Gnomes

Marshall is now really a collector of gnomes. We need to find a spot to display them.






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Coco

Well, this morning (after another night of him getting up to pee every hour and a half), I took him out around 6:30 and he was walking fine. All of a sudden he started walking sideways and his rear legs gave out.

We rushed him over to the vet (40 miles away) with me barely dressed, no combed hair, no brushed teeth. First of all, one of his stitches, the one that is holding the penis in its sheath (OUCH), came loose. So she put a new suture in. But she was very concerned about the walking sideways thing and the legs giving out.

The walking sideways could be from pain and he could be favoring one side over another until the pain starts subsiding and everything heals. But the legs giving out...not sure about that. So she took a movie of Coco walking and sent it off to a neurological guy in Denver and we are at home now waiting to see if we need to rush Coco up to Denver for a consult with neurology. The guy she picked happens to be the guy who did Coco's back surgery in 2005, so he kind of has a record on Coco.

Marshall felt good today and was energetic throughout all of this.

He picked up his new "tester" CPAP machine today. He will need to use it for two weeks to see if they can solve his nighttime oxygen problem.

That's today's story.....

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Coco is home; Marshall still has the blahs

We picked Coco up today and he was so glad to see us. We now have a 10-14 day recuperation period to go through and then another round of dental surgery.

Marshall still has the blahs, can't seem to get rid of them. And the doctor didn't show up today for the home visit, which was disappointing. He knew we were leaving at noon to pick Coco up so he was supposed to come this morning. There were no messages so we don't know what happened.

Tomorrow should be a quiet day. Nothing is on the agenda.


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Coco's Surgery

Coco had his surgery today. The vet said it was a 4-hour surgery but it went well and we get to pick him up tomorrow afternoon. She didn't get to finish everything because she didn't want to keep him under anesthesia any longer, so he will have to come back in a month or so to finish out the dental surgery. It sure is weird here at home without him.

Marshall is having some hip pain and he had the blahs yesterday and today. Every now and then the enormity of everything just takes center stage. Our primary care physician here in Westcliffe actually does home visits and he is due to visit Marshall (along with his nurse) tomorrow morning. That should help get rid of the blahs.




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Anniversary

Tomorrow (March 17) is the two-year anniversary of the date Marshall was diagnosed. That's pretty good!!

He's still enjoying the good effects of the nightly oxygen. He has lots more energy.

My office is finally done -- Tricia did an EXCELLENT job! I am including a "before" picture and can't believe I let things get so out of hand....













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Snow

On Friday, we got one of those wonderful Colorado spring snowstorms and we got a foot of snow. This year has been really good for moisture, so I hope that bodes well for the upcoming forest fire season.

Okie is still readjusting to being back home. Not sure what he encountered during those four days, but it stressed him out. He has a cold and is sneezing a lot. We went to the vet today and got some medicine.

Back when we were searching for him, I climbed up the mountain a bit to where we caught a glimpse of him and when I got up there I took a picture looking down at our house. It is about dead center in this picture, you'll have to look closely to see it.



Coco has to have surgery next Tuesday for bladder stones, poor baby. And Marlee is still recovering from his bacterial infection.

My office is almost done and it is beautiful. Tricia did a phenomenal job and she worked her butt off while she was here putting things together. It's not picture-ready yet, but it will be soon. (Tricia, thank you SO much...)

Marshall continues to have better energy with the use of oxygen at night. They are still adjusting the oxygen level to try to get the perfect setting, but it's really great. And at our visit to the cancer center this past week, the Nurse Practitioner increased Marshall's dosage of Protonix (stomach medication) to see if we can get a grip on the nausea that regularly hits him very suddenly.


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Okie is back home!

What a good day this was. When we left for the cancer center, we put a bunch of our dirty clothes in the garage along with Okie's favorite pillow and his bed and some blankets.

Our dogsitter told us that Okie slowly approached the garage around 3:30 today and she convinced him to go into the garage. She closed the door and trapped him in the garage. She took food and water to him. He hid under the Prius and wouldn't come out. When Marshall and I got home, Gina and I were able to convince him to come out and we brought him in the house.

He was dirty and VERY hungry. He walked around the house to be sure everything was where he left it (LOL) and he kissed the dogs and now he's on my lap sleeping.

In addition, Marshall's checkup today was another excellent one.

WHAT A GOOD DAY!!


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Day 5

This morning we saw Okie up the mountain quite a bit and he was meowing like crazy. But when we tried to approach him, he ran.

I had such high hopes that he would come closer to the house but we haven't seen another sign of him anywhere. I climbed up that mountain with some food and sat there for a while tapping the food bowl and calling his name and still nothing.

The good thing is that we know he's alive.  But now I'm worried because he wouldn't come to us.

Tomorrow we go to the cancer center and will be gone all day. He will probably approach the house tomorrow when we're not here (Murphy's Law, you know). Our dogsitter will be here so I hope she will keep a close watch.


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Day 4

Okie still has not come back. We continue to search and put food out and I am still sleeping practically pasted to the front windows so I can see if he comes back at night. I guess if he's not back by Sunday (which will have been a week), I will start trying to accept the fact that he's gone. But not sure when I will stop crying.

Marlee is doing worse every day, even though he is on medication, so that is not looking good.

Coco is improving so that's a bright spot.

Tricia and I almost finished my office. She goes back home tomorrow.

Then on Wednesday we have another one of those fun trips to the Cancer Center.


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Okie still has not come home

Marshall and I are devastated. We look for Okie every day and we leave all the lights on all night, as well as patio light and deck light. We keep the garage open with blankets right inside the door.. We have put Okie's favorite rug on the patio so hopefully he can smell it. We put his litterbox on the patio. At feeding time, we put his food and water out on the patio. And we are making sure someone is home at all times.

We go up to the cancer center on Wednesday and we'll hire our dogsitter to stay here and watch for Okie.

This will be the third night he's been gone. I am sleeping again with the couch pulled up against the windows so I can see the patio. I can't think of anything else to do.

Tricia and I made great headway on my office today and we are tired. Tomorrow the contractor comes to put in a new window and then Tricia and I will bring everything back into the office and get it all finished.

Please say a prayer that Okie will come back home.


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Redecorating my office

My daughter Tricia flew in on Thursday afternoon to finalize the redecorating of my office. We were looking forward to four days together and I considered this a great opportunity for some "me" time, which I BADLY need.

However, nothing ever goes as planned. Our dog Marlee got sick Thursday morning and we had to rush him over to the vet. So Tricia had to rent a car at the airport since we couldn't come and get her.

Her drive from Colorado Springs to Westcliffe was stressful because there was an unexpected short burst of snow and the roads were slick. But she did finally make it.

Marlee is on medication now for a clostridium infection, but he is still very mopey and not acting like himself.

Yesterday, Tricia and I painted my office and were having a pretty good time, but we had opened a window (just 4 inches) and at some point our cat Okie escaped through that little opening and we've all been going crazy trying to find him. We spent a lot of time walking through the woods with flashlights trying to find him with no luck. I am just sick about this. I've moved our couch over to the front window and I will be sleeping here with the patio lights on every night indefinitely so that if he comes home during the night, I can see him and get him in the house. Please say a few prayers for his safety.

Today, Tricia and I went to Colorado Springs to return her rental car and then we went to do some last minute shopping for accessories for my office. The weather again turned nasty and we drove through some awful fog.

When we got back home, we annoyed Marshall and he's mad at us, so my much awaited "me" time has turned into "even-more-stressful-than-usual" time.

But, as Tricia says, if I end up with an awesome newly decorated office, it will all have been worth it.

Tomorrow we will go through all the stuff I have "hoarded" over the last two years and start organizing my office. Then on Monday he contractor will be back for some finishing touches and then Tricia and I will finish getting all of the furniture in the office and we should have a finished product. (Photos to follow...)

I have my fingers crossed that Okie comes back tomorrow and that Sunday and Monday go much more smoothly,



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