Lab Reports: Sunny Feb-Jul 2013

A whole new chapter is about to start in the Karsten household and I am so excited to write about it and share pictures, but alas, I feel compelled to bring you up to date on the old stories left dangling. So, Sunny first.

I can't believe I didn't write about his first eye surgery in that Feb post. I guess that shows how we sailed right through it. I was busy for 4 weeks moving us across town - bringing a load on my way to work every morning, filling up the Pilot again every evening. It was a $60 move - only had to hire muscle for 45 minutes (2 hour minimum) to move a few heavy pieces up the stairs. Everything else was done with the help of a two young friends with big trucks to carry some larger pieces (3 trips); a few not so young helpers - Dad and aunt; and my twin for a day or two. The rest was all me. I love a good move.

Right in the middle of it all, I went to the ER for 6 stitches to repair the finger that I filleted in a vegetable cutting accident. On Super Bowl Sunday. Where I learned that this is a very common injury seen in the ER on Super Bowl Sunday. Now I was down to 9 fingers to load and carry the boxes.

Just about that time, Sunny had been running in the field, and, with his limited sight, had gotten a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Ouch! I didn't see it happen, but did notice later something looking strange on his eyeball, but with everything else going on, I failed to properly assess the damage and realize that the meds he was getting for his other issues were exacerbating this new injury. The result (hallelujah) was that I was finally able to have that eye removed. If I sound cruel and heartless, please review last year's posts - this has been coming on a long time and costing me a lot of money to keep his doomed eyes going. This one was blind already, and now the cornea punctured, so it was finally time.

The painful eye was removed, no issues post surgery, and we finished the move and immediately set about making the new house into a home and enjoying the great backyard, and no more leash walks! (ref last post)

During this time, the dogs were without their sitter for about 6 weeks, while I came home from work for lunch every day. On April 1, I got a promotion at work and started working longer hours, so hired the sitter from the apartments to come out and play with the dogs a couple afternoons a week. They had all really missed each other. A month later, Micki was able to move into my downstairs "granny unit" and I got to work even longer hours, because I now had the luxury of a live-in dog sitter! Life was good.

But then on a weekend visit to see Grandma and Grandpa, I noticed Sunny running into walls, and back at home, he was running into the whiskey barrels and patio furniture (see April post). It was clear that the sight was almost gone from his second eye. So, the doc agreed it was time for the inevitable. I was ready. I figured that without a faulty eye to rely on, Sunny would start learning to navigate his environment in other ways, and would stop crashing into things so deliberately. I say deliberately because with his limited eyesight, he was deliberately walking towards the shapes he could see, hitting a wall instead of the void of the doorway next to it.

May 21 was the date. There isn't much more to say. If it weren't for the pain in his legs, I could say he sailed right through the operation and got back to the business at hand, but something must have happened during the operation to mess up his hips because he came out of the surgery, gave a cry and laid down on the floor. His first blind walk to the car was amazing. He took a few tentative steps down the ramp but then walked confidently the rest of the way. But at home, his mobility got worse and worse. I tried pain pills and making him stay off the stairs, but after a week he was still getting worse. A chiropractor was recommended. When I left for work the morning of his appointment, he could barely walk. Micki had to pick him up to put him in her car to take him to the chiropractor. I wasn't there, but apparently he just melted in the doctor's hands, and 45 minutes later, he jumped into the car to come home. When I got home that night, he was TROTTING in the back yard, like I hadn't seen him move in months.

So, while I am sorry that he had to go through that additional pain, he is now in better shape than he was before because he already had arthritis issues that were affecting his mobility. Over the next few weeks, all kinds of things got better. All those meds he was on for his eyes were so harsh. Now his body shape was returning to normal, his hair was filling out and getting softer again, and of course he was moving so well. Oh yeah, and his sense of smell seemed to be coming back (again, ref an earlier post). We read somewhere that one of his meds had a side effect that decreased the sense of smell.

The next thing that happened, at about the one month point, is he really started getting comfortable with his environment, and this is about when he started really getting back into play fetch with his tennis balls. I suppose the game now is Hunt, not Fetch. I'll close with a video showing the game. Watch in particular how his tail spins to the left, to the right, to the left, to the right, like a rudder, as he tacks to the right, to the left, to the right, to the left. LOL!

Don't miss the bonus photos inserted below the video.