Taking Care of Lucy

Well, as someone who officially works from home 100% of the time nowadays, and does not have to travel, and writes for the livelihood of their family, I have been complete rubbish at actually writing on the blog! Since my last update, things have been hectic and a little bit crazy in the old Ligon household.

You might remember me mentioning the Lucy-pup having a corneal ulcer in my last post. Well, the morning after writing that post, we had a recheck with our regular vet. Dr. C took one look at Lucy's eye and said that she was going to go give an animal ophthalmologist a call. The ophthalmologist wanted us to bring her in right away, so off we went to the eye doctor. Upon examining Lucy's eye with special opthalmology equipment, it was determined that the original ulcer had gotten infected and had eaten away 99% of Lucy's cornea (where the ulcer was located). The doc said that while this condition can be treated medically, given Lucy's aversion to eye drops (which he couldn't blame her for because he said she was in a lot of pain..very sad face), and the fact that there was such a microscopic level of cornea remaining, surgery would be the best option. The surgery would create a corneal graft (taking tissue from her conjunctiva and placing it over the ulcer), which would, obviously close help heal the ulcer, as well as bring blood supply to the area, meaning we could give her both oral medication and eye drops. Long story short, we had surgery the next day and have spent the past two weeks in and out of the ER, vet's office, and opthalmology office - hence my absence. Fortunately, though, our little pup is healing very well! We had a 2-week recheck earlier today, and we are definitely up on the upward trend of things! Needless to say, it was a very stressful and scary time for us with her, and we hated seeing her in pain. Luckily, we pulled through well, are no longer functioning in a sleep-deprived stupor, and Lucy's spirits are wonderful!

Other than the Lucy saga, everything else has been going relatively smoothly! The new career-situation has been more wonderful than I could have imagined! It is so nice to have complete control over my schedule, time, so on and so forth! As I told Lynda (my old boss/friend, who is now just a dear friend!), if I needed one more reason to be grateful for this opportunity, I got it in Lucy's surgery - with my old job, I was supposed to be in San Diego the week everything went down, and would, of course, be facing the pressures of customers and travel and all of that. This move has been more of a blessing than I ever could have realized, and I am so thankful for that. In addition to getting to write loads of fun things, I am also taking on some editorial management of certain pieces, which has been great for that organizational piece of my brain / personality!

Harris is still working incredibly hard, but, thankfully, things seem to have calmed down to a dull roar, for the moment, at least! We have really worked as such a team the past couple weeks, and I am so thankful for all of his support and effort on top of everything he has to do at work. Totally gushing, but I am okay with that :)

I can't believe our one-year anniversary is in 11 days! It is crazy to think that a year has already flown by, but it has been a really, really great year, and I am so lucky to have that man by  my side every day. We are going to postpone any potential big anniversary plans until we have Lu at 100%, but I am just excited to celebrate our first year as husband and wife!

Now, it is time for me to go finish up dinner (we're having Thai Red Curry Lentils!) before the hubs gets home!

The Latest News

Today I went and bought this at Target:

Yes, a pack 'n play is now needed in the Ligon household.

Before you get too excited: No, there is not currently a bun in the oven, or a baby hiding out in a dresser drawer or anything (sorry, Mom!). Nor are we adopting a child from China, babysitting for friends, or anything of the sort. No, our little playpen is for none other than Miss Lucy. Judge away, friends - I am judging myself just a little, but, here is the situation:

Last weekend when we had an awesome visit at my folks house, Lucy the Magnificent (her stage name, of course) must have performed some wondrous aerodynamic feat, and ended up with a sprained/pulled muscle. Now, at first, we weren't sure if we were actually seeing a limp. We would look at each other and say, "Did you see that? Is she limping? No, she isn't. Okay, maybe she is. I can't tell!" This went on for about a week. Was she faking? Was this just a new swagger she was trying on for size? We just weren't sure.

I went ahead and made a vet appointment for last week, but then the snowpacalypse hit Norfolk, and I had to postpone. By Sunday, I was seriously considering canceling the appointment altogether - it was a gorgeous 65 degree day in Virginia, we went to the park, Lucy did some competitive walking, ran around, had a blast, and it seemed like she had given up her sometimes gangsta swag.

Well, apparently running around in the park is not what is recommended for a dog that may or may not have a hurt ligament because on Monday a full-on absolutely pitiful limp was present. It made me sad, but I was glad we still had our vet appointment for Tuesday morning.

We went to the vet yesterday where the vet proclaimed her to have "lameness" (is that not the lamest diagnosis?), and said she needed strict and complete rest for two weeks, followed by a two-week slow return to normal. Now, this is the dog known for her leaps and excitement, so I jokingly asked, "Well, do you have a tranquilizer I can give her?" to which the vet replied, "Of course, just know it can make her uncoordinated." (!). I gaped at her and told her I was joking, and she said that in all reality we had to do whatever it takes to get her to rest - use a leash inside the house, dope her up with Benadryl, use an Elizabethan collar - whatever it takes! Well, we didn't think the leash was a grand idea - I mean, how would that really work? And an Elizabethan collar is just annoying for everybody, so Harris had the brilliant idea that we could contain her in a playpen. Now, granted, when he said playpen, I immediately thought of the above purchase, but really he meant something like this. Whatever. The pack 'n play is fine, I think - it is comfortable, I can throw in her blankets and toys, and even a water bowl, she can still see us, and we can easily move her from room to room. Win-win-win?

In short, we got a playpen for our dog. Cast ye your stones, readers. Cast ye your stones.

Christmas Wish List 2013: Lucy Edition

It was fun to put together my wish list for Christmas yesterday, so I thought I would make it a family affair. Since I figure Harris might like to be involved in putting his together, and since he is currently at work, I thought I would go ahead and share Lucy's wish list today!

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05

01: Okay, so this is technically a baby toy, but we have bought baby toys for her before because she really likes stuffed animals, and she also really loves having tags/tails/whatever to chew and lick, so this seemed like a perfect little toy for her!

02: I think she will like all the little end pieces, but she will also like being able to play fetch with this toy.

03: She will personally hate this little coat, but it will be adorable on her, plus she gets so cold outside (okay, I know I sound like a crazy person now, but seriously, the dog shivers outside).

04: We like to use an elevated bowl to feed her, but all of those metal ones start rusting and I hate it. This seems like a great compromise because I can just wash the whole thing when it gets dirty.

05: Another taggy toy that she will love.

There you have it, all the things the pup needs for Christmas. And don't worry, I embrace my crazy.