Hottest Day This Summer.

Rural Art.

A very warm day today on the radio, I heard them say that it is the hottest day of this summer, it certainly feels true today.

After my shower Richie put a short sleeved t-shirt on me, so I could cope better with the heat, which seems to have worked.

We are both trying to relax today; tomorrow we have to get in touch with our regular vet, as well as the orthopaedic vet.

The MRI showed that the spine was ok; it did show that two disks were damaged but did not give any clues as to why Spike is dragging one leg.

The search for answers will proceed this week; hopefully the investigations are not as horrible for our wee doggie as Thursday's MRI was.

Spike took 5 worrying minutes to start breathing independently again after the MRI and a couple of hours until he could walk again.

Recovering from the anaesthetic has taken him days, he only seems more or less recovered today.

We have noticed a few worrying things since Thursday, Spike suddenly does not seem to hear us, even when I offer him a biscuit or a treat.

Until Thursday he always barked with delight when he heard the two words biscuit or treats or tripe for dinner.

He always barked when Richie left and came back or when a dog barked outside or someone walked past our front door or he saw a dog walking by.

When Marleen barks to sound the alarm, Spike always barks back and runs to her to see what is happening, to find out where the action is.

Since Thursday he has done none of those things, he only barked once when Richie provoked him to do so earlier.

Was a relief to hear his voice as it has been quiet without Spike's bark; we are also concerned about him.

Hope that there are answers for our questions and our lovely little Spike can be restored to his former glory.

Staying optimistic and hoping for the best.

The What If's.

Theo van Rysselberghe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9o_van_Rysselberghe

It has been warm and sunny today, at lunchtime it was 28c, then mid afternoon the clouds cover returned and it cooled down, luckily the sun came back again.

Been very distracted today by Spike's MRI tomorrow, Richie has his tickets and itinerary, Nur will be here and Willes will pop by at 3 pm in the afternoon.

Seems most people are on holiday already as only a couple answered my e-mails, but no worries as Nur will be here.

I am sure that everything will go ok tomorrow and they will be back safe and sound at 8pm, it is going to be a very long day tomorrow for my darling Richie and Spike.

Very worrying that he needs an MRI, I am trying not to think too much about what if and look at all the possibilities.

Can't do that to myself have to wait and see what the MRI results are like and what the orthopaedic vet says.

Going to keep this short and watch Germany v Ghana and try to relax and not worry about the what if's of the future.

New Perspectives

New Orleans Art.

It has been a good afternoon, I sat for a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes which was great, just felt a wee bit tired before Richie put me back into bed just after 17.30.

Had another useful meeting with my occupational therapists, Johanneke and Ludwine, Ludwine was handing over to Johanneke.

She explained the adaption and showed Johanneke the recent changes that had been made and the things that needed attention and possibly adapting at the next appointment with Ruud from Summit.

After they left Mathilde came round for my physiotherapy session which was great to do in the wheelchair.

Afterwards I sat in the front room with Richie and the dogs which was brilliant.

Lovely sitting and looking out of the window and just being part of things again, the dogs were also happy I was there.

Richie was delighted, we discussed clothes for outside, and Richie is going to adapt some of my jackets so they are easier to put on.

We ended up sorting through quite alot of my clothes and we weeded out all those that are no longer suitable.

It was in the end a whole big bag full, which Richie will put in the refugees clothes container up the road.

Nice to do this together and good to do it today, it has given me a huge boost and made me keen to move on to the next stage which is going out of the building and onto the road.

My other big excitement today was that I went out of our door and on to the landing for the first time since 19 August 2008.

Feel very positive now about going outside and about having a life outside of my bed, it is very exciting to get a taste today of what it will be like.

Now I can be more mobile again I can entertain all sorts of ideas which were not applicable while my only perspective was making the best of life in bed.

Good that finally life is starting to improve for me and Richie, we are both looking forward to the summer and me going out with him and the dogs.

Can’t wait forw Perspectives us to go to the market again, it will be brilliant, tomorrow I shall go out for a roll round the block with Richie and the dogs when they return from Spike’s final visit to the orthopaedic vet.

This Friday we plan to go to the end of the road and see the Queen’s Day celebrations.

After I post this I shall visit Steve and leave him a comment on The Wheel of Fortuna

http://spinfortunaswheel.blogspot.com/

These first days just after his beloved partner BobRobert has just died must be very difficult for him.

Then I intend to take it very easy indeed and enjoy the evening with my darling Richie.

We Shall See.

Pablo Picasso.


Got Richie to video me doing my morning arm exercises, they may not look like much but these exercises have given me back some serious upper arm muscles.

Just before I started doing the arm exercises I had suddenly noticed that my arms had become scarily thin, and muscle seemed to be non existent.

Since I have been doing them every morning for 30 minutes, I do 12 exercises and repeat each exercise 12 times, the difference is noticeable.

It is amazing how effective the exercises are, which is excellent, as a small daily input gives me such a good return.

Today Richie got me out of bed and to the shower in a smooth and quick operation which went well.

Once in the shower he trimmed my hair, something that I find takes a long time but once it is done, it feels great and looks good too.

Spike and Marleen always do their best to be at their cutest and most playful just as Richie is busy with me, even now in his box Spike will do his best to get our attention.

Which he gets from all of us, he has been in good form and even better since his appointment with the orthopaedic vet yesterday.

Great to hear from Richie how pleased the vet was with Spike’s progress, he is about 5 days ahead of where the vet thought he would be.

Richie was given the advice to walk him as slow as possible to encourage him to walk slowly and calmly on the leg that has been operated on.

Spike being him has devised his own routine, which is he hangs back and does not keep up with Richie and then catches him up by charging on his three legs.

What can you do with a dog called Spike apart from marvel at his antics and his adaptations and his amazing spirit, he is a fine dog.

Still no sunshine today, it is cloudy, dull and cold with outbreaks of drizzly rain and no sign of the weather becoming nicer before the end of the afternoon.

Who knows it could become pleasant weather tomorrow we shall see.





Modern Lovers: Pablo Picasso.

Back to Winter Today

Notice we are both preoccupied today with Spike's appointment at 16.00 this afternoon with the Orthopaedic vet.

We are both hoping that the vet’s diagnosis of Spike after he has spent 4 weeks since the last appointment in the metal box will be good.

Hope he does not need an operation or anything but supervision so that he does not go mad jumping and doing somersaults.

This recent problem of Spike’s stems from an injury he got in 2006, when he jumped for a ball did a somersault and landed with a loud thump on his back.

At first there seemed no problem as he picked himself up and carried on playing with enthusiasm and renewed vigour without any problems.

Then when Richie tried to cover him with his blanket the next day, he bit him, this is when Richie realised Spike must be in tremendous pain.

He took him to our vet’s who sent him to the same Orthopaedic vet who prescribed 6 weeks rest in a metal cage.

6 very worrying weeks for us all, especially for Spike who hated being contained in the metal box.

What he specially hated was when he got his 5 minutes freedom every day that Marleen would go in to the cage.

She would search his blanket, until she found all of Spike’s carefully hidden treasures, which she would then steal and take one by one to her bed.

Spike hated it and has hated the past 4 weeks as every day Marleen has spent all the time he was out trying to open the door to the cage.

Sadly for her without success and sadly for Spike it ruins his freedom so much so he demands to be let back into his box before time.

No spring weather today, unlike yesterday it does not look pleasant at all, it looks like it could either rain all afternoon or if it is cold enough it could snow.

I prefer neither, really liked the delightful spring sunshine yesterday, oh well no sun outside means we have to be sunnier inside.

Difficult to do on my own, but no problem with the help of a P.G Wodehouse audio book which transports me into the world of Bertie Worcester and his butler Jeeves.

It is an incredible world, where invariably Jeeves is always right and saves Bertie from making the wrong choices.

And when the audio book finishes there is the Friday film review with Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo this afternoon on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Then there is the The News Quiz chaired by Sandy Toksvig with Susan Calman, Jeremy Hardy, Andy Hamilton and Victoria Mather followed by The Archers.

Before that my darlings will be home from the appointment.

Spike needs an operation to secure his knee caps, first one on 19 March then 6 weeks in the crate to recuperate.

Then a couple months later the other knee and 6 weeks recuperation.

We could have gone for a wait and see if it gets worse but Richie wanted the option that is best for Spike.