Poor Tallywhacker

My sister’s dog Tal (aka Tallywhacker, Tallyman) had been having some health problems for the last 5 months or so. 

He started limping and it progressively got worse, to the point where he was waking up in the middle of the night in pain and yelping.  They took him to the vet and he was on different medications ranging from pain meds to steroids to muscle relaxers.  The steroid seemed to help a little but it still wasn’t getting better.  The vet feared that he had a disk problem so they sent him for an MRI (everyone reading this should have already figured out by now that YES, we are crazy animal people and will do or spend just about anything on our animals). 

The specialist felt that based on what was going on, he would prefer to do a CAT Scan instead of the MRI.  So, they agreed to this on Thursday.

Unfortunately, the results weren’t good.  He had a tumor on the bone, near the spine and the only course of action to treat this would be surgery to remove the tumor.  A surgery that came with an extremely hefty price tag.

Me being the research guru that I am, scoured the internet for information.  I created a list of questions for my sister to ask the vet that ranged from:

Why couldn’t they just do a biopsy? 

What if it’s cancer?  Does he think it’s cancer?  What if it is cancer?

What would he do it we his dog?

And on and on the questions went what?  It’s good to be informed!. 

The vet was extremely patient and suggested they start with an ultrasound to see if there were any visible signs of cancer.  Thankfully, there were none so my sister and her husband decided to proceed with the surgery on Friday.

The surgery was a success and the vet was able to remove the entire tumor, which was about an inch to an inch and a half in size.  OUCH!  No wonder he was in so much pain.

The vet required that Tal stay at their office until yesterday.  And since we had plans to go over to my sisters house, cookout and hang out with our dad for Fathers Day, I got to spend lots of time loving and cuddling on a very drugged up dog.

From the surgery, Tal has a cut that’s at minimum a foot long going from his neck to the middle of his back and there are at least 20 staples but, he’s doing great and soaking up the love despite the doctors orders for rest.  Unfortunately, the meds he was prescribed made him a little anxious and restless so he would only lay for a few minutes before getting up to walk around.  At one point the poor guy was falling asleep while standing up and his back legs gave out on him and sort of fell to the ground.

But, the discomfort and pain from the surgery has to be better than the pain from the tumor so he can only get better from here. 

The results from the tumor should be in next week and hopefully they will tell my sister and brother-in-law that it’s benign.  

Here’s to a quick and speedy recovery Tallywhacker! 

“marcie is lame”

I must laugh…”marcie is lame”.  This is what someone searched for and it brought them to my blog.

Love ya sis!

Happy Birthday Marcie

It’s my sisters 28th birthday today. 

(please note the saying the mirror she is holding.  It is SOOOO true!)

I remember 28…sigh. 

And while we don’t always get along or see eye-to-eye, I couldn’t ask for a better sister well, maybe one that would agree that I’m always right.  Her strength constantly amazes me.  I don’t think I’ve EVER met anyone that is as opinionated and not afraid to voice their opinion as much as she.  Granted this can be a good and a bad thing  But it takes a strong person to not care what others think of them and their opinions.  I’m constantly in awe of her of and the amazing life (including her extreme thriftiness) she has built for herself. 

Oh, and she has a Wii — and I want one.  Please invite us over more to play it.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCIE!!!

I hope that you have a fabulous day and Tim spoils you rotten.

I love these people

Last Wednesday, I got together for dinner with some friends and family.  Specifically my mom, Charley (my moms boyfriend), Aaron (my brother), Gordy and Tom.

(my brother, Aaron is missing from this picture…the lameass decided to leave early and missed the group picture)

I have known this freak, Gordy (aka Nodrog) since, goodness, I don’t even know! 

 My mom’s cousin was good friends with his parents and we used to go camping together at Lake LaDonna in Oregon, IL (southwest of Rockford).  Wow, he used to be so annoying and well, I guess not much has changed    I kid…I kid.  Goodness, those were good times. 

Until the douchebag felt the need to disappear from our lives.

Fortunately, my mom went to a family wedding where she was able to ask her cousin, the murderer, (another story for another time) for Gordy’s phone number and voila, here he is again, blessing us with his presence.

*Gordy, I expect a nice lump sum of money for talking about you so nicely here on my blog.

Last April, Gordy introduced us to Tom.  We love Tom.  I think that if Gordy ever felt the need to separate himself from us again, we would be OK with that.  As long as Tom stuck around.

Seriously though.  Tom is just a wonderful guy – sweet and genuine to the core.  I first met him last April when we all went to dinner for my mom’s 50th birthday and don’t know that I’ve ever known someone who fit in so well and so quickly with our “group”.  I’ll be the first to admit, we are a very close knit family and have some very close friends.  I think people find that intimidating and find it difficult to be a part of our group.  Not Tom though.  He felt like one of us from the start.  And, he makes the best ever sangria.  And I have the secret recipe.  No, I can not share.  I am under orders.  From Tom. 

Charley is also a newbie to our group – my mom and he have been dating for a while now.  Does this make him her boyfriend?  I can’t recall that she’s ever referred to him as such but…when you see someone at least 5 times a week, talk to them everyday and take weekend trips together for at least the last 6 months, doesn’t that make you boyfriend/girlfriend?

We like Charley though.  He’s not afraid to carry a purse.  Truly though, he also is a very genuine and interesting person.  (Nothing personal mom)…But my mom doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to picking men.  So naturally, I decided that I needed to be more cautious about forming a relationship with anyone she dates.  I tried to do so with Charley.  But, it just didn’t happen.  He didn’t let that happen.  Despite his whining antics when we whoop him in water volleyball, he’s a good guy.  Anyone that genuinely and truly cares about my mom gets my vote.  And, you can tell he cares about her just from how he looks at her.  And with how treats her.

And now I’m bored with writing so I’ll leave you with a few pictures of our fantabulous evening.  One that we’ve decided needs to happen more often, like once a month often.

(note my glorious new Ann Taylor Loft sweater – bought on sale for $28!)

Tuesday Evening Excitement

Last night I met Stacey and Steph for dinner.  As blogged about previously, I met these two on the Internet.  Specifically on the knot while planning my wedding last year.

From left to right:  Me (why is it that pictures of ones self ALWAYS turn out crappy?), Steph (whose diagrams cracked my shit up) and Stacey (ex-big rig co-rider, living off the land girl).

And for as nervous as I was to meet someone new, I shouldn’t have been.  These girls are just great and were so much fun to hang out with although, I’m sure I talked way too much, which on occasion (insert sarcasm), I have a tendency to do.  It was one of those nights where you start yawning, look at your watch and realize “HOLY CRAP, where have the last 3 hours gone?”  I hope that we make a point to get together on occasion because I genuinely had such a nice time talking and laughing with them. 

What wasn’t so great was staying up till 1:15am to help my sister with her resume.  I had promised to help her when I got home from dinner but I didn’t get home till 11pm.  I personally didn’t mind staying up to help her, but I did feel bad that I kept her awake that late.  But, it is what it is and now she has a fabulous resume to show for it!

Elf Yourself

I thought my sister and brother needed a good laugh today, so I elfed us.

From left to right:  Marcie (my sister), Kathie (my mom, the picture is from the 90’s so don’t hate on her glasses), Aaron (my brother) and me.

 Please laugh.  I did, lots.