VOSM: Veterinary Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Group
We have an appt Thursday to see about a brace for Maggie - or other options, perhaps.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
About Maggie's Knee
Anatomy of the Cranial Cruciate Ligament, CCL Function | Dog Knee Injury
These guys have a wonderful website - lots of information there! Maggie tore both the cruciate and meniscus, so the joint is basically free-floating.
These guys have a wonderful website - lots of information there! Maggie tore both the cruciate and meniscus, so the joint is basically free-floating.
OK, the steps I bought for Maggie are going back - she cannot use them. The 4" step height is too high for her. :( Also, it is unstable and not wide enough for her to be comfortable with it.
The box I got to carry her around in is also too small, I need to return it as well and get a larger one. *sigh*
The shoulder-support strap I got from the vet does work, but it is difficult to put on and she doesn't like walking with me supporting her front end, she just sits down until I stop 'helping'.
Frustrating.
The box I got to carry her around in is also too small, I need to return it as well and get a larger one. *sigh*
The shoulder-support strap I got from the vet does work, but it is difficult to put on and she doesn't like walking with me supporting her front end, she just sits down until I stop 'helping'.
Frustrating.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Ok - Maggie Update!
She is hobbling around, and has been checked by two different vets - they both came to the same conclusions :
She tore the Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) and ruptured the meniscus, resulting in a leg that is useless and causes pain. She also has advanced arthritis in both front shoulders, which was making her limp even before the accident, so now she is literally on her last leg.
We are arranging an appoinment with a specialist who will hopefully fit her for a custom knee-brace made just for dogs. This will stabilize the joint, prevent further injury and alleviate the pain, as well as helping it heal as well as can be expected without surgery.
She should be able to walk and have full range of motion, but maybe not run and jump as before. But since she's over 11yrs old she shouldn't be jumping anyway.
Both vets agreed that with her liver issues and long-term steroid use, surgery is off the table. She would not heal and is very likely to get a serious infection, or worse.
So a brace it is. I bought her a set of steps for the bed and a portable doggie cage so I could carry her easier up and down the stairs, to the vet, etc.
She's on pain meds now, so I hope she isn't hurting too bad.
We'll get her mobile again.
The immediate concern is that if she damages the other hind leg, there won't be much we can do. Even the thought is hard for me.
I bought her a sling for her front legs to help take the weight off - but frankly I would rather the weight be on her arthritic front legs than on her single rear one, so I don't know if I'll use the sling or just let her hop along.
She's also on a diet to lose 5-8 lbs. They said that would help a lot, she's at just under 30 lbs, which is too high for her. 22-25 is better.
So all is not lost, and we are hopeful that we will have her for a while longer, at least. But the steroids that are keeping her alive are also killing her slowly. The hard part is determining when her quality of life is degraded enough that it is a selfish act to keep her with us. Hopefully not for years yet. :(
She is hobbling around, and has been checked by two different vets - they both came to the same conclusions :
She tore the Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) and ruptured the meniscus, resulting in a leg that is useless and causes pain. She also has advanced arthritis in both front shoulders, which was making her limp even before the accident, so now she is literally on her last leg.
We are arranging an appoinment with a specialist who will hopefully fit her for a custom knee-brace made just for dogs. This will stabilize the joint, prevent further injury and alleviate the pain, as well as helping it heal as well as can be expected without surgery.
She should be able to walk and have full range of motion, but maybe not run and jump as before. But since she's over 11yrs old she shouldn't be jumping anyway.
Both vets agreed that with her liver issues and long-term steroid use, surgery is off the table. She would not heal and is very likely to get a serious infection, or worse.
So a brace it is. I bought her a set of steps for the bed and a portable doggie cage so I could carry her easier up and down the stairs, to the vet, etc.
She's on pain meds now, so I hope she isn't hurting too bad.
We'll get her mobile again.
The immediate concern is that if she damages the other hind leg, there won't be much we can do. Even the thought is hard for me.
I bought her a sling for her front legs to help take the weight off - but frankly I would rather the weight be on her arthritic front legs than on her single rear one, so I don't know if I'll use the sling or just let her hop along.
She's also on a diet to lose 5-8 lbs. They said that would help a lot, she's at just under 30 lbs, which is too high for her. 22-25 is better.
So all is not lost, and we are hopeful that we will have her for a while longer, at least. But the steroids that are keeping her alive are also killing her slowly. The hard part is determining when her quality of life is degraded enough that it is a selfish act to keep her with us. Hopefully not for years yet. :(
Saturday, March 27, 2010
By the way, nuclear burritos smell bad. Like really bad. Like naaasty. We had a burrito wrapped in a paper towel go up in smoke in the microwave... ick.
40F outside and we have windows open and fans in them to force a breeze thru the house to get the stink out.
I also swapped out the furnace filters to help it move more air and get the smoked-up filters gone. ick.
40F outside and we have windows open and fans in them to force a breeze thru the house to get the stink out.
I also swapped out the furnace filters to help it move more air and get the smoked-up filters gone. ick.
Maggie badly injured herself by jumping off the back step to the yard - about 8"-10" high. She tore both the cruciate and meniscus of her right rear leg, likely when she pushed off, not on landing.
It bears no weight now, she holds it high and limp-hops along. So sad and painful to watch. Took her to the Vet ER and spend 3 hrs with various specialists. Here's the rundown:
1> she's on a high dose of steroids to support her liver and keep it going. The steroids are literally all that keeps her from total liver failure.
2> The steroids have damaged her immune system to the point where she is also on a permanent course of antibiotics. She heals very slowly and gets infections very easily.
3> The steroids apparently also damage bones and make joints weaker with extreme long term use - like 6 years, apparently.
There is surgery to anchor her knee, basically a plate and screws to lock it in one position. It may bear some weight, but not full power, and no flexibility. The surgery would start at $2k. Her odds for success are very low - no immune system, poor healing, very likely to get a raging infection, etc.
So right now we are most likely going to see if the knee self-corrects - apparently in a month or so a capsule of scar tissue should form and help to stabilize the joint and reduce pain, let her get around better, etc.
The problem is that with one rear leg unuseable, the other one must take up the slack, and if the steroids have damaged her joints and tendons, it could fail as well, rendering her immobile.
If that happens we'll most likely have to put her down,as much as it pains me to say. Today has been a very traumatic day.
It bears no weight now, she holds it high and limp-hops along. So sad and painful to watch. Took her to the Vet ER and spend 3 hrs with various specialists. Here's the rundown:
1> she's on a high dose of steroids to support her liver and keep it going. The steroids are literally all that keeps her from total liver failure.
2> The steroids have damaged her immune system to the point where she is also on a permanent course of antibiotics. She heals very slowly and gets infections very easily.
3> The steroids apparently also damage bones and make joints weaker with extreme long term use - like 6 years, apparently.
There is surgery to anchor her knee, basically a plate and screws to lock it in one position. It may bear some weight, but not full power, and no flexibility. The surgery would start at $2k. Her odds for success are very low - no immune system, poor healing, very likely to get a raging infection, etc.
So right now we are most likely going to see if the knee self-corrects - apparently in a month or so a capsule of scar tissue should form and help to stabilize the joint and reduce pain, let her get around better, etc.
The problem is that with one rear leg unuseable, the other one must take up the slack, and if the steroids have damaged her joints and tendons, it could fail as well, rendering her immobile.
If that happens we'll most likely have to put her down,as much as it pains me to say. Today has been a very traumatic day.
Friday, March 26, 2010
RCA AirPower Charges Batteries From WiFi Signals - SlashGear
RCA AirPower Charges Batteries From WiFi Signals
Now THAT is some awesome tech. I would love this to be extended to laptops to get more time out of the batteries, or even fully charge them if the laptop is left off. Like a trickle-charger.
Now THAT is some awesome tech. I would love this to be extended to laptops to get more time out of the batteries, or even fully charge them if the laptop is left off. Like a trickle-charger.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
OK, I'm at a crossroads without a map.
Blogger is going to stop supporting ftp-published blogs on May 1, and so I need to find another front-end for my blog.
I need something that is NOT installed on my host server, uses simple HTML pages, no SQL, archives posts by date into monthly html files, allows me to publish via ftp.
Blogger was excellent for this, but now they have decided that they want all of their user's content on their own servers, so they no longer support remote publishing. Way to screw over your userbase, Google. Do no evil, eh?
Blogger is going to stop supporting ftp-published blogs on May 1, and so I need to find another front-end for my blog.
I need something that is NOT installed on my host server, uses simple HTML pages, no SQL, archives posts by date into monthly html files, allows me to publish via ftp.
Blogger was excellent for this, but now they have decided that they want all of their user's content on their own servers, so they no longer support remote publishing. Way to screw over your userbase, Google. Do no evil, eh?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Official Google Blog: A new approach to China: an update
Google Announcement : "earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese"
So as of now, Google no longer censors it's internet applications or search data. Nice. :)
So as of now, Google no longer censors it's internet applications or search data. Nice. :)
Details on what the new healthcare bill does. Everyone should read it. The Republicans would have you believe that this is a nightmare of heavy taxes on the poor and will destroy the nation, and the Democrats would have you believe that this is a wonderful cure-all that will allow everyone to be healthy and not cost anyone anything.
Neither is true.
What it is - a gutted, bastardized version of what should have been passed. The measures that were in the original bill for a government option (medicare) for everyone - was removed. Many other things that would have been for the best were also removed (to attempt to get the Republicans to agree with it). Then they padded on special pork to sway the traitors in the Democratic party that wouldn't vote for it unless they were bribed to do so.
What I would have done? After this last fiasco with the Republicans, I would have started with the original bill, before the pork, before it was gutted. Then passed it. No bribes. Vote for it or be replaced by the people you represent.
Neither is true.
What it is - a gutted, bastardized version of what should have been passed. The measures that were in the original bill for a government option (medicare) for everyone - was removed. Many other things that would have been for the best were also removed (to attempt to get the Republicans to agree with it). Then they padded on special pork to sway the traitors in the Democratic party that wouldn't vote for it unless they were bribed to do so.
What I would have done? After this last fiasco with the Republicans, I would have started with the original bill, before the pork, before it was gutted. Then passed it. No bribes. Vote for it or be replaced by the people you represent.
High-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain, researchers find
It's sad that people trust the government and FDA over their health-care providers and scientists to tell them what is healthy.
"If the FDA approved it, it must be good for me!" <-- naive
The FDA only approved HFCS because of huge financial incentives from Archer Daniels Midland.
It's sad that people trust the government and FDA over their health-care providers and scientists to tell them what is healthy.
"If the FDA approved it, it must be good for me!" <-- naive
The FDA only approved HFCS because of huge financial incentives from Archer Daniels Midland.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Classic muscle cars for sale by Flemings Ultimate Garage
Classic muscle cars for sale by Flemings Ultimate Garage
Oh my. There are some awesome cars here, and it's local to me. Prices aren't bad either!
Oh my. There are some awesome cars here, and it's local to me. Prices aren't bad either!
New Harddrives May Force Windows XP Upgrades
New Harddrives May Force Windows XP Upgrades: "By the end of 2011, all new hard drives will be formatted into blocks of 4K in size. Windows XP doesn't know how to handle sectors of that magnitude."
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Synergy shares one mouse and keyboard between multiple computers
Synergy+ shares one mouse and keyboard between multiple computers - looks like something I'm going to have to investigate!
1024-bit RSA encryption cracked by carefully starving CPU of electricity -- Engadget
1024-bit RSA encryption cracked by carefully starving CPU of electricity Wow. This one is going to have some repercussions.
"By fluctuating the voltage to the CPU such that it generated a single hardware error per clock cycle, they found that they could cause the server to flip single bits of the private key at a time, allowing them to slowly piece together the password. "
"By fluctuating the voltage to the CPU such that it generated a single hardware error per clock cycle, they found that they could cause the server to flip single bits of the private key at a time, allowing them to slowly piece together the password. "
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Blogger FTP Info: Deprecating FTP
Ouch. Blogger is going to stop supporting FTP publishing to off-blogger sites. They claim it's because FTP is so difficult to support, but I believe it's just a thinly-veiled way to force people to move their content to blogger's servers.
This apparently started back in Jan, and I had not heard anything about it, even though they said they alerted everyone via email - I never got it.
So now I need to find another way to make posts to my blog. I don't want to move it - most of it is hosted privately, but it appears that the pictures I published thru blogger are hosted on blogger, where the ones I sent to the main site and linked to manually are on the main site. So my blog is distributed across both sites. Lovely.
Looks like I get to do a major consolidation one way or the other.
The google tools are easier to use than the manual publish method, so I may end up moving my content to the blogger servers. I just hope that they don't screw me in the future.
Ouch. Blogger is going to stop supporting FTP publishing to off-blogger sites. They claim it's because FTP is so difficult to support, but I believe it's just a thinly-veiled way to force people to move their content to blogger's servers.
This apparently started back in Jan, and I had not heard anything about it, even though they said they alerted everyone via email - I never got it.
So now I need to find another way to make posts to my blog. I don't want to move it - most of it is hosted privately, but it appears that the pictures I published thru blogger are hosted on blogger, where the ones I sent to the main site and linked to manually are on the main site. So my blog is distributed across both sites. Lovely.
Looks like I get to do a major consolidation one way or the other.
The google tools are easier to use than the manual publish method, so I may end up moving my content to the blogger servers. I just hope that they don't screw me in the future.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Daily Kos: Anthony Weiner Takes it to the FOX Liar Brigade
Anthony Weiner Destroys FOX & Friends "Liar Brigade" in a 3-vs-1 debate on Health Care. Anyone clinging to the republican stand needs to see this and have their eyes opened.
Understanding the Windows Pagefile and Why You Shouldn't Disable It - Windows - Lifehacker
Understanding the Windows Pagefile and Why You Shouldn't Disable It Especially in Vista and WIndows 7, it appears.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas - 3/02/10 - New York News and Tri-State News - 7online.com
An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas - regardless of guilt - they are required to search, arrest, and write summonses to people that have done no wrong, trumping up charges and then dropping them once the numbers have been counted.
Police state.
Police state.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)