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Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:50 pm
by Milo's Mom
I did use my teeth the first few times, but when faced with a particularly messy diaper I quickly put my thinking cap back on.

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:48 am
by CarolC
:mrgreen: You gotta do what you gotta do! :lol: But yeah, things can get pretty organic with an incontinent pet. Maybe not an issue for someone who raises litters of puppies and farms. You've cleaned every mess there is! But I might worry a little about your neck after a few weeks, when it's probably already being strained, between wearing the sling and sleeping upright and always being careful how you move every second. But you are the one who knows best what you can get away with.

He talks about taking stress off your neck at about the 00:45 time hack of this video.


Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:00 am
by critters
Milo's Mom wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:29 pm I don't know about it being a better way, but I pull it tight with my good hand then use my FOREHEAD to hold it in place while I stretch the other side. :haha:
:smart: :hysterical:

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:31 am
by Milo's Mom
Neck isn't an issue, but the week before I broke my arm I was diagnosed with a bone spur in my other shoulder. It wasn't from all the lifting I do around the farm, but from spending three months at the computer with my legs turned to the left and my torso and arm twisted to the right when I traded my armless desk chair for my husband's armed chair so he could sleep better upright at his desk. The good news is that currently I barely notice the nerve pain in the right arm for some reason. :hysterical:

My able bodied helpers took Milo out for some sunshine when I left to go shopping yesterday. He's been a little out if sorts with Bob out of town and me sleeping in a recliner across from the bed, lying at the edge of the bed staring at me at night. They said he's a different dog when I'm not there and is a little interested in new things like puppies crawling around but loses his smilies. She remarked that he comes to life and gets excited as soon as he hears me walk in the door.
Milo babysitting puppies SM.jpg
I noticed a weird reaction in Milo this week. I gave him an empty Mountain Dew bottle to play with and he skittered away like I tossed a monster at him. Every time I moved it closer and presented it like a toy, he turned completely away. A couple days later he asked for water while in the kitchen and I reached for the nearest water bowl to place in front of him; he had the same reaction. The only thing in common is that both are bright green. I've read that dogs can only see blue and yellow, so it would make sense that they could also see green, but he doesn't freak out over blue or yellow toys. Evidently fluorescent green is such an alien color to him that he deems it potentially dangerous.

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:38 am
by Milo's Mom
BTW, I moved the recliner to sleep right beside the bed last night and Milo slept on the bed beside my chair. He could see me, touch me, and get his evening Sumo play with my owie arm safely far away from his pouncing paws. Wish I could have held the camera to take his picture. Biggest smiley face I've seen since my injury!

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:47 am
by critters
Awww!! :wub: I'm glad you found a way to sleep that y'all can both live with. That seems SO weird about the green stuff. I think I'd try a few more green things to see if that's it. My Bo doesn't like plastic bottles because of the noise they make, and he never has (but he's only 1 1/2).

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:08 pm
by CarolC
Awwww...! That is such a cute picture. He looks like he's babysitting. :)

So...you messed up the good shoulder? And now your original painful arm hardly hurts. Didn't there used to be an old joke where a doctor tells a guy to give himself a bigger pain in order to forget the pain he already has? Guess you proved it works! I've been thinking about Covid shots lately and I realized if you wanted to get one, it would probably have to be in the right arm... [EDIT: Correction, they can give the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine in the anterolateral thigh so you still have one good arm to change malewraps with.]

That was a great idea about moving the recliner. I'll bet mentally it feels better to be sleeping in the bedroom, too, in addition to making Milo smile again.

He's not quite smiling in the puppy picture, is he, but it's still a great picture. They're so intelligent, it's sometimes hard to believe that this intelligent being has only been on the face of the earth for 5 months or whatever, and is still figuring everything out. You are his sunshine. :wub:

That is funny about the color green. I wonder how many quirks dogs have like that, but people often just don't take notice. :D

You were driving? You sure are handling this whole injury thing well. It's been 2 weeks, hasn't it? How many male wraps have you changed? How many loads of laundry have you run? How many dog bowls have you filled? How many chores have you NOT left for others? I'll bet by the time you're back in gear, everyone will have a greater appreciation for how much work you do to run the place every day...but not a full appreciation, because you're still doing it!

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:44 pm
by Milo's Mom
critters wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:47 am Awww!! :wub: I'm glad you found a way to sleep that y'all can both live with. That seems SO weird about the green stuff. I think I'd try a few more green things to see if that's it. My Bo doesn't like plastic bottles because of the noise they make, and he never has (but he's only 1 1/2).
I guess green only freaked him out that one week. Since then he has played with a green stuffed frog, a green squeaky toy, and has thoroughly inspected and rejected the original scary Mountain Dew bottle.

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:35 pm
by CarolC
It was 3 weeks ago this weekend that you bunged up your arm. :| I hope you are mending OK. When the doctor said 3 weeks, it sounded possibly short to me... :waiting:

Happy Easter to the Milo family. :)

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:59 pm
by Milo's Mom
It doesn't hurt as much, but three weeks is too short. Going Thursday for an x-ray so he can tell me it's mending, but I'm sure the sling is here to stay awhile. Nerve pain in the elbow and forearm, sometimes extending to the wrist or shoulder. My husband has Gabapentin for his nerve pain, so he's sharing his at night with me so I can sleep better. The able-bodied young people went off to Kansas for a week and were supposed to return two days ago. My poor backache-husband came home from Phoenix early because he worried about Lori and me doing the chores ourselves, so he's been carrying the heaviest load around here. Of course, my arm might heal faster if I didn't: A) Run into door jambs. B) Abruptly stand up with a 10 lb Yorkie under the bad arm while reaching for another dog trying to jump into another mama's puppy pen. C) Forget that I only have one good arm and grab onto the top of the farm gate when climbing down the other side. D) Decide that I could help out by cleaning the kitchen puppy pen where Lori's Yorkie puppies live, then slide across the floor on a soggy puppy pad, desperately twist my body so my forearm hits the edge of a stepstool instead of the broken arm, then continue the twist to protect the arm and land flat on my back in a little pile of poo. I must admit I sat up and just concentrated on breathing through the pain for a full five minutes. I must admit I am a danger to myself and others.

Lori's broken sternum hurts every time she moves her arms or bends over, Bob cannot bend over at all without hurting, and I can't feed myself without someone opening the jar, can or package. We are quite the trio. :)

Other than that, life is fine around here. We do manage to get Milo into the kitchen daily so he's not languishing in the empty bedroom. Every night I sit beside him on the bed awhile so he can play Sumo time, making sure my broken arm is far, far away. He hasn't been in his wheelchair, but we are keeping him busy and happy.

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:06 am
by CarolC
I'm so glad your husband came back early. That's one good thing. I can totally see running into the door jamb. I think we brush or collide with door jambs all the time, we just don't notice without a sore arm. I hope the x-ray shows the arm is still in line after that. :shock: I remember one time when my neck was out of whack and I ran into the door jamb, and it fixed my neck! Free chiropractic!

I can see bending over to clean the puppy pen if nobody else can bend and all your helpers absconded. Again. :roll: :roll: :roll: You can't just sit there and stare at a mess in the kitchen and not take care of the puppies. But I'm almost sure holding a 10-lb dog in the bad arm would be a no-no? I mean, maybe I'm wrong, I've never had a broken shoulder but...I would have thought just holding the dog would hurt? What do you think the doctor would say?

It must be hard to do anything in a careful way while surrounded by puppies tumbling over each other and mama dogs milling/darting about. It would be hard to even walk and you'd have to pick your way carefully even without a bum shoulder. I used to always think my biggest risk of falling was over my golden retriever in the kitchen. If you're going to fall, I'm glad it was on Solarium and not tile or concrete, but it must have taken an effort just to figure out how to sit up with your left arm out of commission, after jarring your whole body and banging the heck out of the good arm. I think I would have just laid there in the mess! You'll remember that fall for the rest of your life. I wonder if it would help to add an extra step to every job. Step One, pick up all stray articles off the floor around the job site. Step Two, do the job. I hope you can get through this in one piece, literally.

Climbing the farm gate...?

I don't know if the nerve feelings in the arm would be from the break, or from neck and shoulder strain from constantly tensing up and holding it a certain way. I get a little of that in my elbow and the outer edge of my hand because I did something to my shoulder socket, and I've never broken my arm. It comes and goes.

I hope your 11-yo is still there.

I wonder about getting a can opener that can be operated one-handed. Here is a model a guy recommends and it looks like it is still available.
Hamilton Beach Type CA25 Can Opener Model # 76501G



Gabapentin increases the risk of falls.

Gabapentin takes 48 hours to be eliminated from your system.

You must surely be tired from constantly coping, if you have time to stop and think about it. It's amazing what you can still do if you try, but I hope you'll be careful. Week Four begins... I hope you get a good report from the doctor Thursday.

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 1:11 pm
by Milo's Mom
The bone is still aligned because it doesn't hurt unless I jolt it or balance something on that hand over a couple pounds. I can now juggle a cup of coffee in that hand without pain!

I banged the heck out of the forearm on the BAD arm, thus the five minutes concentrating on breathing. Forearm was okay, but vibration reached the owie bone. Step One was stepping over the puppy fence into the puppy area and right onto the puppy pad I couldn't reach without stepping inside.

I have tubular steel, 54' tall, fencing covered gates all over the farm. If you have two hormonal females with puppies to protect on either side of the gate, it's easier to climb over than to open the gate and have a dog push past you to battle with the other mama. I've broken up dog fights alone before by dragging the aggressor by the tail to a neutral area, but that was with two good arms.

Nerve pain is from inflammation in the arm compressing the nerves. I'm allowed extra strength Tylenol four times a day and 800 mg Ibuprofen twice a day for inflammation, but with my lifestyle it's not enough.

The 11 year old went with her mother to Kansas. She was supposed to go back to school today here, but I guess her mama doesn't care.

Bob can open cans for me. It makes him feel useful. :)

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:19 am
by CarolC
Oops! Misunderstood. I was picturing the broken arm banded against your chest so it had to be the free arm. That must have been agony. :(

Milo says, "Be cARFul, Mom, I WUFF you!" :hearts:

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:07 pm
by critters
You sure won't have to worry about the shoulder freezing! :shock: :mrgreen:

Re: Congenital buckled spine

Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 8:48 pm
by Milo's Mom
Soon after my last post, the physically fit volunteers who were supposed to make sure Milo gets in his wheelchair twice a day pooped out on me. He spent most of the last two months on my bed and only was in his wheelchair a handful of times. My arm is out of the sling and I'm in physical therapy. Have only six sessions left and my shoulder still won't go past 110 degrees, so I'm adding pulley exercises at home between sessions to try get it loosened up more. I can do some lifting with that arm now, so this week Milo has had wheelchair time every day and is so happy. Really great news is that I ordered a patient lift and it arrived today. Tomorrow I'll work on assembling it and fashioning a sling for him. Never again am I going to depend on other people to carry Milo to where he needs to go.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007G ... UTF8&psc=1