Each Day Already is a Challenge

Oh what a day!

If you read yesterday's entry (you did read yesterday's entry, right??) you know that Jake arrived safely and became an instant part of our family. And you know that someone near and dear to me is struggling with marital problems.

What I didn't mention is a little mishap yesterday morning.

Jake's foster mom told us that he had not been sleeping through the night. He really hated being crated, and was waking every night about 3 a.m. She thought he would do much better sleeping outside the crate, but were worried that if he had to go outside at 3 a.m. we would either be angry or not wake up, causing him to have an accident.

When Piewacket first came to live with us, she used to wake up at 3 a.m. every night also. (I wonder what it is about that time of night???) She just needed to be reminded that she was not alone and was welcome to join us in the bedroom. Hubby would mimic her meows and she would usually find her way to the bedroom and plop down on the bed. End of story.

So...we weren't too worried about the 3 a.m. wake-up calls. I guess that just goes with having a new "baby" in the house.

But Jake didn't wake up at 3 a.m. that first night. Maybe it was because he was up later than he had been "on the farm." He slept beside me all night.

Since I didn't have to pick up Derek at work, I slept in too. Actually, I woke up at 7 a.m. like I always do and cannot figure out why. (Some noise in the neighborhood?) Rather than disturb Jake, I went back to sleep.

At about 8ish, I got up and got dressed so I could take Jake out right away. I guess I didn't have the leash secured firmly in my hand when we stepped off the porch. A squirrel ran from our front tree to the sidewalk and Jake followed in pursuit.

The leash flew from my hands and I dove after it. Yes, I said dove. I guess I thought I was an athlete. You know... a football player making a tackle or a baseball player sliding home. Like that, I dove. And I landed on my face.

The squirrel took off into the street, and I yelled for Jake. I guess the sound of my voice brought him back. I went into the house, asked Derek to walk Jake and went into the bathroom to access the damage I had done to my body by diving.

I had a small scrape on upper right thigh and on my lower left leg. I had a small brush burn on my face. Well, two small brush burns. (I looked like hubby does sometimes when he shaves in the morning. )

Not too bad, I thought. Hopefully the neighbors had not seen my strange dive in the yard. I thought the embarassment was worse than the damage I did to my body.

Then a few hours later, my right hand and wrist started hurting. Uh oh. Here I am 55 years old, and I have never broken a bone yet. My hand appeared just a bit swolen, but not what I would expect from a break. Still the pain continued...

About 2:15 I called my doctor's office to see if any doctor in her group could see me. One had a 2:30 opening, so off I went. The doc agreed that there wasn't much swelling, but given the amount of pain I was in by then, ordered some x-rays.

You know what the difference is between getting x-rays at the doc's office and at the hospital emergency room? Well...there's a huge difference in cost, for one thing. X-rays at the doc's are soooooooooooooo much cheaper. They don't have to charge for the room and the machine and the technician and the...well, you get the picture.

There's also a difference in the time in reading said x-rays. In the emergency room, the x-rays are read right away. It's an emergency, after all. In the doc's office? Well, those x-rays taken yesterday afternoon were to be read this morning and the doc was to get the info back this afternoon.

I haven't heard anything yet. I'm still in pain. Not moving the hand/wrist/arm real well. (Not supposed to in case there is somehting broken.) And on some strong pain medications - although I can take half-dosage.

We've had one walk today without incident. And Jake is definitely more at ease today. Yesterday he followed me around everywhere I went. Except the bathroom. While Opera chooses to come into the bathroom while we're doing our thing, Jake chooses to wait outside the door.

Anyway, as I was saying. Yesterday he followed me around. He sat on the chair beside me if I was on the computer - staying wide awake, probably so he could watch and make sure I didn't disappear.

I did disappear, going to get the x-rays in the afternoon, and when I returned he was all full of doggie love and kisses.

But today, he ate, completed his walk and then disappeared somewhere in the house. When I went to look for him, I found him fast asleep on our bed.

Opera is quite happy about that. Periodically, she checks on him to make sure he's still napping. Then she proceeds to play and romp like she used to before Jake arrived.

I'm sure they'll work all that out eventually.

I guess I should call the doc's office soon to see if I have a break or just a sprain.