Monday, September 20, 2021

Monday, September 20, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. Mattie was 9 months old and loving the freedom in his "tot wheels." Our commons space outside our townhouse in DC was the ideal location for Mattie to learn so many firsts! As it was protected from being near streets, cars, and the outside public. Our Facebook friend, Tim, once zoomed in closely to Mattie's eyes in this photo and saw what I was describing. Which was Peter may have been snapping the photo, but it was ME who Mattie was looking at. When Tim blew up the photo, he could literally see the reflection of me in Mattie's eyes. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 42,255,382
• Number of people who died from the virus: 675,885

There is NO peace on the Farm. Now I have no expectation that I will get a break, or that I will be able to catch up on sleep. Before heading to the dentist, I made some phone calls. The first was to the oven repair person! Something tells me this oven is NOT fixable. In any case, while talking with him, I could hear Sunny barking outside, then running like a sheep dog after something! Mind you I was on the phone trying to diagnose the oven problem with the repair person, so I couldn't start yelling at Sunny! Turns out two fox had come into our backyard and Sunny went nuts. So nuts that when he was finished chasing the fox, he could not walk. Peter and I knew this wasn't a good sign, as Sunny injured his right back leg in April of 2020, and needed TPLO surgery (like ACL surgery in humans). The surgeon told us that it is very common for the other leg to eventually give out and also need surgery. We were dreading such a day, as the surgery is very expensive, it requires massive rehab, PT, and rest. I will return to this in a minute!

I couldn't address Sunny immediately as I had to head into DC for my dentist appointment. Certainly I could change doctors to professionals closer to Oakton, but for now I decided not to do this. These appointments give me the opportunity to return "home." When I sat down for my dental cleaning, the hygienist was working on putting equipment together and the next thing I knew, she was trying to put a canula in my nose. Needless to say, I said "OH NO." I asked her what on earth she was doing. She said there was a note in my chart that said all my cleanings had to be done under sedation. I firmly said I had NO IDEA what she was talking about. I have been going to this practice for 15 years and not once did I need sedation. I have been assigned a new hygienist as mine moved back to Michigan to spend more time with her family. Something tells me this new hygienist will never make this mistake with me again.

After my appointment, I hopped in the car and picked up salads at my favorite sandwich shop in DC, Jetties. It is very close to Mattie's hospital and to me they have the freshest and most creative salads and sandwiches. Whenever I head into DC now, I try to pick up food to take back to Virginia. Meanwhile, while driving to get the salads, I called the surgical center and pet emergency room we take Sunny to in Vienna, VA. I feel like we are frequent flyers there. They said they could see Sunny if I got him there within the hour. So I got back to the house, Peter carried Sunny to the car, and I was off. Given COVID, it is even harder to get ER pet centers to see your pet, because the demand is so high. 

Turns out Sunny needs surgery. He is described right now as "lame," since he can only walk on three legs. He appears to be in pain and truly unhappy. Now here's the kicker. I called their orthopedic division of this center and their first surgical consult date was October 22. That is a MONTH from now. How they expect a dog to manage pain for a month is beyond me. So Peter literally called the surgeon who did Sunny's procedure in April of 2020 (as she gave us her cell phone number back then). The doctor happened to answer the phone and Peter gave her a diatribe. It is a miracle..... Sunny went from having a surgical consult on October 22, to being scheduled for surgery tomorrow with our original surgeon. Who knows what kinds of strings she pulled. All I know is we are thrilled that Sunny's issue is going to be addressed quickly and by a surgeon we have already experienced. Think good thoughts about Sunny tomorrow. He goes in at 7:45am.

When I got home from the ER, I found Peter talking to a neighbor. I love these neighbors, everyone wants to see inside your house. I also have observed that the men seem to connect with each other better than the women. I am definitely NOT used to such a model, as typically with couples it is the women who make the connections and drive the schedule. In any case, the neighbor wanted to know how I am "enjoying" the house and the neighborhood. His wife even asked if the house is bringing me "joy." These people clearly don't know me, as I despise the word JOY. But I let her know there is NO joy or peace at this house. It is one catastrophe after the other, and Sunny chasing a fox and getting injured was the cherry on top of the cake.