Updates

We are still missing Clyde terribly.  When I come into the den in the mornings, I always look to the couch to see him.  We went to the SSB last week.  When we went through Austin and got to the place where I heard (without realizing what it was) his last breath - a wave of sorry went through me.  Every night when it was time for his last outside time, I would think of him.  I would think of him running free with those ears flopping when I would go outside.  Time will heal us more, but it is painful.

I was reading on one of the many Boxer lover sites that someone lost their fur baby the same way we lost Clyde.  He just dropped dead.  For their baby, it was an arrhythmia, which I surmise was what happened to Clyde.  Boxers are disposed to heart problems, and our baby had been heart-worm positive when we adopted him.  He was probably 8 which is getting up there and I am sure his heart was weakened.

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I poked fun at G for having a cold.  Well - I got it the next day.  AND I STILL have the remains of it.  I am so careful when around people with upper respiratory infections because once I get one, it lingers.  I still have drainage and cough. Hope that wasn't TMI, but this has been my life. 

I did tell G the next time someone comes to church, sits behind me and coughs constantly, I am moving.  This is my second time to have this happen.

This did motivate me to find a PCP though.  I have been lazy about it.  I absolutely hate the one that I have seen before.  They order blood tests several times a year - even my oncologist and cardiologists don't do that.  They order tests that are not needed.  I need someone else.  I won't go to one of the specialists with a cold.  It DID help G though - I guess.  His mess lasted a week while mine has lingered.

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I saw the orthopedists a couple of weeks ago.  He is more than pleased with my progress, and basically said I could do what I please with the shoulder.  My range of movement is great, and mostly all pain is gone. 

When I went to PT, I had an intern with the therapist who massaged the shoulder.  I believe she "tweaked" the nerve a bit because I have some pain that had gone away.  But overall, things are going well.

The surgeon ordered six more weeks of PT.  I was ok with that.  The therapist said he didn't believe I needed it.  So - I am not going to go back.  I don't think I need it either.  Especially if I do what is basically stretching here at home, I am good.  The strength is good.  I helped G load a lawnmower at the SSB, and it was easy - so ...  Plus I will save over $60.

And you are caught up on my exciting life.  Just a lot of nothings!

I am here.

It has taken me a while to not be so teary-eyed when I think of Clyde.  I am not feeling so totally incompetent as a pet owner not seeing anything that could have caused the sudden death.  I know Boxers are prone to catastrophic heart problems that suddenly present themselves.  But, that said, I still miss that sweet face terribly.

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I am recovering quite well from the partial shoulder replacement.  Physical Therapy is working wonders and my flexibility is improving a lot.  I went through a rough place when I was afraid that I had used the arm too much and damaged the tendon that is attached to the shoulder from the bicep.  But after Tuesday's PT, I feel so much better.

I see the surgeon next Friday for my six-week return.  I think that will be good.

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 Yesterday I saw a meme on FB that I wish I had copied and saved because it is so true today (and yesterday for that matter).  It said that women in labor experience pains that come close to a man with a cold.  Well, G has a pure and simple cold.

I KNEW we would  probably get a cold this week because the woman who sat behind us coughed the entire service.  Turns out she is the Pastor's mother, but regardless she coughed the ENTIRE service.

Yesterday, G moped around, barely speaking in an audible voice, complaining of a sore throat.  I told him mine was a little scratchy too, but you would have thought he was absolutely going to die!

I had a follow-up with the new Oncologist (since mine for the past 11 years finally pulled the plug).  I told the poor dying man I would drive myself - against surgeon's orders.  In the meantime, he made a doctor's appointment.  For a sore throat?? For the first hours?  Yes - he had a cough, but that was because that was the way he handled the sore throat and probably mild drainage.  I would have thought he would simply go to the drugstore to get some cough syrup, antihistamines or the like, and some type of pain reliever (since he now has to take blood thinners due to the DVT from last year).

I think he was disappointed it wasn't the flu.  And he is still wandering about like he is a dead man.

I, on the other hand, went about my normal routine - taking Advil and cough drops,

He wants to have back surgery - fusing two vertebrae.  First of all - I will have knees replaced, shoulders replaced, but I will NOT have back surgery.  That scares me.  There are too many nerves there.  And secondly, if a cold sends him into preparing for death - I don't want to have to deal with this surgery.  It will take explosives to get him out of the hospital.

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So with that - enough said.  Hope your life is going smoothly!  Mine is getting better all the time.