Model patient

Guess who aced their post-op vets trip? Bert happily dragged me across the car pak and was most perturbed that he wasn’t instantly greeted with cuddles and treats. Have you tried to explain to a 10 month old puppy that he has to be patient cause there’s a queue?!

He made everyone laugh with his enthusiasm. That and the way he crashed about with the cone of shame on (it was far too hot for the baby gro).

He made the vet nurse laugh too when he bounded into the consulting room. Her first words ‘well he’s fine then…’. He really is. He’s back to his normal Bertness. Bouncing around. Wanting to play. I’m not sure he’s really realised what’s happened.

All a huge relief for me. She gave him a quick check over and said he’s very fit and well.

Sadly his duck toy isn’t a case for surgery. Definitely gone too far. He’s definitely in the toy destroying phase. The Dark Destroyer is alive and well. And has now moved on to toys.

Bit of a state

Buddy makes me laugh so much. He got in a bit of a state with his recovery mash. Again. Clearly he’s bothered by it.

He doesn’t always get recovery mash. But it was a beautifully warm September day. The type of day where you don’t know whether to wear long or short sleeves. I went with long in case you’re interested.

It was also the type of day where I wanted to keep hacking. So we did. I felt the need to clear my head. It’s by far the best way I’ve found to do that. Just me, my boy and the great outdoors….

Mucky puppy

Look at the sheer pleasure on Buddy’s face. He was beyond happy to get recovery mash after his hack today. Well it was a tad warm today. He was such a good boy.

Recovery mash is a little bit like crack for horses. God knows what they put in it, but he goes mad for the stuff!

I’ve learned that I have to hold the bucket. Otherwise he has a tendency to spill it everywhere. He still managed to make a mess with it. And got a lot of it all over his face.

He’s a mucky puppy sometimes. Such a happy mucky puppy though.

Diamond wishes

I bought this patio rose about a month ago. It’s exploded with blooms overnight. It smells divine too. I sat on the patio for my breakfast and lunch sniffing it.

It’s called ‘Diamond Wishes’. It had to be done for My Absolute Diamond, Buddy. Not sure pink is his colour though. Thankfully he probably won’t see it.

Buddy has made many of my wishes come true. My current wish is for him to continue to recover from his injury so we can get back to the things we love doing.

I think it’s very pretty indeed. I do love a rose. Well I am an English one.

Reality

Think the reality of Buddy’s injury is starting to sink in. Six months feels like a long time. And it could be longer depending on how his rehab goes.

No camps, no lessons, no clinics, no competitions, no trips, no adventures. Well not for a while yet. These are the things that light me up and make us, well us.

Once again the goals that I set at the beginning of the year seem very far away again.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m also very grateful that he will be OK. The relief is still very much there.

I know I’m not the only person who’s going through this or has been through it. But it’s the first time I’ve been through this with him. I didn’t have this much time off when I broke my ankle.
Covid did put pay to so many things so 2020 wasn’t a great year for us. It really is true that it’s quicker to heal a bone than a ligament.

I can reframe it till the cows come home. Right now I’m sad, frustrated and disappointed. Again. So taking time to work through those emotions. I’m sure there will be many more ups and downs to come.

Looks like I am going to have to up the cheerleader role again and help others shine. Starting tomorrow by commentating at Poplar Park at the RC ODE.

As you can see Buddy is clearly traumatised by the whole experience. My oversized Labrador is enjoying the snacks.

V-Day

Today has been V-Day for Buddy. After nearly 5 weeks, he’s still not right. So I took him to a lameness locator clinic being held by my Vets. I was fascinated by the process (mixed with mild panic, heart-racing anxiety and a sick feeling most of the time).

Let’s start with the good news. Buddy has sustained an injury that he will recover from. We will still be able to do the things we were doing. He’s going to need some further treatment, fancy shoes and a lot of rehabilitation.

Now the bad news. It could take 6-8 months for him to recover fully. Now we all know that patience isn’t my strong point. Looks like I going to have to embrace a slower pace with my little boy for the coming months.

Buddy was a model patient. He took it all in his stride. Given he’s had nearly 3 weeks off work, I wasn’t sure what to expect when they lunged him. He was as good as gold. Even in the torrential rain.

When the three sensors he was wearing showed low grade lameness in all 4 legs, my sick feeling turned into nearly vomiting in the corner. More data was needed. So more trotting for Buddy.

We knew his off fore was the issue. The data confirmed this. After 3 nerve blocks, his lameness was improved by 72%! And the hind leg lameness was all but gone.

X-rays were clear. So scans next. They showed an injury to one of his ligaments. It looks like an old injury that had been aggravated. But it was healing so the time out was helping.

It was a very long day. Quite the emotional rollercoaster too. I’m so relieved as I had 101 possible outcomes running through my head.

Basically, Buddy has twisted his ankle and needs time to recover fully before we can get going again.

He has a few more people in his fan club, loved the snacks and got a free Willy wash while he was sedated.

The road to recovery starts tomorrow. Tonight I’m shattered…

Car trouble

Well this isn’t how I thought I’d spend my Friday. Sat at Birchanger Services waiting for a recovery vehicle. The Comedy Car is poorly. And I’m rather fed up after 3.5 hours of waiting so far.

At least I have access to a toilet, food and I was able to charge my phone in the Ramada hotel. The staff in there were lovely. Well I did walk in in tears.

So was the first garage I tried. Was driving down the M11 when the engine warning light came on and I lost oomph. Let’s face it, there’s not much oomph to start with. Pulled off but mechanic couldn’t sort it. So headed to Birchanger to hang out and wait for recovery. It’s going to be a long day me thinks.

I was en route to my parents for my Mum’s 80th birthday lunch tomorrow. Let’s hope I get home soon.

Recovery

Woke up feeling a bit better today. So, of course, I totally overdid it in my excitement. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I also had some healing needles from Colette. They definitely helped.

This evening I took Ruth to meet the other men in my life. First I took her to meet Cyril (my wisened old tree) for a hug. Then on to meet the main man himself, Buddy. He was overjoyed to see me, pausing from inhaling his hay for at least 30 seconds! 🤪

It was about 3/4 of the way back that I felt my energy tank drain. So back on the sofa and another early night for me…. It’s progress.

Recovery

After our best day at camp, this wasn’t quite the way I planned to finish it. Sadly my little lorry broke down on the way back. Thankfully was able to limp to a garage and didn’t breakdown in the contraflow on the A47.

A wonderful friend came to rescue Buddy. My main concern was that he was OK. Bless him he was such a good boy walking off my lorry and onto hers in the middle of the busy forecourt.

I can’t fault NFU Mutual. They were brilliant. Kept me informed every step of the way and checked that we were both OK.

The BP staff were the same. Even giving me a free hot drink while I waited for the recovery lorry.

The same can’t be said a few of the next door McDonalds customers who made their feelings known about choice of parking spot. It wasn’t like I had much choice?!

Buddy and I are both home safely and that’s what matters. The lorry can be fixed. And we had a brilliant time away.