very excited and took his right from Patty. He chews on his bone, buries it, digs it up, chews on it some more and repeats that process for an entire day (or less) until the bone is no more. Molly, on the other hand, needed a little coaxing that day and Patty put it right at her paws for her to have close by, but she showed no real interest in the bone.

Minx has been carrying around what we believe to be the bone Molly had that day, since Molly left him. He brings it into his crate and sleeps with it at night, he carries it into the back yard with him each day. He'll bury it and dig it up, but has yet to gnaw even a little tiny piece off of it. This is just not what he does with his bones. He loves to chew up a good bone and has never "saved" one. We've hosed it down once or twice because it got sort of muddy and he still will not chew it up. He runs out of his crate in the morning with it hanging out of his mouth, ears perked up, looking like he's asking "Is she back? I've saved her bone for her. Where's Molly?" I think it's breaking all of our hearts to see him missing her so. He's gotten so much love and affection from each of us during the last week and a half. He's going to be even more spoiled than he already is!

Not sure, but I think I see a new 4 legged friend in Minxy-boy's near future. Stay posted for that. :-)

P.S. In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy changing the background on my blog. I sometimes like to express how I feel about what I wrote with a sort of matching background. Anyway, I looked for one that had pets or animals and came across this one that was named "Molly". I thought it was fitting.

Cabin Fever ...

Chandler has been couped up in this house since Saturday, July 10 when we returned home from the hospital. Other than going outside for our walks, she has not left this place!! We decided that she needed to get out. When Andy got home from work on Friday night, we told her we were going somewhere to eat and that she needed to make the decision as to where. The other thing we needed to accomplish is the child eating something other than fruit, mashed potatoes, waffles, cereal and soup. She really hasn't had an appetite to speak of and those are the only things she has wanted to eat. Austin was working Friday night, so she chose Chic-Fil-A. It was Austin's pleasure to help us (ha) and Chandler ate 1/2 a chicken sandwich!! yay! After we ate, we made a quick trip into Kroger so I could pick up a few things. She and Andy enjoyed bothering me and being silly while I tried to hurry up and pick up what we needed. And exactly the reason why I don't ever take anyone shopping with me - I ended up with extra stuff in my buggy that wasn't on the list!! We had fun and Chandler felt really good getting up and out of the house.

More Progress.....

Here we are less than 1 week post-surgery and Chandler is able to do everything without assistance! I'm still there hovering around with her every move and I'm certain I'm getting on her nerves, but she is able to do it all by herself. If we are close to time to get pain meds and she is hurting or sore, she may need to lean on me to stand up or sit down, but for the most part, she is doing it all on her own!! She is so strong - physically and mentally - and is doing really well.

Chandler asked point blank on Sunday night about Molly. We were all in the kitchen, Chandler was at the dinner table and she asked "did Molly die?" My eyes immediately welled up with tears, I could hardly see and I tried to keep busy and not look suspicious, but if she started crying, I was gonna lose it. Andy stepped in and told her the story about Molly. I left the room for a sec to pull it together and came back in to look busy again. Chandler said, "mom, are you crying?" Who me? Chandler didn't cry at all about Molly. I don't think it's because she didn't care about it, I think it's the pain meds she's on. I stared at the pill bottle for a moment. I was tempted to pop a couple of those little speckled pills and call it a day. Seriously, I'm happy that I can move on past that situation for now.

One more very important thing to report .... Chandler is 2" taller than she was before surgery!! We haven't done the official stand-against-the-wall-and-measure bit, but Andy measured her pre-op mark on the wall in the garage and then measured her against a wall inside. Amazing!!

Chandler's Progress Day 1 at HOME ...

Chandler did really well on her first night at home. We have found she is very comfortable in the lazy boy watching TV in the family room. Got a little deal all set up beside her so that drinks and snacks and remote are within arms reach. She hasn't really felt like talking too much and then last night at about 9:00pm, she suddenly sat up in the chair a little bit and started talking about everything. She was hungry and she wanted to move. She sat at the kitchen table and had some chicken & stars soup. She also enlightened us about lots of things she overheard us and different people who were at the hospital talking about when we all thought she was asleep. That was an interesting conversation. She also asked where Molly was. We told her that Molly is at the vet. I suppose we'll come clean on that one tonight. We have done lots of walking rounds in the house to get her up and keep her moving. Maybe we'll get outside one evening soon. She slept really well last night, only woke up once for some pain meds. This morning we got up and freshened up and she has had a good morning. She even wanted to go downstairs to visit Lala. I was a little nervous, but she did the stairs really well - Andy in front of her and me behind her - we visited with Lala for about 5 mintues and then headed back up. Also, today she is walking with me walking beside her, not holding her arm.

Seems that Chandler is up for visitors, so if anyone wants to pay her a visit, call us or come on by ... we're here all week.

WE ARE HOME ....

I'll make this one short and sweet .... it's 2:40pm and we made it!!! Can't even begin to tell you the rush of emotions I'm feeling right now. Chandler is doing good today. The car ride was very tiring for her, but she is happy to be home too. Many, many thanks to everyone for everything!! Thankfully the house didn't convert too much into a bachelor pad with just Andy and Austin being in and out of here since Wednesday. :-) Seriously, everything looked great when we got here and it's feeling good to get settled in. I think Chandler will be ready for visitors in the next day or so for anyone who might be wondering about that. I'll post again with that info later or you can always call, email or text. We will talk soon. Yay! Home Sweet Home!!

10:15am 7/10/2010 Update ...

We are officially going home today!! Not sure when yet. The dr has come by, so that part's done, I guess the fun paperwork / discharge papers need to get done, then we're out of here!! Chandler has done well on the Loritab. She did have a rough start to last night, she got sick a couple of times, but since we're here, they were able to give her Finagrin (sp?) through her IV. If we had been at home, I don't think the whole event would have gotten resolved quite as quickly. If nothing else, that made me feel good about us choosing to stay until today. She slept good once all that was over and apparently I did too. The nurses last night were quiet like little mice when they would come in. That hasn't necessarily been the case each night. I am happy to say that the next post title will read "we're home". I can't wait. :-)

8:00pm 7/9/2010 Update ...

Our 3:30pm PT went really well. Chandler's lower back has been hurting a little bit today and she really didn't want to go on the walk, but she's a trooper and she did as she was asked. We did a lap from our door to the nurse's station around the hallway and then back to our door. She was sort of ready to quit, but Brittany really wanted her to do a few stairs. By the way, we were able to get our IV stopped / removed for PT, so that was helpful not to have to roll the holder thing around with us. We ducked into the stairwell and Chandler climbed a few stairs and turned around and came back down. She did really well.

I'm sitting here thinking about the fact that this time tomorrow, we are actually going to be home. I stand amazed with today's medical technology ... a spinal fusion patient with a scar that's at least 12" long, has had their spine straightened and derotated / manipulated by hand, had 2 rods inserted and screwed to their spine and then got all sewn back together again ... is now up walking and will be back home 72 hours post surgery. I am so thankful that God has gifted so many people with the abilities, the intelligence, the desire to do these amazing and wonderful things that improve people's lives.

I will post again tomorrow to let everyone know that we have officially arrived home.

And THANKS again for all the thoughts and prayers. They have definitely helped us through this experience.