Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Dog in the Paper

I read the Gazette Times story about the dog, with the jaw broken that didn't mend right so the dog cannot really eat. Senior Dog Rescue is begging for donations to help cover the dogs' surgery.

The surgery is already scheduled. Some people turned the dog over to ARK animal hospital in Philomath claiming it had a medical condition that prevented it from eating. Well, in reality the dog's jaw had been broken, probably by them, and healed wrong, so the dog couldn't eat without trying to suck up the food.

Anyhow, Senior Dog Rescue is a well publicized nonprofit and they're trying to get this dog a needed surgery, so it can eat again. That poor dog. They took in a hundred dogs this year.

I took in hundreds of cats this year, despite having no money, and found most of them homes. Some had severe medical issues, too. Makes me feel less inadequate. Almost successful.

I suppose I will always feel inadequate. The cat people world is vicious sometimes. There is no comraderie and no support amongst the various cat folks in these parts.

I don't know if that just this county or if that is everywhere. I know the Eugene people have struggled with the same issues. So a even if a person or group accomplishes tremendous things, you really never get anything but negative feed back locally, for the most part, and so many angry horrible calls and demands. It can drive you nuts, or give you a very skewed perception of people.

You exist in this tiny one person world of horror and feel tremendously alone.

But when I read about the number of dogs taken in by a high profile seemingly well respected group, and know I took in far greater numbers, it's kind of shocking in a way. I think to myself, "Well, I have done quite a lot this year."

I hope they get the donations to cover the dogs' surgery. I'm sure they will with a newspaper story like that--very poignant, makes you want to cry and then to donate and then to go find the people who did this to that dog and beat the crap out of them and then to adopt this dog. So that's a well written story.

My neck and spine have been a mess, along with my stomach. I might have really messed myself up in whacking those leaves off the cat yard wire from underneath. Arms overhead work kills me, with my metal neck plate, and I shouldn't have done it but how else would I have gotten them off?

When I touch my face it doesn't feel quite right, partially numb, like the sides of my neck. But is that my face or my finger feeling that is off? I think this time it's my hands. My shoulders are swollen, cutting off nerves to my hands. I'm not able to feel things as well. This morning it was quite pronounced. I can't raise my left arm yet without sharp pain in my shoulder blade. that was almost well, when I went to the store and got those 40 pound bags of wood pellet fuel for cat litter. It wasn't lifting them that caused the relapse.

It was something as simple as dropping a can of cat food in the store and trying to catch it, mid air, as it fell, bending over, reaching out for it with my left hand. Boom. Sharp pain in my shoulder blade again, like something retore, just out from my spine again.

And so it started all over, the healing. My neck doesn't really want to turn but I think that is from tightened muscles. I'm just a painful mess.

I don't take pain killers. I pack my body in ice. I"ve always done that, ever since the original injury to my neck when the doctors told me my extreme pain was nothing but mental illness symptoms and would give me nothing to alleviate the pain and it was so horrible I can't even think about it, without wanting to wince and grimace. I took then to packing my body in huge bags of ice and so that's been my way to deal with pain ever since.

You can't feel if you're numb! Comfortably numb. From cold.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Strayer,
    You are not alone. I feel your pain and wish I could help you more. You are a wonderful human being that deserves love and kindness, as you have given to your cats. Thank you for helping them. I'm thinking about you.
    Kay

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  2. Hey thanks kay. The spine thing has me messed up, plus the stomach thing. I've had offers to go to a friends' in Corvallis for Thanksgiving and even to a casino, but my stomach issue currently is trumping all else!

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  3. I find ADVIL to be a miracle. Have you tried it or can't take with your stomach issues? I know how depressing it is when you are in pain, especially around the holidays. Going out might do you good, once you get there. But only be around people you like. K

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  4. I take Aleve, when in bad pain, but it hurts my stomach. I shouldn't say it's a stomach issue, it's a colon issue, probably adhesions, and I occasionally get so backed up I start vomiting and this is one of those times. I've been taking softeners, fiber, lots of water, and I am hoping today will be the day. If I do a lot of twisting around, sometimes it will just "break free' and I'll be fine, like something inside was caught on something else. It's miserable, and I've been through a few bouts of this, even ended up in the ER, and it's not very pretty, but relief is often sudden. Today I hope will be the day. I have not had any idea what was going on. The doctor last time said he was fairly certain my colon has adhesions, from the endometriosis burn off surgery, and is catching, which can cause it to twist, and not good.

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  5. It's weird that it happens at the time my spinal cord injuries flare too and my back when I move is popping. A long time ago a doctor told me what I am hearing with the pops is tendons or ligaments, can't remember which, out of place, popping over things. Or something.

    I think I get swollen parts, from overuse, maybe some internal ligament or something, because I've felt it, that goes diagonally, attaching somewhere on my pelvis or hip or upper leg bone maybe, then inside somewhere, upper abdomin, because I used to feel that, and then is when I would have the left side back up, bloat and inability to 'go'.

    So I do believe the doctor of last mid summer, who said he believes I have a small piece of scar tissue, on my colon, that sometimes catches on something, a tendon, ligament, body fat, whatever, causing twisting or kinking of my colon when it tries to do its peristalsis thing.

    He said occasionally if it is an adhesion, the consequences are emergency surgery and that I need to not get "backed up", but I've been bad occasionally lately, about getting enough water, due to the chlorine issues in the water system here. I do intend to get a filter system that removes chlorine.

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  6. Holy crap! I get something like what you are talking about on occasion and the pain is awful. I feel for you Jody. Maybe some valium would help. I'm all for drugs as I don't believe in suffering. There is a website about adhesions on the net.

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  7. Valium probably would help. Or muscle relaxers. I don't have either. And doubt I could get any from my doctor, if I could get in. Maybe red wine would do the same thing?

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  8. Hubby laughs at me, but, prune juice and aspirin...really. Or some blackberry merlot and aspirin. Jody, you need a Pur filter, attaches to the faucet and takes out chlorine very well. Also removes sediment and lead.

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  9. i would send you some oxycodone if it were legal to do so....the hubby swears on prune juice - do not take aleve, any ibuprofen, or aspirin - is there a y nearby with a pool you can use (indoor nonchlorinated lol...) water exercises are some of the best for movement issues...
    go to a different e.r. if you must. some doctor somewhere will prescribe painkillers. Even some tylenol and codeine would help, i'm sure.
    ice is only good for twenty minutes a pop - and once the injury has set, then heat is the best choice, usually.
    its amazing how much you do with so many cats....

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