Holy Crap, What a Week...

Oh. My. God. 

Just when we thought we had a handle on stuff. 

The Red Hot Mess...

So along about the time I was prepping to have my hip replaced, I found a knob on Raisa's throat. I remember feeling that same king of knob on Tippi's throat and my stomach dropped. We had our vet do a biopsy, but she said it was in an area where she couldn't get a clear sample. 

And then there was the hip replacement, and things got shoved aside for a while. So now that I'm 3 months post-op, we took her to the specialist. They did an Xray and scan and found masses on BOTH sides of the thyroid. The doctor said it's gotta go, so she was taken in for surgery. That was on a Friday. She got home and we thought, "Ok, wait for pathology."

That wasn't what we wanted to hear -- they got all the thyroid out, left a bit of the parathyroid, and found tumor cells in her blood and lymph system. That was Saturday. 

Tuesday, I awoke to Hubby telling me that at 4 a.m., Raisa had a seizure. He was staying home to watch her. Her eyes were dilated, and I was concerned. Late in the afternoon, he texted that she had had 2 more. I had a meeting to attend, and he knows what to do, so I would only have been in the way. During the meeting, she had 2 more, so he called our usual vet, who said take her to the ER vet. 

It was not a comfortable ride for Raisa; the seizures were really bad. They got her stabilized, and it was a bit touch-and-go for a while. They kept her overnight, and started pumping her with phenobarbital. The idea is to get her up to a therapeutic level quickly so the seizures stop.

There are several theories: Either it's a side-effect of the thyroidectomy or it's a thing that happened to her as a pup and they manifested after the trauma of the surgery; or -- huskies have seizures. Or her low calcium levels caused the seizures. In other words, not a lot of answers, but the phenobarb is a good, older remedy that works well with dogs. 

She finally got home Thursday (yeah, 3 days at the ER vet...). She shakes like Katharine Hepburn, and she sploots on the floor, and is incontinent. That's just her body adjusting to all the phenobarb; it should be about a week and she'll be back to herself. 

We have the big harness on her, which has a handle. Hubby has to literally carry her down the steps to get outside. Quinn's not sure what's wrong, but she knows something is off. 

We have an oncology appointment next week so we'll figure out where we go from here. The good news is that since they found those cells, it was a very specific test - if it's early enough, perhaps we can catch this before it goes all the way pear-shaped. 

She may have a very swift retirement from comfort dog work, which will be unfortunate, but we just don't know right now. 

It's going to be a very long week. 

Hip Update...

On a related note, I can get down on the floor...I have to get down there to rub her belly to calm her to sleep, apparently. Getting up isn't exactly poetry, but hey - I can do it! 

I've also got permission to add the Warriors to my yoga practice. And the doctor is pleased with my progress. I'll see him in 3 months, and next week, I drop down to PT two times a week. We now begin the strengthening segment in earnest. 

I am still not doing a full yoga practice, but when I did the warriors the other night, my students said, "Does your PT know???" I'm tellin ya - I've got eyeballs on me! 

I'm now walking without a cane; the first few steps might not be pretty, but I am doing it and my gait gets better with walking. 

The Knitting...

Washcloths. I'm on a washcloth binge. I am teaching my friend K how to do this and I'm hoping it sticks with her. She needs an outlet, and washcloths lead to other things, and knitting is a good hobby. 

The washcloth binge is alongside my Star Trek binge, so I can knit without too much brain work. 

It's the "Grandma's Dishcloth Recipe" - the one on the bias. It's a nice one to learn to knit with, as you learn increases, decreases, yarnovers and knit 2 together -- these are pretty much the basics. And it's all knit, so there's no fighting the curl. Yeah, there's no purling, but that can come later. 

I've still got Long Sands in time-out, and it's going to take a bit for the linen yarn to unkink from frogging it. And I still have that blue striped sock, so we're good to go. I will be switching up the projects as soon as I finish a couple more cloths - those are Christmas gifts, so I figured while I was on a roll, I'd knock those out. 

I want to make some progress on denting the stash, so I'm going to go through my patterns and see what I've got in the closet. I just feel like I'm in the mood to de-clutter the stash and get a handle on it. 

Counted Cross-Stitch...

Well. I joined a Facebook group on counted cross stitch. Boy, was that a bad thing to do. I also now want to get back into that. Luckily for me, I have all the stuff. I just need to figure out how to balance that and knitting and teaching and working... 

I truly think my mom has given up on a large angel project I started for her. Hubby figured out that, if I did 60 stitches a day, I'd have it done in a year. I suppose if I could dig it out, dig out all the floss (and there's a LOT of floss), find the beads... I could re-start it and get my act together and perhaps have it ready for her 87th birthday... 

This is an image of it - I'm done with her head and the top of her wings. I've got a ways to go. My mom picked out a dusty blue linen. It's going to be gorgeous. I just have to get skippy and do it. Maybe if I give up knitting for a year? Or if it's "only 60 stitches a night," I can balance the two? 

A girl can dream. 

Recipe...

I was talking about breakfast to Kid #1, who has been a chronic breakfast-skipper. I have found a sort-of solution, because I am kind of the same way, especially if I have something early in the morning to do - I have to shuffle around how I eat. I call this my go-to Overnight Oats with Apple Pie. This is one serving; I usually do 4, so I set my containers out and scoop everything in there. 

1/2 c. old-fashioned oats

1/2 c. your favorite dairy or non-dairy liquid

1 t. maple syrup

Small handful dried cherries or cranberries

1 T. chia seeds

1 T. cacao nibs

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and diced (peel on)

1 T. brown sugar or coconut sugar

1/4 c. water

1/2 t. chai seasoning or apple pie spice

Put the first 6 ingredients in a container and set aside. In a small saute pan, add the sugar, spices, and apple and stir around over medium-high heat, so the apples soften and caramelize slightly. After about 5-ish minutes, add the water, clamp a lid on the pan, turn the heat down, and then let the apples soften for about 2 minutes. Set the pan aside for a few minutes to cool slightly and allow the sugar + water to make a slight syrup.

Stir the contents of your containers thoroughly. Then divide the apples between all 4 containers (if you're making 4 -- the apple mixture will go for 4 containers-worth of oats). Put the lids on the containers and stick them in the fridge. Next morning, grab a container and off you go! 

And, as always, There Are Notes.

NOTES:

You can skip sauteed apples and simply top your mixture with frozen berries of your choice. Overnight, they also add a bit more moisture to the oats. If you use frozen berries, all you need is that maple syrup - you won't need (or want) added sugar. The berries take care of that. 

Add a bit more milk if you want your oats a little looser.

Feel free to add nuts when you're ready to eat. I like slivered almonds or chopped walnuts for extra crunch. Sunflower seeds also work well here. 

There are a ton of Overnight Oats recipes out there, so have some fun with it. I've added nut butters, I've added chopped dates...it's really a blank canvas. 

Random Picture...

Sometimes, you just want to eat like a kid. One night, Hubby and I looked at each other and said, "fish chunks and tots." 

Little did I know that he had scored a deal on "dinosaur tots." Hey. Why not?

The fish chunks were cod that he hand-breaded with panko and fried. They were delicious and flaky. I love cod. 

Most every day, I get a text saying, "What do you want for dinner?" and I can tell you that it's usually timed (unfortunately) for right after I've eaten lunch. It's a pain because Hubby works from home so he's the one doing the cooking. And I'm never thinking of dinner. Especially after I've just eaten lunch. 

I know I'm extremely lucky to have someone who cooks and is good at it. And I also cook, but usually only on the weekends. But it inevitably happens that he times that text inadvertently right after I've finished eating. He doesn't know it, but it seems to always fall that way.