Set Back for Ms. Jezebel

Last night at dinnertime, shortly following a spirited chase of the fat, stupid squirrel-with-a-death-wish, we called Jezebel to dinner. When she didn't appear, I glanced over to see her tentatively trying to walk but apparently not able to get her legs to work. As you can imagine, my heart froze.

She gingerly made her way to the kitchen and when husband reached down to pat her shoulder, she screamed.

We couldn't tell what leg she was favoring and for a time, I wondered if she'd had a stroke. Perhaps she had a pinched nerve.

Perhaps the cancer had matastasized to her bones.

Although she looked confused and could barely walk, she gobbled down her dinner like it was her last meal. For all I knew, it was. Only goes to show how concerned I am for her. I keep working to avoid the thought that the melanoma is probably a death sentence.

She was in pain the rest of the evening. We broke down and gave her an aspirin and that seemed to ease her. I kept telling myself that she probably pulled something but I couldn't help but worry. She couldn't make it up or down the stairs without crying out. I insisted that I would carry her up the stairs and Husband insisted that there was no way I could lift that dog. I insisted I could lift a Volkswagen if I needed to. He ended up carrying her with me yapping at his heels that I could do it.

She cried out when she got on our bed.

I lay awake off and on last night worrying that it was the cancer. I also worried that she had torn her ACL. We still couldn't tell exactly where she was hurting. Her feet didn't seem to hurt.

This morning, she was in fine spirits and was moving better. She cried out when we moved her right hind leg and she appeared to be favoring it and not putting weight on it. Her hips appeared out of alignment. I've been helping her up and down the stairs, all day, and she immediately learned to call for taxi service whenever stairs are involved. I think she kind of likes husband carrying her or me assisting her.

She has been eating like a horse.

At one point, she was outside and barked to be carried up the deck stairs. I headed out, Husband headed out. We had the same ridiculous discussion that I could NOT lift her and while he was impuning my superhuman-furmom strength, Jezebel glided up the stairs on her own.

We deliberately did not give her an aspirin because she did not seem to he hurting unless she was moving, and pain has its function. We decided that would encourage her to rest. Husband suggested that she ought to be going up and down the stairs to work out whatever was bothering her and I found myself getting a little testy because "obviously" the poor thing needed to be coddled. We've been keeping an eye on her and making sure that we don't leave her alone on a given floor of the house because she'll try to come find us.

As the day has gone on, she began limping on the back leg more noticeably, but it no longer seemed out of line with the rest of her. If she does not feel considerably better by tomorrow, we'll take her in. At this point, we are hoping that she just strained something.




At least her muzzle continues to fill in.


I worked on the surf and sand quilt top, today. Let me just say it. That thing is a son of a bitch. A SON OF A BITCH!! Okay, I have just lost 3/4ths of my readers and my children are embarrassed for me.

Grr. I love paper piecing blocks but they are no fun to stitch together for a top. In addition, I set them on point and kept losing my place on where the large center stars needed to be. Several times I laboriously lined them up, got the seams straight, stitched them down, ironed them out, and realized they were on upside down. I'd rip them out and do it, again. What is wrong with me? I think I am just distracted and worried about Jezebel.


That being said, I am quite pleased with how it is coming along.




I am going to put a thin strip around the quilt top but haven't decided if I will go with a brown or a dark blue. I kind of wish I had more of the striped fabric because that could look sort of cool. I have several pieces of fabric from this line that I haven't used yet that I plan to use in the outer border.



NEWFLASH!!! We let Jezebel out to "go" in the back yard and she hobbled out like a cripple. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash and it was Jezebel, racing to catch that stupid, arrogant squirrel-with-a-death-wish that has been vexing her. She left Evelyn in the dust (not that Evelyn really has any concept of what it is like to be a predator - that girl can't catch a potato chip). Jezebel darn near caught that rodent.

Better get out the aspirin. She's going to pay for that.