June 9. Duke falls getting to the bathroom. Yes, I was helping, but about all I could manage to do was ensure he landed ON the toilet and not IN the bathtub. That should count for something, shouldn’t it? Just the last place on the planet anyone wants to be "rescued" from. The night before we’d had some funky blood pressure readings and had already planned on heading down to the Emergency Room in Bakersfield, but gee, he gets another ride in an ambulance! By the time we get "settled" in the ER they have found that his blood pressure is now 58/30 and his kidneys are shutting down! Excuse me? Could you repeat that because it sounded like you said… anyway, it was because of all the antibiotics that he’s been on and his kidneys had just had enough and were done. Didn’t get his hip put back into place for three days, and had him home by June 14.
So. Where are we? Blood pressure normal, kidneys mostly recovered, leg swelling under control and now we’re just waiting until the end of August when Dr. Bliss will repair the damage that Duke did to the hip during that first bad fall. Then, hopefully, we can start making some forward progress.
During one of these Santa Barabara trips, I had two other things happen. While we were gone, I had the repair guys out to replace the water line to our frig (before it broke this time) and while they were back there they found that the heating unit behind the freezer which keeps it frost free had broken off of its little plastic pegs, fallen down on top of the coils, tilted forward, and melted the whole back of the freezer wall. Great. So that meant a brand new frig as soon as I got home. Same day, I get a call from the barn where my elderly horse lives – he somehow had torn a front tendon, and after x-rays and ultrasound, it appeared he had torn 70% of it and was supposed to be on “stall rest” in his heavy duty cast-like bandages for 30 days to see if it would heal. Owner called me back and said, “You know your horse doesn’t do well in a stall.” Yep, I knew that. Warned them in fact. He’s a total idiot indoors. His favorite “indoor” activity is to yank up all the rubber mats from underneath the two feet of shavings, pile them on top of the shavings, and then stand on top of the whole ugly mess and buck in place. Why? Who knows. So, fearing he would injure himself worse, back outside he went. He’s all mended now, and we’ll get shoes back on him next week. These are the kinds of things that happen the MINUTE you pay off your credit card. Or your car. Or any other debt. Things around you overhear the good news, they break, they pass the news along to other things you own, and CHA-CHING… you’re right back where you started! Do not dicusss financial gains anywhere near your vehicles or applicances. Ever.
So, we missed the Washington trip, but bless those sisters of mine! They have been emailing and posting pictues on Facebook the whole time so I don’t feel quite so sorry for myself!