Arthroscopic Knee Surgery... Best Thing I Ever Did (Thanks Dad for paying for it!)

On December 8, 2014, I had knee replacement surgery on my right knee due to osteoarthritis, a degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying bone. I have this condition in both my knees, but my right knee had the worst bone loss and zero cartilage. My old insurance company in California, Kaiser Permanente, refused to do anything about it. Their solution was to take 600 mg of Advil every 4 to 5 hours and wear a knee brace. I did this for over a year before getting relief through knee replacement surgery under Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. 

Now, I have flexibility and no knee pain when I squat, or walk up or down stairs. The nerves in my knee area have returned, and the numbness usually associated with the surgery is non-existent along with the pain I suffered with for years. I had an excellent Baylor Texas surgeon, Dr. Jason Davis.

My scar 10 months later.

One week after surgery.

                                Three weeks after surgery                                                   
I am not over-glorifying the benefits of the surgery, but just as important  to recovery are the exercises to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee, calves, and thighs--which I did faithfully. Preforming the exercises in a pool, helped most of all because the water took some of the strain away, until I was strong enough to do them easily outside the water as well. Oh yeah, losing 35 lbs didn't hurt either.

Still Wanna Light Up?

Our former exchange student from Japan, Kento Tose, was quiet the world traveler in 2014. When he was in Croatia he sent us a photo of a cigarette vending machine and their warning labels. Too bad we don't have the same packaging here. If you have the ability to zoom in on the individual packs you can see how the packaging might convince someone not to open the pack.

Happy Howlloween

                       BLUE Boy

 

                                                        PEE WEE

                              

Lil' Miss and Lucy Lou

And DEZZY 

Cabbage Patch

My niece Sophia looks like I plucked her off a shelf at Toys-R-Us. She is so very smart, like her mamma.

Buzz Off

Sometimes I find him or one of his hundred cousins circling our house when our old boxer Dezzy is sunbathing on our lawn.

The Nordstroms of the Vet World

We love our veterinarian so much we want to put her kids through college.
"Four boxers... eeeee gads," says our bank account.

Carla's Visit

Lucy's friend from middle school came out to visit her last summer. Here are a few photos from the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

          

The Reason Lucy Takes so Long in the Bathroom

                                         

My Favorite Zombie!

Shattered

On July 8th, Lorne had quite a scare when debris from a truck flew at his windshield. Shout out to Liberty Mutual who took good care of us and the replacement.

Puppy Picasso

A portrait of Lorne by Lil' Miss...

Ice Skating in July

Loved this photo of Lucy ice skating for the first time. Over all, she did pretty well. She didn't fall once and it only took 7 min 49 seconds to make it around the rink.

Oh, yeah... and she came home from her summer visit 

with grandparents in California with pink hair.

Sage in Bloom

Never knew sage had blooming flowers. 

Thought they were beautiful and wanted to share with y'all.

Rudy Patudie

Today our Rudy left home to live with a great family. When ever he'd get extra rough with his siblings we'd the Special's song, A MESSAGE TO YOU RUDY to him. We will miss him, and his big floppy ears, and his tongue that hung from his mouth when he smiled as he ran around on our walks.

Later that afternoon, I got a message from his new owner. His new name is Buddy, which fits him well. Kelsey, his new mama, created a Tumblr page for him at:  Buddy The Boxer .

PAN, The Lost Boy

Pan (aka Pandemonium) was named after Peter, because he'd wander off and we'd have to search for him. He was one of the first puppies to find a good home.

May (Mayhem) and Lil' Miss (Mischief)

Here is one of the first video's we had of the puppies. Lil' Miss's back was so cute and little. So here is the clip of  Lil' Miss and May  at play.

BOXER RESCUE: A Summary

In the beginning of July, debris from the freeway flew up and smashed his windshield. The tow truck driver who came out to take the car to the body shop, upon seeing out boxer clan, told me that his neighbor was trying to sell his boxer puppies. He gave me his neighbor's phone number, so I called.

Within a week, I went to the home and found four beautiful, but skinny puppies. I was told the pups were four weeks old. Their parents were in crates: Mom (white) in the garage, and Dad (brindle) on the porch.

I told the owner that the puppies were a little young to leave their mama and tried to leave a deposit. He suggested I take Mom and all the puppies and I could care for them for a few weeks, then return all but the one I chose.

I agreed. When Mom came out of the crate, I my heart felt sick. Not being a confrontational person, and one who thinks I can save the world--or at least the mama--I loaded the boxers into my truck.

When we returned home, I was able to see how malnourished Mom really was, and that they puppies probably hadn't been able to nurse for a long time. Thinking I could nurse her back to health, I bought Pedialite, and made a special high protein dog food mixture. The poor animal couldn't keep anything down, and within minutes, everything the dog ate was quickly evacuated.

It wasn't too long after that, when I got a call from the owner. His ex-wife was demanding I pay for all the puppies and a deposit on the mother, or they would come over and take them. Facing the fact that these people knew where I lived, and I worried that if the mother dog died, they would sue me, I brought the puppies back. When I handed the dogs over to the gentleman (ex-wife wasn't there), I explained that if he didn't take Mom to the vet, I would call the Humane Society--mistake, I should have called the Humane Society. All of the dogs' health were neglectful and abusive, and I was a coward for not acting more proactive.

Two days later, I received another call from the gentleman, asking me to take the puppies. He was unable to care for them after the death of the mother. Happily, I returned and paid him what I could, and brought the babies home.

We made puppy food out of puppy weaning formula puppy kibble, and boiled chicken breast.

Dinner time at the Woods' house.

Puppies when we first brought them home.

 Lil' Miss, then... 

After two weeks in our home...

Now, at nine weeks, she weights 13.2 lbs and we're proud of every ounce. The puppies had coccidia, intestinal parasites, which we treated with antibiotics. Below is Lil' Miss shaming Rudy after the hearing they had parasites.

We are proud and happy that three of our puppies have found great homes. Lil' Miss holds a special place in our hearts, so she will be a permanent member of our boxer clan. 

TEERRRRIIFFIICCCC

The spider who spun this didn't have a farm goose to help her spell like Charlotte in E.B. White's famous novel, but it's not bad for draping a blade of dead grass.

Spice for Our Twenty-third Anniversary

Happy Anniversary, Lorne; we don't need no Fifty Shades of Grey!!!

My Nemesis: The Homophone

I try vary hard too rite correctly. Won thing you may notice in my blog is my absent-minded use of the wrong word.

Truth be tolled, it's knot that Eye don't no the correct way to spill the word, it's just that my mined tells my hands two type something else and it misses me up. Misuse of homophones is one of my Maine righting foibles. Unfortunately, it isn't until I push PUBLISH that I catch my mistake.

In case ewe don't know what a homophone is, it's thyme to find out. Homophones are words that, when said allowed, sound the same, but their spelled differently and have different meanings.What makes matters worse is win I review the ruff draught I just rote, I can't sea that I've dun anything wrong.

That's why my husband is so grate. He is sew good at spotting sum of the mistakes I mite have maid in my blog. If you've scene any of them in this entry, I wood be happy if you tell me in the comments section.

Sincerely,

Joanna

Camping at the Arches

Our Camping Spot 

     

Lorne is always up to something.

              

Lucy's photos

  

                                    

          

                             

Photographed her Dad taking a photo.