In which we visit the veterinarian

It's been a while since I had to stop what I was doing mid-task, rearrange my day, and deal with a medical emergency. At least, it had been a while until yesterday.

What am I doing out here?

I was upstairs at my mom's house, drilling starter holes for screws to hold up brackets for window shades, when a voice calmly called up, "Your dog needs emergency surgery."  I paused in my drilling, wondering how much of our family's sense of humor was reflected in that statement.  Did it mean that he had a tick which needed to be removed?  Or had something else happened?  I climbed down from the chair, set the drill down, and called out "Like surgery in town at the vet?" as I headed downstairs.  "Yes," was the answer.

Well, that was going to mess with my plans for doing work at mom's house.  Should I finish up the shades and get the tools put away first, and get the dehumidifier running in the basement again, or was it more emergencetical than that, or...?  I took a look at my dog, standing in the kitchen, and saw a red spot on his leg.  About 2" in diameter, with a nice rebar-sized cylindrical cavity in the center which could well have been an inch deep.  I decided that yes, this was something to deal with right away. 

Happily, I had JUST called the vet on Friday and Saturday, when Bandit's left eyeball was looking like it had rolled back in his head, and we had a fresh weight from getting that unhappy-looking eyeball checked out on Saturday morning.  (Horner's Syndrome.  Idiopathic, harmless, and should pass in a month or two.)  So, I snagged the phone, put my shoes on, grabbed the newly-cleaned water reservoir for the humidifier, and called the vet while heading into the basement.  Yes, we did want to make it an urgent care visit since all the doctors were busy, and we could probably be there in 20 minutes.  I wrapped up the phone call around the same time I got the hose connected to the reservoir, popped it into the dehumidifier, and headed back upstairs to waltz out the door with the dog and my daughter.  And a clean towel.  The wound wasn't bleeding much at all, but I figured a towel would be good for my peace of mind, and give me something to do with my hands.  All my knitting was at home.

Three wood ticks later, the vet agreed that we did need to be there, and that Bandit needed more than a 'slap the edges together with tape or glue' procedure, and that she would vanish into surgery with him.  Abigail and I headed out shopping (to get peanut butter to make those pills go down smoother, and a 4T long-sleeved shirt in case we wanted to give that a try instead of the cone after a few days), and picked Bandit up after an hour.  He faded seriously after I got him into the car, and even kept snoring when I carried him inside.  I think the anesthesia lifted with the reversal meds just enough to get him out to the car, and he was one confused and disoriented pooch most of the evening.  But this morning, he's walking (a bit stiffly), eating, drinking, going outside, and not doing too badly with the cone. 

So yes, that sort of rearranged my day yesterday. 

In other news ... lots of gardening got done on Saturday, which is a good thing because today has a RealFeel of 31 degrees.  My tomatoes and peppers are back inside.  I'm inside, too.  And my bike riding is going to be inside today.  Brrrr.  Friday - or was it Thursday? -  was a good workday at my mom's, and lots of stuff got burned.  Lots of nettles got picked, too, and I am enjoying both the tea and the not-so-fresh-but-rather-steeped greens.  And my allergy symptoms are staying very quiet.  Maybe nettles really do work for seasonal allergies!?!  I will have to put up a good supply while they are nice and young and tender. 

Not much knitting has been happening, what with the vet visits and the lovely weather for being outside.

Until next week!