Cole Update

The Comeback Kid is laying beside me snoring like a drunk.  

Apparently, the pain medication is strong!
He was discharged to me last night instead of being kept under observation.  Unless myself or Liz was there, Mr. Anxiety paced and whined.  
The surgery went well, he had a drain tract set up on his leg.  The new antibiotics seem to be taking effect.  I had been warned that the red swollen leg that couldn't bend would get worse before improving, but this morning, he can bend it and the redness has AND those disgusting Jello blobs of edema that were hanging on his elbow and traveling up his chest have shrunken.

This is what 1000X better looks like.
The results of the pythium test, fungus, bacteria and protozoa tests will start filtering in soon. I want to get to the bottom of this.  Close call #467.  We're not out of the woods, but we've turned the bus around, heading in the right direction.  
Now if I could just sleep for the next 48 hours...

Dull Moments

WANTED:  a dull moment.  They must be nice.  Cole is immune to them.

He is not, however, immune to venomous snake bite.

One month ago, never healed, never relinquished under antibiotic attack or lancing, only got bigger.
The abscess was the size of a ping pong ball, so Cole had an appointment for minor surgery to slice it open Wednesday morning.  
12 hours, that's all the time left before his appointment when the abscess decided to burst to the inside.  Within an hour, his leg was so swollen, he couldn't walk on it.

By midnight, the hour of cold compresses hadn't phased it.  Plus he was beginning to shiver and his eyes were looking weird.  Time for Plan B:  Auburn University Emergency Clinic.

Cole in Zombieland, but Pete was on deer patrol.  We drove the truck in case we did smack a deer, we could still make it to the vet school.  

We are a pack of four.  The Smiths stick together (besides, Pete will demolish a house if he's locked in longer than he deems acceptable).

Shockingly, admin doesn't permit owners and their posse to sleep next to patients.  Wait until I write to the university president about this outrage. 
Fine.  Garrett and Pete slept in the front and I slept in the back seat. 
We  back to the farm to feed our livestock, meanwhile,  Cole's BFU (best friend in the universe) texted that she was with him.

Liz, his physiotherapist for the past year and half is with him, they can banish me, but she has seniority and a key card!  Where would we be without good friends who slip in and take charge when you need help.  
Thanks, Liz.

Lithops

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.  It has been over a month since I have blogged.

This past Sunday, the horse trainer and I went on a road trip to evaluate a new prospect for our stables.  We found three, then could only narrow it down to two.  Unfortunately, neither horse had the required Coggins test, so I'll have to make the eight hour trip again next weekend (twist my rubber arm).  

So, as I'm heading out in a rush to feed my livestock before tending to the rest of the stables, I'll leave you with this, an old passion rekindled:

I found Lithops at a local nursery a few weeks ago.  Back flips, jump for joy, eeeeeeha!  Can't you see why I'm excited???  See the two little plants that look like the bottom of a hippo's foot?  Lithops!  A succulent plant from Southern Africa, evolved to camouflage itself from grazing animals by mimicking rocks.  

Be still my beating heart, I hadn't seen any since I was 15, when I had mine freezing their tap roots off on my Canadian window ledge.

I've been trying to avoid kissing them, but it's hard-- they're so adorable!