jaw dropping progress

Posted on Posted in food and garden, home and family

jaw dropping—get it?? haha, little joke there . . . because my jaw actually did fall off! HAHAHA, i just crack myself up sometimes . . . ok, maybe not that funny, now that i think about it.

i’m just popping in to tell you that i’m feeling much, much better and hard at work on my 2018 goals already—i KNOW! how are you doing on yours?

well, i know you met ONE big goal, huzzah! i have to tell you how inspiring that is for me; if you can do it, then i can apply myself just a little more, too. and i have big plans.

first though i have to get this confounded thing removed from my mouth.

this is my fixator, which is pinning my jaw in place while the bones knit together—isn’t it cool that knitting is involved? i though you’d appreciate that . . . it looks a lot worse than it is; after a couple of weeks i got used to it being there. most people who see me on the street just think i’m carrying a chew toy, which is hilarious, since i don’t do toys.

after our trip to the doctor for my two-week followup, i was allowed to go on long walks again, which has been great.

i helped anne scout out all sorts of interesting light displays for our twelve nights of christmas lights on instagram. i even found a couple that she didn’t notice at first!

i’ve been to visit my friend casey a few times too, which is the best thing of all—he was wondering where the heck i’d gotten to. and he was very, very respectful of my fixator; we won’t resume our wrestling matches or serious horseplay until i’m completely cleared for activities like those.

instead he just bugs me constantly, cleaning my ears and nuzzling the back of my neck, haha. but i mostly let him because he means well and is very gentle. also, he doesn’t laugh at all about the clothes i need to wear because all my neck and chest fur was shaved off for my surgery. i actually like my puffy vest a lot, but i’m not a fan of the purple cowl.

this week anne remembered another cowl she had in her running gear and dug it out; this one suits me much better and sometimes i even keep it on in the house. don’t you think this is much more “me”? i mean, slate blue is SO my color . . .

speaking of christmas, i was stunned to learn about this holiday! a day (actually a month, it seemed like) totally devoted to sparkly lights and presents?? what’s not to love? and i got several really great gifts from friends, some of whom i wasn’t all that trusting of and one i’ve never even met, but who love me back anyway.

a huge stocking full of toys from my aunt helen, who has an adorable doggie named pepper; i can’t wait to meet them next time we visit our family in NY state.

and aunt katharine sent me these cheesy biscuits which i cannot WAIT to get my teeth on (when it’s alright to have crunchy foods again). i’m sorry i wasn’t so nice to her when she was visiting; i was a bit overwhelmed by having a houseguest . . .

and aunt kimkimkim sent me this coolio leash, which is made from wool and alpaca that is spun into a super durable rope. she knows how much i like my walks. i need to ask anne to help me organize some goodies for her birthday.

actually, it’s gotten really REALLY cold here since christmas and i’ve been cutting our walks short for the time being—my feet just can’t take the cold after a couple of miles. i’d rather stay in and snuggle up on the sofa, going out several times a day only for shorter walks right now (but i think that’s kind of stressful for anne and david; they are pretty busy). it’s supposed to be warmer this week coming up and hopefully we can get back to our regular walking schedule.

i do love the snuggling; it’s really growing on me. i was not to keen about being touched up til now, even by anne, who gets to touch me the most. but lately i can even let her hold my hands and clean my feet which she thinks is a HUGE step in the right direction (it’s the least i can do, right?). and most days, i also enjoy being gathered up for hugging, which used to make me panic because it felt like i was being smothered. now though, i can relax and enjoy sinking into the warmth.

i even find it quite nice to squish up against her when she’s knitting and lay my head in her lap. sometimes i do a lap takeover, too. that’s where i inch my way over and creep up onto her lap, a little at a time until there’s no more room for knitting junk. she doesn’t mind—she just lays her yarn on top of ME and we’re good.

last week we had a party! anne spent several days in the kitchen preparing all sorts of foods that human people find yummy to eat—lasagne, antipastos, and cheesecake.

now, you might not know this about me but, well, anything involving cheese is of supreme interest to me. i was raptly attentive as not one, not two, but FIVE different cheeses were scooped, cubed, or grated into the party dishes. and naturally i offered my services for taste-testing each one and cleaning up any scraps or bits that were not of use . . .

i was wondering what all the activity was about and she did try to explain it to me ahead of time, but boy oh boy, was i surprised when all of a sudden on tuesday night, there were FIVE TIMES the usual number of people at our house—plus another dog!

good thing i have been working hard, as promised, on letting my friends at “work” touch me and pet me. because the party was full of my work friends (and the dog, thor). and our friend ramona who is safe and a do-gooder, which is why i created a fundraiser for her on facebook.

i was ok with most of it until thor tried to take my “chew toy” out of my mouth. that was it for me—i found a safe spot sitting with my friends ellen and joe, where i could also keep anne in my sights at all times. ellen is just lovely and i almost always let her pet me now; we are working on that together.

in fact, i really hate it when she’s not there. i still check every day when we’re out for a walk, pulling over at the shop door to stop in and say hello. i just love it at “work”, but sometimes when we arrive, the place is empty.

i will admit up front that yes, i do need a bit of a crutch when it comes to the petting; treats make it much easier to overcome my fears. but i am slowly, slowly able to do it without them once in a while too. it’s just that the treats are so yummy, i completely forget myself and before i know it, lillian or ellen or megan are rubbing my ears and i realize it feels good. who knew?

yeah, so for a while after my surgery, we were a little flummoxed about treats—i needed them as badly as ever but my favorites were too crunchy for my jaw situation. we tried a variety of workarounds, mostly involving soaking or microwaving my biscuits, but that proved really messy and took WAY too much time.

then once the christmas rush was over, anne finally got “online” to see if she could figure out an alternative. she has this thing about making my treats, because i usually won’t eat the ones from a package (sorry, but they have absolutely no flavor, FYI).

and it turns out that she can make even more AMAZING ones than the ones she was making before!! plus these ones are soft so i can chew them without hurting myself. ok, i just asked her and she said the recipe is based on the one she found on the sheknows blog.

she put some of my favorite foods (and a couple i didn’t know i liked) into the noisy food-making machine and added some other stuff, including my favorite—CHEESE.

she let me taste the batter and i was like, eh.
but she spooned it out anyway and sprinkled the tops with CHEESE and put them in the hot box.

i’m not really sure what happens in there, but O.M.G., when they came out they were utterly transformed and SO yummy. yummy, yummy, YUMMY!!

i know it’s ridiculous, but i cannot control myself when these treats are mentioned. i will do just about anything to get one. i even let the newest person at work pet me right away because she offered me one (sorry ellen, no reflection on you at ALL; you’re still my fave).

anyway, the upshot of all this is that, seeing how much i love, love, love the new treats, anne went looking for ideas about changing my regular food so it would be equally yummy—and also better for me. i mean, she buys really good food and adds lots of my favorite vegetables, but you know what happens when a mom gets reading—suddenly they go on a kick to make everything “better”.

i already love cooked green beans, which are like a doggie superfood (and good thing we have a lot because i eat a ton of those).

and roasted sweet potatoes—these are so good you guys! steamed carrots are also a fave, along with mashed peas, but i had to stop eating that last one; peas and pumpkin don’t agree with me so much.

don’t get me wrong, anne and david tried all summer long to get me to eat raw blueberries, leafy greens, apples, and other stuff on lists such as this one, but i wouldn’t do it; they just didn’t smell like anything and i like smelly food. i much preferred cooked vegetables.

then when i had to switch to my current soft diet and spoon feeding, she seized the opportunity to get me to try new ingredients. she had the great idea to simply defrost raw, frozen fruits and veggies and presto-change-o, we hit a sweet spot. first i like the softer texture and secondly, once they are stirred into my pureed food, their smells and flavors really stand out.

now, along with my well-soaked kibble, canned soft food, and whipped canned salmon, we are trying all sorts of yummy stir-ins. meals have never been more exciting!

i let her know in every when i can think of how much i love my meals—when i hear my personal dishes clinking and containers coming out of the fridge, i race into the kitchen, run around the island twice and skid to a stop on the rug, then wiggle my butt for good measure (and because it never fails to make her laugh). i park right in front of the fridge where she can’t forget that i’m there, waiting ever so patiently. for at least a minute anyway before poking her leg to hurry up please . . .

i think i’m going to be really sad when my soft diet days are behind me and i’m hoping anne will think of a creative way to continue making fruits and vegetables taste good for me.

one thing that’s still a big challenge—and kind of a fight— is water. i’m afraid to go near my water dish because navigating it with the fixator might hurt, so anne has been syringing water into my mouth whenever she can get me to open it, then rewarding me with dabs of peanut butter. sadly, i am such a sucker that this mostly works, though she says not enough and often i make a big mess by flinging water all over the place.

and since i eat my meals in my bed where i can relax and be touched without worry, that just makes for a soggy mess sometimes. i mean, i would go without it altogether, but i guess that’s not good for me. i’m supposed to drink a lot more, but by the end of each day, we are too tired to fight about it and we settle for what we can get down.

well, we all go back to the hospital in sixteen days to see how my jaw is healing. they’ll put me to sleep again and i’ll get an x-ray and if everything looks good, they will remove the pins and the fixator and we will move on to the next stages of recovery (tho i’m not exactly sure yet what that involves). i’ll be sure to let you know as soon as i know more.

also, i’m sorry this post is going up so late—i know i promised it for sunday but wow, typing is SO hard.

22 thoughts on “jaw dropping progress

  1. Hi Cardigan, thanks for the progress report. You are SO brave and yes, and chic too in your matching puffer and cowl! Your mom and dad take GREAT care of you. My mom cleared a “race track” in the snow so I can get my exercise and do…ahem…my business without getting too cold and wet. You see I have very short legs! Don’t you just love what happens when you mix kibble with water? It puffs up like MAGIC!!! All the best to you! Maya the doxie

  2. Thanks for the update. Please update us again after the hospital visit. Glad to see Cardigan is healing.

  3. Thanks for all this great info, Cardigan. I’ve been wondering how you are getting along. It helps to have really great parents when you are recovering from such a life-changing incident. Sounds like you are doing well emotionally too. You are very brave to trust your doggy friends. So many people out here are interested in you and your recovery. Can’t wait to hear about the next step to wellness. 😘😘😘

  4. Lovely post. I do love reading about you and your progress. Anne is amazing 😉 thanks for sharing 😘

  5. Just LOVE your updates, Cardigan! I am so VERY thankful you had the wonderfully loving family and friends to support you through what will hopefully become a distant memory as you continue to heal and thrive in this new year!

  6. Cardigan,

    I am so very happy that you are getting better… your fixator makes me feel a whole lot better about my cone. I am very lucky. I was just rambunctious with my sis and got a bit of a scratch on my eye. That is NOTHING like your experience. I watch and pray that you get better with each passing day. I showed your lovely meals to my mom in the hopes that something good may come of it.

    Take care,
    Bleu Belle

  7. Thank you, Cardigan, for the progress report! Your mom’s right – we’ve been wondering how things are going. I’m glad to hear she’s found some yummy food for you, and that you’re making more friends 🙂

  8. Cardigan, I am so glad you are doing so well. You are such a lucky puppy that you found your wonderful forever family. And I am not even going to mention to my guy all the wonderful things Anne cooks for you–he would be pea green. I will be waiting to hear from you again after you see the vet.

  9. I’m very happy to hear your doing so well, Cardigan!
    (your posts are never too long).

  10. Hello Cardigan, I’m happy to hear that you’re getting better. You are a very lucky pup to have homemade yummy treats!

  11. Cardigan, I am so sorry you are going through all this. Fingers crossed your next steps to recovery do not require additional surgery. You are simply adorable in that slate blue cowl. You are so lucky you found wonderful people to care for you! Thank you for this post.

  12. Cardigan, you are such a lucky pup! So great to hear that you are on the mend! And good job finding such a wonderful family to settle in with!

  13. Oh my goodness, what a brave dog. And you and David are such excellent and devoted doggy parents. Cardigan still brings me to tears, but I’m so glad to hear she is comfortable and doing well. Good luck (and good riddance to the fixator) in two weeks!

  14. Several people have said it, but I agree…Cardigan was lucky when she decided to trust you and become part of your family. 🙂

  15. Your diligence in dog care is amazing—Cardigan is one lucky dog! The three of you went from the start line to an amazing family! Happy New Year to all of you.

  16. Cardigan is so sweet. Love her posting and so glad to see how she’s progressing. Such a wonderful family.
    It warms the heart to see families with furry members who love each other so much. Praying for her continued recovery.

  17. wonderful update Cardigan! i am so glad you’re doing well. and all your food looks yummy! so i’m late reading this – so early next week you get your jaw checked – all the best for your fixator to come off. you have the best parents!

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