Phew! Things are looking up for a change …

I have to be honest, it hasn’t been my greatest week. That lampshade is a nightmare! I hate it and it stops me from getting at half the things that I want to get at. It has been quite a struggle keeping my spirits up what with the lampshade and the bandage that has been on my leg. You can’t see it in the photo on the right but it is really tight and keeps my leg held in place so that my new hip can settle after it laxated last week. (I had to Doogle the word ‘laxated’ and it turns out that it is obsolete but it basically means came loose.) The bandage is horrible, it is really uncomfortable and it means that I can only walk on three legs. Actually, that means I can’t really walk, I sort of hop along which isn’t very good either.  After my second trip to get the bandage put back on Tuesday I really wasn’t very happy. I came home on Wednesday and spent the rest of the day pushing out ????s. I didn’t really feel very well either. My heel was a bit swollen, although my toes were fine, but I didn’t really feel very hungry which is quite unusual for me!

Activity for me was very restricted. Partly this was due to my inability to walk very well and partly it was due to the fact that I have to be very careful. I did manage to get out for the odd short walk but as they are not supposed to be more than 5-10 minutes maximum, we didn’t get very far. My innards continued to play up and I still wasn’t very hungry. I think that the tightness of the bandage was putting me off my food. He complained that I was doing rather a lot of ‘Trumping’. Now, I may have mentioned this before in passing, but he isn’t very bright … the upstairs telephone has been disconnected, if you get my gist! I looked up ‘Trump’ on Doogle. There is quite a lot there actually. There are huge amounts of words about Trump on Fidopedia and there are plenty of videos on PooTube. Anyway, it turns out that Trump is the President of America and America is a very big place that is a very, very, long way away. I am not sure what that has to do with me. I read up a little about Trump … apparently he was elected because he says he is “going to make America great again”. Now, I am no expert in these matters, but how can a facist, bigoted, racist, egotistical man who is so divisive, possibly make America great again? (Was it great before he was elected? I don’t know!) Eventually I reached the conclusion that Trump bore no relation to me whatsoever. I did a bit more Doogling and found another definition of ‘Trump’ – apparently it is another word for a bottom burp. Why didn’t he say? For goodness sake! Anyway, with my innards doing their thing, letting the odd bottom burp escape was hardly surprising! On Thursday afternoon we went out for another short walk – apparently he wanted some fresh air! We went to the allotments and had a look around. Would you Rover and Clover it, the blinkin’ bandage came off again! This time it was nothing to do with me, it just sort of worked lose and fell off. As usual, he was moaning about it saying he was going to have to call my personal surgeon Bonito. As it hadn’t fallen off completely and was still restricting my movement, he carried me home. He moaned about that too … something about his arm hurting. Excuse me – I had my leg chopped about, I think my medicals are worse than his!

After we got home and I was settled, he did phone my personal surgeon, Bonito, and explained what had happened. Bonito advised that I should rest overnight and he would see me as scheduled this morning (Friday). Zena and Simon came down on Thursday evening and I spend some quality time with them whilst they went off and picked Richard’s parents up from the airport. (They had been to Spain which is a very long way away!) Zena was a bit worried about me because I was quite lethargic and I couldn’t put any weight on my leg at all. When he returned it transpired that he was a bit worried too. I hadn’t eaten my dinner and I really couldn’t put any weight on my leg. I just didn’t really feel right. We went to bed and this morning I went off to see my personal surgeon Bonito. I wasn’t very happy. It almost certainly meant that I was going to have to keep my lampshade on and, at best, I would be getting the bandage put back which meant another sleep and probably a stay overnight. At worst, and he was worried about this, it would mean another operation to put in a larger implant.

I saw Bonito attending to another dog – clearly he wasn’t expecting me because I usually get his undivided attention, as you would expect! When he eventually called me, I didn’t rush over as usual, I hobbled over to him and we went into his consulting room. Bonito examined me and, frankly, I got the shock of my life! He said he was delighted with the progress! He said I didn’t need a bandage anymore and I could get rid of the flamin’ lampshade! He said I can go for three 5 minute walks a day and that I will be able to go and see my personal therapists Emily and Katie at Hydro Hounds very soon! Wow!! I wasn’t expecting that. He said he was worried about my leg and that I wasn’t putting much weight on it. Bonito explained that it was purely muscular because it has been bandaged so tightly for a week and that it’ll be back to normal in a couple of days. He said he was worried about me not eating – it transpires that when I ate the bandage it wasn’t that good for me and I’ll get over that too! He pointed out the lump on the back of my leg and Bonito explained that it is just bone that is exposed because of muscle wastage. In fact, Bonito says I am doing very well! When we went back out of the front door of the hospital I almost jumped back into the car … just before I remembered that I am not allowed to jump. I went home and ate a huge breakfast … I was starving! So, now I am on the mend, I am going to take him out for a walk and pick up my messages, so for now, must paws … ????