October was a bad month.....
Haven't been on here in awhile. Things are finally slowing down a bit. As I stated in my last blog (I think) we moved to Endicott Washington and found a great farm house on six acres to rent. That was back the first of September. October was a busy and trying time for us. On the 27th of September (Sunday night about 11 pm) my dad, who is only 57, had a massive heart attack. Thank God my mom stopped at the fire station at the bottom of the hill (they live out of city limits in a somewhat wooded area), if she hadn't the doctors say he would have never survived the trip to the hospital. (I hope you will all bear with me as I know this is a corgi sight but this is the only place I blog at all and it was a very trying month that I feel I must write about somewhere) I got the call Monday morning from my mom, telling me not to worry and not to come down as they didn't know the extent of what was going on yet. I immediately called my husband who had left at 2 a.m. that morning to drive the three hours to Yakima where he was working during the week on a construction job, got his voice mail, and did not expect to hear back from him until his lunch break. He called me back within 20 minutes and told me that he had "mud" coming and as soon as it was poured he would be home to get me, we were going to Vancouver. During this time I had been keeping in contact with my brother's wife, they live about 15 minutes away. And we decided that my husband and I would go down, my brother and his wife would stay home and take care of the kids until we found out more information. So I met my husband and we headed off to Vancouver. About half way there we got the call that my dad would be going in for open heart surgery Tuesday morning. They thought they were going to have to do five bypasses, one was 100% blocked and three were over 95%. On a side note...did you know your body has extra parts? We learned this at the hospital, there is an artery in your leg that they often use for these types of things and it really has no purpose in its original spot, just an extra. Also there is one that is behind your breast bone that does not seem to have a purpose. It can be moved to anywhere in your body and for some reason never blocks. Back to the story, my sister-in-law made arrangements for my brother to get a plane out of Spokane the next morning so he could be there for the surgery. His first time flying and he missed his flight then had to catch a later one. He didn't make it before the surgery started but he did make it there before he came out. The waiting room was full of people supporting us. It was awesome. We figured that there was well over 300 people thinking of him and praying for him that were not there with us, between my brother, sister-in-law, and my Facebook pages and prayer chains that were going out from other family and friends. I still don't think my dad has grasped how many people's lives he has touched and affected in some way during his life. It was really hard to see my dad laying in a hospital bed. This is a man who has worked for the past 31 years for the same company, has had to be forced to take vacation and sick days and even then couldn't just relax at home. Surgery went well they only had to bypass 4. Now the long road to recovery. About 3-4 years ago my dad was diagnosed with Lupus so this plays a huge role in how is recovery will go. It took us days to get the surgeons to understand that. Very frustrating. My brother and my husband headed home that weekend. I stayed to help my mom and wait for them to release him from the hospital. Finally after 10 days all the doctors agreed to let him go home. He came home on a Wednesday, and I stayed down there until Saturday then unfortunately had to come home after being gone for two weeks and my husband having been off work for two weeks, the first being in Vancouver with me and the second being home with our kids. We will move ahead on this part of the story to say that my dad is still recovering, not fast enough to his liking, and we as a family are hoping this convinces him to retire and enjoy the next 30 years but we aren't holding our breath.
So now the next part of the bad month continues. The Monday after I get back my husband drives the three hours to work only to be asked why is he there? They have replaced him with someone else and all of his tools are ready to be picked up in the tool trailer. He left at 3 a.m. was home by 11 a.m. with the camp trailer he had been living in at a trailer park. Now to be fair construction work can be very finicky and he did have a feeling that he may be getting replaced once his supervisor had left a few weeks before. Still, while he was "off" he was in contact with the new supervisor and had been told they were taking care of things, take what time he needed. Now all this time off was not paid time off. So while the kids were in school all day he had been helping out my brother at the ranch he works for just for something to do. Luckily they agreed to pay him hourly and once we found out he no longer had a job they very kindly back tracked his hours to that first week he helped. This helped immensely an being a ranch hand was a nice change of pace for him from the construction work he has been doing for the past three years. Unfortunately they do not at this time have a position for him on salary and with winter coming and shorter hours then we are back to looking for another job. Luckily his old supervisor that had left the previous employer, highly recommended Larry to his new employer and called and offered him a foreman job. Unfortunately since my husband with the laborers union the new company has reached it's quota on people it can call from his list so this morning he is taking a test to try to get on a higher list so that he can go to that job. If that doesn't work then there is another rancher here in the area who heard about what a hard worker he is and would like to talk to him.
The third bad, well more scary, thing that happened in October was that my brother and his horse were in a serious accident while moving some cows. Brother is fine, other than was scared silly and pretty sore for a few days. Horse is lucky to be alive but is healing nicely. And hopefully although will be a long time before he is completely healed can start being ridden again soon.
Now for the good part of October........my dogs. Love my dogs. Back in mid September the breeder I got my two corgis from asked me if I would be willing to take one of her females (the mother to my female) as she was retiring her from breeding and wanted her to go to a good corgi loving home. I of course said YES! Ironically I picked her up on the same day as my dad's heart attack. So I brought her home Sunday night and then packed her up to go to Vancouver for two weeks while my other dogs stayed home because I did not want to leave her with them until I had a chance to supervise them. She handled this amazingly well for a dog that probably has not traveled a lot and although was loved by her previous humans was not as much a part of the family as my dogs are. So she has been adjusting. She kind of looked at me when we got back home like now where are we? I am so glad I had her down there with me during that trying time though. Even though I didn't really know her yet, she was such a comfort and her antics and facial expressions helped keep me going. She seems to have fit right in with our other dogs. KC is doing well with the addition but I think it helps a lot that she is more my husband's dog and Molly seems to have attached herself to me. So far there have been no big blow ups, keeping our fingers crossed this continues. Of course with all that has been going on and the lack of money because of job issues I have not had the chance to get her in and spayed yet. And I do still have my Aussie intact because of the same reason of not being able to get him in yet. I have been very diligent on keeping them apart until I can get one or the other in to the vet. This morning I woke up to realize that Molly is in heat. This is a new experience for me as KC was fixed at 6 months. So I have never dealt with this before. Right now I have Molly locked in our "sun room" (room off of our house with concrete floors where the dog crates are kept and they are fed) she is of course giving me those huge puppy eyes because she is used to being in the house all day with me. Frustrating. Praying I do this right. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated, and yes both will be getting fixed as soon as I can afford it. I know that isn't a good excuse but honestly right now it is all I've got. I haven't worried about my Aussie yet because KC is fixed and we live out in the middle of nowhere.
So that is roughly what my life has been like recently. I did finally get internet at my house so I don't have to drive the 15 miles to my brother's to use his and I am hoping to get on here more often and get caught up with all of you.
Comment
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Comment by Priscilla, CARLY, and Frankie on November 5, 2010 at 10:52pm
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by the way i enjoyed reading your blog your a very interesting writer , keep it up
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Comment by Bev Levy on November 5, 2010 at 9:49pm
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Corgi hugs and kisses!
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bless your heart may the Lord fill you now with His love and mercy
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Comment by Gail and Ashton on November 5, 2010 at 6:11pm
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Oh my goodness! Your entire family is in my thoughts and prayers. October was definitely a trying month for you. I wish you the best, stay strong and may corgi kisses and hugs make these tough times a bit easier.
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Comment by Laura Jones on November 5, 2010 at 4:49pm
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Thank you everyone for "listening" to me vent. It is funny how sometimes even though you may not ever meet someone in person just the fact that you have one thing in common makes it possible to "talk". I love this sight for that reason. It seems that no matter what is going on with someone there are others here that are so supportive even if it isn't a corgi issue.
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Comment by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on November 5, 2010 at 4:46pm
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Wow.... I can't even imagine the depth of your emotions going through all that. But I do believe that getting it all out is great for the soul. So from my perspective... a blog is a great place to do that and what better place than in a forum that has so many compassionate people. Our common bond (those wonderful loving, giving, corgis) is what keeps us together for one another here.
It's good to hear that your father is recovering, even if slowly. My prayers go out to him for a full recovery.
And I hope things fall into place for you husband. And that things begin to quiet down for you.
Now about the spaying thing...... Please find White Dove's page on here and read her blog about the little girl she lost after complications form spaying her while she was in heat.
All my best wishes to you.
Judi
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Comment by Ellen Andersen on November 5, 2010 at 3:58pm
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What a horrible month!!!! It's good your Dad is recovering, though!
For spaying/neutering, I don't know if you have something in your area like what we have here that's called 'Spay Today'. It's a voucher sort of thing you can get from shelters in the area that gives you a HUGE discount on spay and neuter stuff from local participating veterinarians. You may want to ask the local shelters....they'd know.
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Comment by Jennifer Markley on November 5, 2010 at 2:44pm
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When it rains it pours....I'm sorry to hear all that's been going wrong for you. I totally understand though...my dad had open heart surgery in June, and as I speak is back at the hospital--it's been one thing after another since the surgery to replace his aortic valve, he ended up with a pacemaker, and just hasn't' been right since. And I too, have lupus, so I understand how hard it is to heal!
I'm glad though that your dogs are keeping you sane, they are truly a blessing! It sounds like you have been a great mom to them, and in time things will get caught up. Take care! I'll be thinking of you!
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Comment by Geri & Sidney on November 5, 2010 at 2:38pm
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Wow Laura, what a month! It sounds like you come from a loving, close family and that will be a big help in getting your Dad healed. It's so hard to see our strong parents when they are weak and helpless. And I can't believe they laid off your husband! that's just rotten.
Congrats on the new corgi girl. I've only had male dogs, so I'm no help in the "in heat" issue. You might want to post just that question in the discussion threads and get some good advice.
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Comment by John Wolff on November 5, 2010 at 2:27pm
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Whew. Thanks for putting things in perspective. I'm not whining about my petty troubles anymore. I'm 58 myself, and not taking my Springs for granted anymore.
Tell your dad, while recuperating, to check out Etta Clark's books, "Growing Old Is Not for Sissies", portraits of elderly athletes, there are two volumes, one has a photo of the "Quadruple Bypass Club", there 3-4 guys who get together occasionally to swim the Golden Gate Channel, a photo of them all with their surgery scars in their swimsuits with the Golden Gate in the background. That might be an inspiration, since he has a new project now.
Who'd you get your corgis from?
Lay somebody off during a family emergency? What a sleazy thing to do. I hope it works out, in this awful economy. Dogs may get us through times of no money better than money will get us through times of no dogs, but sooner or later, we do need money.....
Ew. Moving, family emergency, layoff, close-call accident, new dog... If you really work at it, you might find some way of adding a bit more stress to your life...
My best suggestion, when things get really hairy, is to take a break and comb the dogs until you've got a pile of dog fur big enough to knit a sweater. That always gets me centered again.
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