Summer Has Gone To The Dawgs....

Seriously y'all... has your summer been like mine?  A huge blurr... (sorry Cobe, no pun intended)  I mean really... was summer here at all?  Seems all I can recall from summer is the extreme heat of it! Wowza, can it get any hotter? Our heat index today 110! Geeeeze!  The second you walk out the door, your bra gets soaked. Yuk...I hate a soggy bra. G-R-O-S-S

But yes indeedy, my summer has literally gone to the dogs...particularly one sweeeet  little jack named Cobia. Poor thing has had a ruff few last months, and we're not out of the woods yet. I'm actually feeling really sorry for both of us! My summer was spent being an eyedrop administering machine!!

Her cataract surgery was in May...she did great, but a huge part of the success rate is the after care. For a month I had to give the sweet little soul 25 drops a day! I've been relentless about it as her sight depends on it.
Her lens replacements have done wonderfully...and her sight is still amazing to me.

She went from doing fine to bumping into walls, falling down stairs, into the pool, off the dock...and the worst event was running smack ass into a tree, head on, running at full stride. She instantly hit the ground, was flailing and screaming unconsciously for about15 seconds and couldn't get up. She's lucky she didn't break her neck.
Strange thing is... her sight failing seem to happen soooo fast!  I mean, we knew she had some cloudiness related to cataracts, and had them looked at... but you know,  that's typical for a twelve year old dog. And she was getting around perfectly, not skipping a beat. It literally seem to go from her seeing fine to blind...overnite.

It was heartbreaking to watch. The thing was, she's a very "young" active 12 year old dog with no other health issues... and the kind of dog that LIVES for a tennis ball... I couldn't see NOT doing it. So we did it...and it's been amazing!!  The first time she got her tennisball after surgery, I started crying... I was so overwhelmed and happy and relieved.  Mostly for her precious livelihood , but also cuz now,  we didn't have to worry anymore about her getting hurt. (We were at the point where she didn't go outside without a life vest on).

What has happened since is secondary to the lens replacements. She is seeing fine, but has developed corneal ulcers in both eyes. Trauma to the cornea from the surgery is probably the cause, but the actual cataract surgery has been a complete success, so I still consider us way ahead of the game.  BUT ...the ulcers don't seem to want to heal properly.  Enter here... two more months of  major drop therapy.  I literally have been kinda house bound with her. Although my mother Helen, and niece Maria, (and friends who have had to put up with and listen to us) have been super supportive and stepped in when we have had to be out of town. (a gazillion thanks y'all ♥)

SOoooo, We went back to Birmingham (her eye doctor, 4 hrs. away from home) this past Tues. and the poor thing had to get corneal grids on both eyes,  and now I have my little  CONEHEAD back...
: (

They basically re-texturize the surface of the cornea to help promote new cell growth. They said the next few days would be tough,  (imagine having your cornea sandpaperd) and it has been, even though she is on an oral pain med twice a day. Today we are on day two, and she's still uncomfortable, but it's a noticeable improvement from yesterday. Yesterday she was pitiful, she broke my heart.  She wasn't in this much pain even after the cataract surgery.  One eye drop in particular seems to send her through the roof,  I hate giving it to her : (

Here's a gander at our med schedule for the next two weeks... I make a schedule and make copies so I don't miss any, and start a new one everyday. If you count both eyes, we're doing 27 drops a day!!  We head back to Birmingham on the 17th for our recheck, and hopefully we'll be on the mend.
She's such a fabulous animal and has really been a trooper through it all.  I think we both are just ready for some normal...  
Normal would be good.


Be Fabulous... because you are♥
X  to the O.... ajae

p.s.- duh...the soggy bra thing, bleck!