Mini Update

starryeyedtiger

starryeyedtiger

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I'm finally home!!!
I had heart surgery last Monday and spent a few days in the hospital recovering. When I left the hospital, I stayed a few extra days with my boyfriend Jack's grandparents at their house while I recovered. (I had 4 incision sites - 1 in my chest and 3 in my legs, so to prevent blood clot issues, I had to avoid the stairs at my apartment for a few days.) I keep a blog, so when I have a moment to update it, I plan to blog about my surgery experience. For those of you who are interested, I'd be more than happy to pm a link.
I also need to post pictures of the new apartment soon when I get a chance. It is all unpacked and decorated (save for a few miscellaneous items that need to be hung up.) I absolutely love it here and I feel soo blessed to have found this place!


I am soo relived to be back at home and with my furbabies again as well! I actually arrived back at home yesterday afternoon. (During the week, my family sent me picture updates of my furbabies and when I was up to it, I called to say hello to them
) My sweet boyfriend and nephew stayed with me last night to make sure that I was ok my first day back. I think all of my furbabies were happy to have me home again too! Each day seems to be better than the last. I am still sore/in a little pain, but I think I will have a good quality of life back soon, so that makes me happy! I now have rosy cheeks again instead of looking a constant,sickly shade of bluish/white, so that's another plus. I'm also down to 1 pill for my heart now too which is fantastic!
The doctor said it will take about a month for my incision sites to heal and about 3 months for my heart tissue to heal, so I will be taking it easy at home in the mean time. My next school session starts in October, so I will be going back then should all go well! I can't wait to finish up school and graduate!

In other news, my puppy Ranger is almost 7 months old now and is doing wonderful with his training! He's almost finished with his Intermediate classes. After those he will have "Advanced" and then he will sit for his Canine Good Citizen test and then Therapy Dog International! If all goes well, he will be a therapy dog in no time and will be bringing a smile to a lot of faces!
In a bit of exciting news, he will be getting a little sister this week if all goes well! "Rylie" will be joining us tomorrow around 1. I picked her out several weeks ago from a local rescue. She is a rescued American Mastiff puppy and will make therapy dog number 2 for my home if she does well training wise! I am one excited handler!
Since I will be home recovering until October, now is the perfect time to train and bond!

My kitties are doing well too! My mom was amazing and took care of them all week while I was gone from home. Kojak was the first one to greet me at the door when I got home and has been by my side ever since.
Velvet will be celebrating her 15th birthday in November and Isabella will be 6 years old soon!

I hope that all of you have been doing well!
 
natalie_ca

natalie_ca

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So glad to hear that your surgery was a success!!! *hugs*

Remember to take it easy! Having recently had surgery, I know how it is to have so much pent up energy and wanting to do stuff and almost feeling well enough to do it. But while you may start to feel better and in less pain, that doesn't give you the go ahead to exert yourself.

You have a wonderful supportive family and boy friend. Take it easy and let them spoil you!!!
 
otto

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Thanks for the update, and congrats on your surgery going so well. It must have been a great comfort to you knowing how well your animals were being taken care of.

for an uneventful full recovery.
 
swampwitch

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I missed a thread somewhere about you having heart surgery! I'm so glad you (and your critters) are doing well, and that the surgery is behind you. You are such an amazing and positive person, and you've been dealt some raw deals, so I really wish that your life just gets better and better from here on. Many, many heathy vibes coming your way!
 
nanner

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Wow! Great update! Sounds like everything went really well and you have a whole new life ahead of you. How great that you have such a wonderful, supportive family and significant other to help - they took great care of your animals!!

Many continuing healing vibes going out to you!
 
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starryeyedtiger

starryeyedtiger

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Thankyou everyone for the kind words and vibes!
I honestly feel like I have a little more energy with each new day!
That is such an amazing thing because for months now I have had absolutely no energy and even the most tiny things would leave me completly short of breath and in a ton of chest pain. I'm noticing that the shortness of breath and the chest pain (aside from the surgical issues) have decreased a lot already. It's still difficult to get a good breath sometimes, but it's happening less often, so I think that's a good sign!

I've looked just sickly white/blue for several months now. Not anymore though, I have soo much color back to my skin again! I'm definitely noticing such a positive change with the circulation of my blood now; it's amazing to have rosy color back again! . I honestly didn't realize how bad I looked beforehand until I came home and looked at some recent pictures I took prior to my surgery. It's already a huge difference! Hopefully I will continue to heal up nicely and that will make things much better. (I'm still having some pain/soreness in my legs and chest where I have incision sites, but I'm just pacing myself and taking things slowly.) Jack, my family, and my friends have all made plans to drop in throughout the week to help me with more extensive chores/etc until I get the all-clear from my doctor. (I go on the 31st fo a post op checkup). It's been a blessing to have soo much help and support!


It just dawned on me that I have not posted pictures in an eternity here on TCS, so when I'm feeling up to it, I will definitely post some new ones! New apartment, kitties, Ranger week by week (I've taken pictures of Ranger's growth every week since I've had him...since he will be used for therapy work down the road and some tutoring programs, I'm thinking of comming up with some sort of picture book to go along with that if I have time.)

I'll be sure to include pictures of little "Rylie" when she gets here too. I'm planning to foster her for a few days to see how she does with my existing furbabies. If all goes well and everyone accepts each other without any issues, she will stay! She has the most amazing temperment for therapy work from what I observed, so she will join Ranger in training and they will both form my Therapy Dog International team! They will visit hospitals, nursing homes, hospice homes, and help with demo visits, and soo much more once they're certified! As a handler, I'm thrilled! (but no worries, I will still take it easy on myself while I heal, it's just good to have something to look foward to).We're also going to be praticipating in the "Tail Waggin' Tutors" program at some of the local schools/libraries -which allows children with learning disabilities to read to the dogs and learn in a pressure-free environement.)
 
darkmavis

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Great news that you're feeling a lot better already!


Your therapy dog programs sound really neat too, I really like that Tail Waggin Tutors thing at the library, what a great idea for the kids.
Good luck with all of that! And yes, post some pics when you're feeling up to it.

Best wishes for a continued speedy recovery!
 
nurseangel

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I also missed the thread about you having heart surgery. I am so glad that all went well and you are feeling better.
 
babyharley

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I also missed the post that you were having surgery! I'm glad you're recovering well
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Thankyou everyone for the kind words and vibes; I appreciate it. (In a side note, things were soo chaotic before I had surgery, that it slipped my mind to post a thread on TCS about it- I posted about it on my blog and on facebook, but completly forgot to make a thread here, so none of you missed anything.) I wish I had a better update, but that's not the case today.
I woke up this morning to my heart quivering and throwing incredably frightening arrythmias. I was short of breath and having some chest pains again so that's not good. (Up until this morning, I had made a lot of progress this week and was starting to feel better). Now I just feel like someone ran over me with an 18 wheeler! Normally after the procedure I had done, you can experience some skipped beats and light arrythmias/etc...but what I was experiencing was atrial fibrillation which can be deadly if unmonitored/etc. The doctors office has put me on bedrest (not sure how long it will be for but I have an appointment on Tuesday). They're also sending out a home healthcare company tomorrow to bring me a 30 day event heart monitor to record the arrythmias. In the mean time, my family and Jack are alternating turns staying with me for a little while at a time incase I need to go to the hospital or doctors office.

This is not the update I was hoping for. Since I'm having to go on bedrest and I will be unable to do much, I decided (along with the input of my family, Jack, and friends) that it would not fair to keep the little foster puppy in this situation where I can't meet all of her needs- attention/training/socilization/etc that my other dog has been given. I spoke with the owner of the rescue today and explained the situation to her (she knew from the beginning about my heart issues and that this could happen, so she was very sweet about it all. That is also why I decided to foster for a few days before adopting just incase something like this occured) The rescue owner was was very kind and understanding and picked little Rylie up a while ago. As much as I wanted to keep the little foster puppy, Rylie, and make her a permenant addition, I just can not handle her issues right now and give her the home and training that she needs while I'm on bed rest and having heart issues. Rylie is a sweet puppy, but she does have some issues with dog aggression, food aggression, and loud baying/barking ( I have neighbors above, below, behind, and to the side of my apartment). I was also a bit concerned that she was not meshing so well with my Aussie, Ranger due to how aggressive she was with him (she was 1/2 his size and kept throwing him into aggression rolls/etc to the point that I had to seperate and keep her on a lead when she was out around him...even that was something that was workable though with proper trainign) After the first day I had already ruled out the possibility of doing TDI work with her after I had the chance to observe her temperment more, but I was still hoping to keep her as a pet and a companion for Ranger and I. All of those little puppy issues were things that I was more than willing to work with and that can be worked on with proper training. My mom and I took her to meet with the trainer yesterday for about an hour for an observation appointment. He thinks she will make a great pup with some positive reinforcement and good training; I strongly agreee. On that same token, I also feel like since she will be such a huge dog full grown (American Mastiff x) she may do better in a large home/backyard vs. my apartment due to her high energy level/temperment. The rescue owner picked her up a little while ago to take her back home (The rescue is wonderful. They are operate out of foster homes; Rylie will be living with the rescue owner and some other pups her age until she finds a permenant home. (they're no kill, but the rescue owner promised me she would call if Rylie got adopted or if something happened and she needed me to take her back once I'm well again.) I wish I could have kept her. I guess sometimes the right decision that is in the best interest of the animal is not always the easiest decision to make.


If you guys can spare them, please send a few vibes for my heart to settle down a bit and for little Rylie to find a wonderful home at the next adoption day on Saturday!
 
gailc

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I hope your recovery resumes and that Riley will find the perfect family.
Take care of yourself!!
 
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starryeyedtiger

starryeyedtiger

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Thankyou everyone for the kind words and vibes
They're very much appreciated!
The heart monitor came today, so I'm all "hooked up" now for the next 30 days. My heart seems to be doing a little bit better today, but I'm still really, really weak. I think it'll just take a little time to get back to normal.

Today was pretty good and I had a lot of good company.
My mom wound up spending the night here last night (we spent some time together watching tv and she helped me out around my place!) When she left this morning, my sister Kimmy came to hang out with me- it was great! We had a little lunch and watched a mini-marathon of "animal cops" and vegged out for a while. Kimmy & I are really close, so it definitely made me feel better to have her here with me for a little bit/
When she left, my sweet girlfriend Renae came and picked me up so we could have dinner with our other girlfriend Annie. (Annie's husband is at war right now and hopefully comming home soon. She's moving to North Carolina this weekend to set up her new place, so this was our last time to really hang out with her. I wasn't "technically" supposed to break the bed rest thing, but since it was only dinner, I think it was ok- it really did me a world of good for me to spend some time with my girlfriends for a while and not worry about anything health related! Jack's on his way over now, so I'll have some more company when he gets here too. Everyone's been fantastic about making sure I'm not alone for too long and comming to visit. It's definitely been a blessing!
My Ranger puppy has really enjoyed all of the company too! He LOVES people and it's been great to have all of my friends over to play frisbee/etc with him since he was missing the other puppy foster(Rylie). I think that when the time is right and my heart heals up, I'll look at getting another dog as a companion for him and a therapy dog for me to work with like Ranger, but right now it's best to hold off and let my heart heal.
(Please keep sending vibes that little Rylie gets adopted to a wonderful this Saturday at the adoption day! The owner of the rescue said she would keep me posted! That little girl would really thrive in a home as an only dog with a huge backyard to play in (I just don't think she's an apartment pup!) I'm praying she finds the perfect home this weekend!
)
 
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