Monday 31 December 2007

Happy New Year

Christmas ended up being very subdued for us what with losing Mac we thought that was as bad as it could get but Christmas Day poor Jim ended up having emergency surgery, Eric had let him off lead for a treat in 150 acres of enclosed land and what did he do but try to run through a cattle grid and tore his leg down to bare bone. So the day was spent anxiously waiting on a call from the vets. Luckily for us little Ben arrived and cheered us up. He was so in to handing out the presents and opening most of them that he took our minds off Jim for a short while.

Jim faces months of recovery with visits every other day to the vets to have dressings changed and may still require further surgery.

Tonight we will as usually spend the night at home with the hounds as they get so frightened with fireworks going off. We plan to watch Shrek 3 and pig out on sweeties. Not that I should, scales have been very unkind to me!

New years resolutions, to make decisions on where to hang pictures and photo's that have sat on the floor in the study gathering dust for to long, to crack on with getting the conservatory built and to sort out the garage that contains boxes from the last two house moves. It's a huge double garage with workshop and is stuffed full.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Tuesday 18 December 2007

MAC'S STORY

To-day Mac peacefully and with great dignity made his way to the bridge. This is his story.



MAC’S STORY
12 April 1997 to 18 December 2007



Mac was born in Ireland and named Coin Machine for reasons unknown he never became a racer and his early history is not known. In February 2005 Mac made his way into the care of Greyhound Gap and had several foster homes before eventually being re homed. Unfortunately an existing dog in the family started to bully Mac and the family had to make the sad decision to return Mac to Greyhound Gap. We had just contacted Gap with a view to fostering and a few days later Eric made his way to Kettering to collect Mac. What a sorry looking little man he was with his legs and paws all chewed up with nerves.

It became obvious very quickly that Mac was suffering from separation anxiety, which meant he was very unsettled and howled the place down if left alone. With Lisa’s (founder of Gap) help we started trying to sort out the SA, one suggestion was to put Mac in a separate room with a bone for a few minutes with a view to building up the amount of time he was left, great idea and might have worked if Jim didn’t keep opening the door and letting Mac out.



Mac had only been here a few days when playing with Jim in the garden their heads clashed and Mac’s head was punctured by Jim’s tooth and of course it became infected, oh the shame of having to contact Lisa and tell her we’d broken a gap dog, but worse was to come. A few weeks later, Eric was walking the dogs on lead when he heard a crack like a twig breaking but it wasn’t a twig it was Mac’s leg. Eric rang me up on his mobile and I quickly drove the car up to the field whilst Eric struggled to carry Mac back. He was rushed to the vets and after x-rays it was discovered his leg had just fallen to pieces. We were so lucky on two counts, first that Lisa insisted on his leg being mended and not amputated which was the cheaper option and secondly that Tom the vet was even prepared to try such a huge operation. Gap swung into fund raising mode to raise the £2,500 that was needed and Tom ordered the huge plate and pins needed to put Mac’s leg back together. There followed months of recovering for Mac and ear bashings for me every time Eric walked the other dogs’ boy did he howl and let me know he wasn’t amused!




Mac being the strong willed fighter amazed everyone with his recovery and by the time he got the all clear we were far to attached to him and he to us to ever let him go and so he became a permanent part of our family.

Mac was the funniest of hounds, very vocal and his eyebrows would move around as he spoke to us, his idea of playing was to bark loudly whilst spinning on the spot, something Eric tried to capture on film but as soon as Mac would hear the ping of the camcorder go on he would stop still and freeze. He also had this way of laying on his back whilst throwing his legs round as though he was air cycling, again Eric has spent many hours trying to capture Mac in action with very little to show for all his effort. Mac was always one step ahead of the game.

When Vikki was pregnant Mac became totally obsessed by her and would get hold of her arm and drag her to a sofa, then spend hours sitting with his head on her bump. As soon as little Ben our Grandson was born he completely lost interest in Vikki, but loved the little baby and was so gentle with him.

If Mac had been a human he would have been like Frank Muir with a dickey bow tie, or James Bond, oh how he loved the ladies and you could just picture him saying “well hello ladies, the names Mac, Mac Bond” we called Mac many things, Mac Man, HRH Mac after his beautiful ermine coat and other not so complimentary names.




Mac has a huge character and assumed everyone he met would love him and mostly they did. If he was off lead and he saw a dog he would run over and introduce himself and had been known many times to disappear off with their owners, no loyalty to us. Best of all Mac loved to go off out with Eric in the car, didn’t matter where or why he just loved to go out in the car with his Dad.

To say we all fell under Mac’s spell is an understatement, we adored him as hopefully he did us. We will miss Mac more than words can ever explain. It has been a pleasure and an honour to share the last two and a half years with you Mac man.

Sleep tight Mac
Run free with no more pain. Little Rocky dog will be there to meet you and introduce you to Dill, Poppit and Puddin, they will be your new pack until we meet again.

Loving you always Mum and Dad. Rulu, Sandy, Jim and Lucky.

Monday 17 December 2007

Prezzie's

Mac and his pack have been on the receiving end of some parcel's bearing goodies, thank you so much to Shellie and Lorraine our friends from greyhound gap.



Please note the tiny black greyhound on the back of the sofa, that's for me from Lorraine and named Herbie after one of Lorraine's lovely dogs. Lucky wants to eat it LOL.



Not such a great night with Mac last night and he's off colour today, Lucky is on the mend and we have a mouse, well I'm hoping it's a mouse and not something bigger. First heard a few days ago in the loft but last night it started to chew it's way through the airing cupboard door in the kitchen. The price you pay for living next to fields I suppose and not the first time I might add. When we first moved out here and discovered them in the garage we bought humane traps with the idea of releasing the little critters much to the villagers amusement we've since learnt they just come back and destroy everything in their path. Last time they destroyed and I mean destroyed Christmas decorations in the garage and moved a very large bag of fish food into a leather satchel Eric had for work tools. Lord knows what's got it this time.

Sunday 16 December 2007

Lucky ducks

Lucky went into the vets Friday morning for what we thought would be a routine dental and to have a loose tooth out, to my horror Tom (the vet rang) half way through the op to tell me Lucky was suffering from an auto immune disease causing inapproaiate swelling of the gums, hence all the infections she's has this year despite having two full dentals. She ended up having 14 teeth removed! and of course we still have the problem of the actual disease to sort out.

Vets bill for Mac on Monday and Lucky on Friday £ 711 ouch! hope their insurances pick some of it up.

Mac to our utter and amazement and joy is doing well, he's happy, and enjoying little walks. Tom when telling me about Lucky asked how Mac was and was as shocked as us that he's doing so well. Of course he's playing us to perfection, having brekkie in bed then leaps up and hops into the kitchen to polish off the leftovers. He's no fool!

Eric persuaded me to go to crop yesterday as we both felt I needed some time out and despite feeling under par (probably all the stress) I had a good time. And last night we actually got some much needed sleep as Mac only went out for a tinkle once and then had to eat as he is constantly hungry now and Lucky slept all night, probably exhausted as she didn't get much sleep Friday night with all the pain.

My car passed it's MOT after Eric got a new tyre for it, mind you he's still not convinced it should have failed in the first place LOL. So for the first time in over a week stress levels have dropped a bit so I shall pop out to Tesco's and get some Christmas fare in.

Thank you to everyone who has sent Mac so many goodies in the post.

Friday 14 December 2007

Mac update

Well despite my fears Mac is still happy and comfortable, he has started to lose some body condition and is very hungry but that may be down to the steroid shot he had Monday. We've started him on Essiac a herbal tea recommended to us by a fellow gapper and also some herbal potions we bought for Dill that have been returned to us by another gapper. We are trying very hard to act normal around Mac after all he's doesn't know he's sick and the last thing we want is to stress him out by crying all the time. The other dogs however do know something is wrong and are all very quiet and withdrawn. Lucky is at the vets today for a dental and at least one tooth out so very quiet here without her.

Thank you to everyone who has sent Mac parcels which arrive daily, "he is a celebrity on gap" after all LOL.

Happy Birthday Dad love you.

Monday 10 December 2007

No miracle

no hope no treatment no options.

Mac has a sarcoma tumour on the site of the original break and secondary tumours in his chest.

He's coming home now and we will make him comfortable for as long as possible for what short time he has left, days not weeks.

Praying for a miracle

First off I would like to thank everyone who has sent Mac good wishes and me birthday wishes. I got a crop a dile yay ! and had a nice if tearful day.

Mac has had a rough night, unable to get comfortable and the pain has ramped up. He's off his food and was unsure whether to go out for a ride with his dad this morning but in the end went. The lump is so big it is now affecting the mechanics of his leg and he is unable to get the paw on the floor. I've rang the vets this morning a) to book Lucky in for a dental on Friday as she has a lose tooth and it needs to come out before she gets yet another infection and to ask Tom the vet to ring me. Mac is booked in for x rays Friday because that is the day Tom is operating and we are obviously hoping the xray will show something up that can be fixed. But the way things look this morning I doubt whether Mac will make it to Friday.

To say our heats are breaking doesn't come close, please pray for Mac and the miracle we so desperatley seek.

Vets have rung and are going to xray this afternoon.......

Saturday 8 December 2007

Good thoughts needed


Mac has been to the vets today and I'm so sad!

After lengthy discussions it has been decided to x-ray Mac under GA on Friday to try and see exactly what is going on with the lump. It was x-rayed a few months ago and the vet thought it was bone, growing like a callous over the plate and pins he had put in after the leg fell to pieces two years ago. He has extremely stiff hips to add to his problems. Normally the vet would want to amputate at this point but it isn't an option for Mac who with his stiff hips and age simply wouldn't be able to cope. The vet also thinks to open the lump up would be opening a can of worms, does this mean he now thinks the tumour has become cancerous? are we to lose another of our beloved greys to the blasted bone caner?. Vet thinks the only option even before seeing the x-ray is to keep him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. How long is that?

We are reeling from the visit today and simply can't think of a way out of this for Mac. Can't face putting the tree up tonight that's for sure, just want to crawl into a hole and howl. Will have to try and pull myself together tomorrow as lots of family visiting for my birthday.

Please send all good thoughts to this very very special grey. Mac has endured so much and deserves to be healthy, happy and grow old disgracefully.

Friday 7 December 2007

Yippeeeeee

Been to the hospital to see the surgeon this morning, oh what a performance that was. Appointment was for 9.50 got there a tad early and finally got to see the great man at 11.50 can you believe I was really fed up by then BUT the good news is he's very happy with the wrist and I can stop wearing the splint except when it gets a bit achy then just put it on for support. So tonight my hand can go to bed NAKED woohoo.

We had really high winds overnight and they're forecast all weekend so may have to put off putting the outside Christmas lights off for another day or two. It was so bad this morning the ships bell we have at the back gate kept ringing all by itself. Drove the dogs mad LOL. Going to try and put the tree up tomorrow evening. Have to pop into town in the morning and hopefully finish off buy Christmas presents. I don't know why I get so stressed as there's never been a year when it doesn't all get done.

A friend at last months crop brought a photocopy of a pattern to make a little Christmas house to fill with pot porri, I've made a couple but they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped but they're quite cute.


Quite a few friends on DC are doing Christmas journals which are beautiful but beats me where they find the time, I'm having enough trouble finishing certain things LOL.

Have a good weekend everyone and keep paws crossed for Mac tomorrow pleaseeee.

Thursday 6 December 2007

Busy busy busy

That's me, trying to finish Christmas presents as well as the usual christmas shopping there is just not enough hours in the day LOL. Had my usual scrap day with Dawn today and managed to finish off two pahes, complete from start to finish another and even make a start on another phew! that's good going for me as I am the slowest scrapper I know. Of course my hand is now hurting like hell but it was worth it. Seeing the surgeon tomorrow, fingers crossed it goes well.

Made this birthday card for little Ben, he'll be two on the 21st December, he's just the sweetest most adorable little chap, yeah I know gushing Nanny LOL.



I saw it in papercraft inspirations mag, don't usually buy it but fell in love with this and had fun making it. Don't suppose anyone else will get it but me "two by two" but it made me smile.

Birthday cards have started arriving for me (Sunday) and strangely I'm not excited must be because it's the one before the biggy, getting to close for comfort.

Mac and Rulu are stillpoorly and Mac's lump is growing at an alarming rate, worried doesn't come close. We're fairly sure it will have to be xrayed again but that of course means another GA...... worry worry worry!

Monday 3 December 2007

Ambition achieved

Ever since Vikki started her driving lessons in April she had it in her mind that she wanted to drive over and pick us up to see the Christmas lights being switched on AND that's exactly what she did on Friday evening.



We had a lovely time despite the miserable weather and this year Ben stayed awake LOL. Of course me and Ben had to share some candy floss and he obviously takes after me for getting in a real mess.



Mac is slightly better but his lump is now huge so he's booked to see the vet Saturday and Rulu is still struggling but not in so much discomfort thank goodness.

Busy week, have physion Tuesday and going to see the surgeon Friday for post op report.