The Snoutski Chronicles

Guilty as charged...

I ran over my puppy this past Friday with my '93 Bronco.

He wasn't happy. Not only did it snap his femur clean through, but it fractured his pelvis in multiple places on both sides. Great timing, I might add, since it was 4 days until Pup could get on the operating table with it being Memorial Day weekend. Oh, don't worry, this weekend will always be remembered.

So we (we being a great surgeon in Wilson, living in Louisburg, from where I don't know) operated today and will get little man back tomorrow. The broken femur seemed straight forward enough (after surgery), mended by a plate. The pelvis was a bit more complicated. The same pressure that most likely snapped homes' leg crushed the socket in that hip. The damage was beyond repair, so...interestingly enough, they cut off the ball from the top of the femur. With time, confinement in a kennel, and everyone's favorite, PT, he should be back on all four feet in a mere 8 weeks. The connective tissues and muscles in the joint will actually keep everything in place, with minimal discomfort. The other hip was fractured but not as successfully as the left side. With time and limited activity, it will hopefully heal on it's own.

I still think the dogs enjoy running beside the car. They simply just prefer not to be run over by it. Watts has petitioned that Snout be put to sleep or at least left with carnies from Louisiana, but Ash and I overruled her and are bringing him home. Besides, dogs don't get votes in these matters. Leather sofas in the living room, yes. Family dynamics, rarely.

So Snout will be home tomorrow. He's been a model patient, only biting me (who well deserved it) and has been playful and in great spirits despite extreme boredom and pain. The vets think he is one of the toughest, bravest dogs they've ever seen. Kinda makes your heart melt...or at least mine...or maybe that's the haunting sound of him squealing while I slow rolled over him and crushed him like Capt. Tony during deer season 45 minutes before sunset.

Thanks for the surprising and appreciated support. Snout has some fans. Most prefer text messaging, but who doesn't.

Talk 2 U soon!

(meeting pain doctor and surgical oncologist tomorrow...boring)



Midnight Post Script:

Appointments went well. I'm officially off one (out of three) of my pain meds as of tonight (truthfully the one that had the most psychological effects). Hello tolerance... Pain doc thought it was pretty remarkable how unaffected I was from my treatments considering the numerous traumatic experiences I had involving extreme levels of pain. I referred her to the blog for details.

My other doc loved the x-ray shot of Snout's leg and really fell out when I described my vision of a one armed man with a three legged dog. Chest scans will continue quarterly for another year. The other Triton tumor patient is a woman, with a tumor in her arm. She is doing well and probably doesn't need to hear about my adventures at this time.

Everything sounds about normal. Snout and I both are medical wonders...

Watt's New Too

Had a clean chest scan yesterday. Not only was that a nice thing to hear, I really didn't have the usual anxiety this time preceding the check up.

We're planning to relocate some tendons in my hand to my wrist in July, hopefully resulting in my fingers finally getting off the bench and into the game.

The pain continues to subside. My focus now seems to be on reducing the pain medication to eliminate the feeling of being drugged. Starbucks loves my pain doctor. They might be in cahoots.

Mom has finished chemo finally. She's dealing with some side effects like fatigue and shortness of breath and seeing the doctor today. Obviously, she's thrilled to have the hardest part behind her.

Fleming is Pregnant! The Harris/Samuels clan will have a baby out there soon enough!

Details to follow...puppy, moving, Prius, Ashley, Kristy Yamaguchi, etc....

May 19th almost Midnight Post Script...

There are so many details of my life right now that I don't really know where to begin. After debating this dilemma for several seconds, I had a profound thought. Yes, I'm sober and these types of things do happen around midnight...occasionally.

Why would I go into the details of my life at this point? The blog was originated to keep all my friends and family updated through the trying times. The descriptive, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, sometimes personal entries were created to keep my story close to you and in doing so, keep you all close to me. So for that reason, and with the slightest degree of laziness, I will remain true to the mission statement of this post.

"I thought it would be easier for me to keep a Blog updated than have to explain my current [medical] situation over and over again to everyone. That way when we do get together or talk, we can focus on the important things."

In my opinion, the "important things" are the everyday aspects of life that surround me, both good and bad. Since catching up with old friends tends to be more fun when you have news to share, I don't think it's necessary or beneficial for everyone to have the Reader's Digest version of my life at their fingertips.

As always, I'll keep you informed of things relative to the Chronicles, which hopefully will become a boring once a year post describing a routine, stressful day.

More importantly, I will be thinking and praying for you all as you face the challenges of your individual lives.

Thanks for checking in.